Should I serve Section 21?

whiskywhisky

Hi

I rent a property to someone who is now over 2 months late on the rent, additionally she rarely answers the door or phone therefore I am unable to make a plan for repaying. She appears geniune and nice but just does not have the money and is unemployed and puts what money she gave afford into my letter box every now and then. Additionally the house is very messy and she has pets, which on the tenancy stated was not allowed.

The 6 month short hold started on 17/09/2010 and will expire in 1 week. I have tried reading up on this from various websites and must say am quite confused. I basically need her out asap, do I serve a Section 21 A or B, plus is it in my benefit to do this before the tenancy expires or after? Or have I completely lost it and should be using section 8?

Any help gratefully recieved.

casperlarue

You have left it too late to issue a S21 for your tenant to leave at the end of her 6 months, from 17th March she will be on a periodic tenancy so you will have to give her 2 months notice although you don't have to give a reason why; just that you want the property back.

You need to issue the S21 on or before 16th March giving 2 clear rent periods notice for her to leave by 16th May. This will be the earliest date you can regain possession of the property.

nikki1520

If you do a section 8, you have to give a minimum of two weeks notice, then probably go to court to get an order for her to move out. If you give a s21 notice, it has to be 2 months notice, but you can get an accelerated posession order after this.

She will probably be told by a housing officer not to move out unless she has been given a court order. If she leaves before, they won't help her with housing as she's made herdelf voluntarily homeless. Of course, the same thing applies if she has not been paying the rent (but they dont seem to mention this)

You can only use the S21 after the end of the AST. You can use the S8 as soon as she is a full 8 weeks in arrears. However, if you issue a s8, and then she pays enough that she isn't 8 weeks in arrears, this will fail, even if she's only paid £10. I would suggest issuing a s8 and a S21 at the same time, then hopefully you'll get your house back within 3-4 months.

And join a landlord association. This is when they come in handy! Especially for "part time" landlords like you and I.

whiskywhisky

Thanks casperlarue - your rght and I know I have been too late and too soft.

So I serve a S21 A - which I will be record posting, so will be sending in the next couple of days.

Regarding the section 8 - does that not apply to me?

Thanks

theartfullodger

whiskywhisky wrote: »

Hi

I rent a property to someone who is now over 2 months late on the rent, additionally she rarely answers the door or phone therefore I am unable to make a plan for repaying.

She doesn't have to answer door or 'phone to you - sounds like you've been trying to contact her frequently - court might find that harassment - suggest a calm & polite letter enquiring where the £££ is please...(keep copy)

She appears geniune and nice but just does not have the money and is unemployed and puts what money she gave afford into my letter box every now and then.

So she can claim she paid you, say, £550 but you only got £50. You are confirming all payments in writing the next day keeping copy?>? Do you & she have an agreed and documented rent arrears position?? If not the court case could be iffy...

Additionally the house is very messy and she has pets, which on the tenancy stated was not allowed.

Tough: As long as she returns place as-was, less fair-wear-'n-tear she can have it a messy as she likes, it's none of your business. Pets & messiness you could try for breach of tenancy agreement but no judge would grant possession on that: Anyway you can rely of S21 & S8.

Suggest you offer her money to go at end of fixed term, it will probably be cheaper.

There is nothing to stop you, after she leaves, suing for rent owed, but if she has no job you probably won't get it..

Cheers!

Artful

whiskywhisky

nikki - thanks very informative. If you are a part time landlord I should be regarded as a numpty landlord

Anyway just to clarify with user casperlarue earlier, do you know if it ok to serve both of these together before the tenancy finishes or after, or does it not matter.

Thanks

nikki1520

Teh S8 you can serve as soon as you are owed 2 months rent. The section 21 you can serve at any time, but must end on the last day of a rent period -in your case the 16th. If you get it in quick, you can run that to the 16th May.

Numpty - lol!! Don't be so hard on yourself - wasn't more than three months ago I was finding out all the samme stuff. Try the Landlordzone website - very helpful with lots of templates to use.

whiskywhisky

Artful - with the calls and knocking on doors. I will note not to do this excessively.

I have a spreadsheet where I have noted the exact amounts and the dates, but as the lady drops it throught the letter box have no signatures etc.

Regarding the mess and pets, I am with you and am happy for tenants live how they wish as it is their house. I made that point just in case it helped my case when asking which section to serve.

Thanks

whiskywhisky

Cheers Nikki will do as you suggested.

tbs624

nikki1520 wrote: »

If you do a section 8, you have to give a minimum of two weeks notice, then probably go to court to get an order for her to move out.

OP - please be aware that a T can defeat S8, G8, G10 Notice by paying down some/all of the unpaid rent immediately prior to a hearing

nikki1520 wrote: »

You can only use the S21 after the end of the AST.

That should read "after the expiry date of the *Fixed term*" if served correctly within that FT ( EDIT: or) after the expiry of a clear two months worth of rental periods if within a stat periodic

nikki1520 wrote: »

You can use the S8 as soon as she is a full 8 weeks in arrears.

If the T pays rent monthly then it is two months, not 8 weeks, and it's rent *unpaid*. OP - S8, G8 is a mandatory ground for repossession , and S8, G10 and G11 (usually served alongside) are discretionary grounds

I would intially give the T a written Rent Statement and formally request that she brings her rent payments up to date within 7 days. Tell her in an accompanying letter that her tenancy is at risk. Perhaps she is trying to claim LHA and there are genuine delays?

As Artful says ,a T is entitled to view the property as his/her home and live how they like for the duration of the tenancy provided that the property is returned in the same condition as when let to them ,save for FW&T.

Did you take a tenancy deposit and if yes, have you scheme registered it and given the T the prescribed infor from the scheme (Eng / Wales) If you haven't scheme registered it then you will be unable to serve a valid S21 until you do so. If you make an error with the dates on your S21 you will effectively be back at square one.

tbs624

whiskywhisky wrote: »

... I will be record posting, so will be sending in the next couple of days.

If you are going to serve Notices on't send via RD - T is likely to rail to sign for it and it will be left languishing at the PO. Send two copies from different POs, and obtain a cert of posting for each.