Help, trouble with landlord

sjohnson87

PLEASE DELETE

Hi everyone,

I dont come on here that often, but did post a while back regarding our landlord.
The situation is, back in november he tryed to issue us with a weeks notice to vacte the property,as the 6 month contract was up, and we argued that he had to serve us with two months, which would have taken us upto today (13th is our due date for rent)
in them two months we have had a bad time, me being 23 weeks pregnant and spending 3 weeks in hosipital over christmas with rta, anyway husband had to take unpaid time of work to look after our children, leaving us a little bit short on money.

We have tried searching high and low for a suitable property to move into, without having to disrupt the girls school, and as i dont drive easy access to town etc, but there has been nothing available, and being over christmas makes it harder.
Now at the start of this week we asked the LL if he could give us a few extra weeks to find somewhere,as a house with a estate agent is coming up, thats perfect,but wont be ready until 25th jan.
The LL has agreed to let us stay another 2-3 weeks on the terms that we give him three weeks rent today- which is impossible, as we are skint until my husband gets paid next friday:mad:

We have told him this but he has said, pay the rent or get out.
So i wanted to know, has he got the right to change the locks etc, or does he have to go through the courts to get us out??
We would have vacated the property in three weeks time, and the three weeks rent due, will be paid next week.
What is the best thing to do? sit back and ignore the threats and pay next week. No one i know can lend us the money, so im just stuck!!!

bebewoo

He has to go though the courts to get you out, then instruct baliffs etc, which can take months.
It is illegal for him to change the locks or evict you without following due process.

[Deleted User]

bebewoo wrote: »

He has to go though the courts to get you out, then instruct baliffs etc, which can take months.
It is illegal for him to change the locks or evict you without following due process.

sorry not true,they only had a six month contract,i assume they knew they only had a six month contract,and wholst i sympathise with the OP it sounds like the LL has been reasonable

Jowo_2

woodbine wrote: »

sorry not true,they only had a six month contract,i assume they knew they only had a six month contract,and wholst i sympathise with the OP it sounds like the LL has been reasonable

Bebewoo is correct.

A landlord must seek possession through the courts when the tenant doesn't leave the property at the end of the contract or notice period. The tenants may well have breached the contract but the only remedy is civil redress - taking the tenants to court and getting a court order for possession. Here are the steps.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/Possession.htm

welshmoneylover

sjohnson87 wrote: »

PLEASE DELETE

Hi everyone,

I dont come on here that often, but did post a while back regarding our landlord.
The situation is, back in november he tryed to issue us with a weeks notice to vacte the property,as the 6 month contract was up, and we argued that he had to serve us with two months, which would have taken us upto today (13th is our due date for rent)
in them two months we have had a bad time, me being 23 weeks pregnant and spending 3 weeks in hosipital over christmas with rta, anyway husband had to take unpaid time of work to look after our children, leaving us a little bit short on money.

We have tried searching high and low for a suitable property to move into, without having to disrupt the girls school, and as i dont drive easy access to town etc, but there has been nothing available, and being over christmas makes it harder.
Now at the start of this week we asked the LL if he could give us a few extra weeks to find somewhere,as a house with a estate agent is coming up, thats perfect,but wont be ready until 25th jan.
The LL has agreed to let us stay another 2-3 weeks on the terms that we give him three weeks rent today- which is impossible, as we are skint until my husband gets paid next friday:mad:

We have told him this but he has said, pay the rent or get out.
So i wanted to know, has he got the right to change the locks etc, or does he have to go through the courts to get us out??
We would have vacated the property in three weeks time, and the three weeks rent due, will be paid next week.
What is the best thing to do? sit back and ignore the threats and pay next week. No one i know can lend us the money, so im just stuck!!!

Can any of your family members help you out at all?

PasturesNew

To get you out the landlord has to issue you with a proper Section 21 notice. He cannot get you out before the end of your AST and at the end of the AST you can stay there if you keep paying rent. If you don't pay rent and it's past the end of your AST notice and if the Landlord has issued a PROPER Section 21 notice, then he'd still have to go to court and you'd be "ordered" to leave by the Court, but there's still a bit more time etc.

Things the Landlord can't do:
- give you less than 2 months' notice (it's 2 months from a rent date, so if he's missed one it's tough as the Section 21 notice will 'start' at the following/next rent date)
- give you anything but a formal and proper Section 21 notice
- he can't knock on your door or harass you in any way (that's a criminal offence)

There are many other issues around this too. e.g. did you pay a deposit? And was that deposit put into a proper deposit scheme? If you did and it wasn't, then he can't even issue you with a Section 21 notice until he's registered the deposit.

So there's quite a lot to it. But the bottom line is: he can't turn up, can't change the locks, can't evict you, can't threaten you and can't get you out without following all the proper and legal processes.