neighbour being evicted, HELP!

princeofpounds

We need more details to be able to advise effectively, except to say that she should contact shelter and her council's private sector tenancy relations office.

In particular what is not clear is how she is being evicted and why. Depending on what stage she is at, under different processes, will make a lot of difference over what can be done.

In brief, if a court order has been given then she will need to apply to the court to have it stayed and for a new hearing. ASAP. Then she will need to contact her landlord direct - if it is true that the LA caused all these problems then they need to be removed as an intermediary in communications.

jenhug

I spoke to her briefly this morning, the LA put a hand delivered letter through her door this morning telling her to be out by the 11th of may. I think she has gone to the council now.
I will write the letter today and send directly to the LL, I have his home address.

Thank you so much for the advice so far, its greatly appreciated.

jenhug

Brb wrote: »

Can totally understand where you're coming from. I have exact same opposite feeling for my neighbour and wish her LL would evict her!

Sorry you have a cruddy neighbour, we have one we don't get along with, but they are more the check your tyre tread and car tax type neighbours, rather than all night party neighbours!

Brb

jenhug wrote: »

I spoke to her briefly this morning, the LA put a hand delivered letter through her door this morning telling her to be out by the 11th of may. I think she has gone to the council now.
I will write the letter today and send directly to the LL, I have his home address.

Thank you so much for the advice so far, its greatly appreciated.

The biggest problem you are facing is if LL has got the court order for possession. He's unlikely to want to lose the fees he's paid in order to file it (if online cost him £100, paper £150). It will also cost more for the court baliffs. I would suggest your neighbour asks to meet the LL in person and show proof that there are no arrears, of how his employees (the LAs) have messed her around and it is them that have orchestrated this situation.

jenhug wrote: »

Sorry you have a cruddy neighbour, we have one we don't get along with, but they are more the check your tyre tread and car tax type neighbours, rather than all night party neighbours!

I could bore you for hours. I'm just hoping she moves on soon *sighs deeply*.

princeofpounds

I spoke to her briefly this morning, the LA put a hand delivered letter through her door this morning telling her to be out by the 11th of may. I think she has gone to the council now.

Again, lacking enough details to advise.

IF the landlord does not yet have a court order then this letter means absolutely nothing at all. Only a proper valid notice (Section 21 or Section 8) can be used to *request* an eviction, and no-one is ever ordered to evict unless there is a cort order in place. A letter saying 'you must leave' has no legal validity otherwise.

IF the landlord does have a court order then the court should send a letter to the occupants. In which case the landlord doesn't need to deliver their own letter although conceivably they might do so just to keep the tenant up to date on the requirement to leave.

My intuition tells me that the fact that the LL has hand-delivered a letter may well mean that the tenant is in a position where they do not have to leave just yet, but without full details it is impossible to be sure.

jenhug

right, with neighbour now.

The paper work she was hand delivered today is a notice of eviction from the court, it says a warrant has been issued on 1st April, however they only posted it to her today.

This is the only communication she has had from the letting agent on paper.

According to the LA there was an arrears of £2.50, PCM and didn't inform anyone until it had built into a larger sum, which hs been cleared. Neighbour asked for statement of payments she has made, and they sent one but it does not include the extra payments she has now made. She is currently in credit with her rent of £200 but this is not showing on the statement.

According to the letting agent the LL wants her out due to his insurance on his mortgage, apparently he was in breach of insurance conditions (surely if house is unoccupied it will be worse??) I don't understand this myself!

Basically, at this stage of the game, is she able to appeal against this do you think? And what is the best way of doing this? Is it too far down the road now?

princeofpounds

I don't understand why the landlord or their agent was delivering court papers.

Re the courts, this is broadly what needs to happen but specific advice is better from shelter, or TRO at council, or a lawyer:

If a possession order is made your landlord must then apply to the court for what is called a "Warrant of Possession". This is an application for the court bailiffs to go to the property to evict you. The court bailiffs will usually visit the property and leave a note to tell you when they will next be coming to evict you.
If you want to stop an eviction then you must act quickly. You should go to the court and pick up a "Notice of Application Form" and apply for what is called a "Stay of Execution" (as long as your landlord is not relying on grounds 9, 10, 10A or 11).
Even if you have been evicted by a bailiff you can still apply to "Set Aside" the possession order but you must have good reasons. A good reason may be for example, that you did not receive the Summons and other court documents and that you have a defence to the action.
You can apply to set aside the possession order on a "Notice of Application Form" which you can pick up from the court.

And more generally she has to go speak to the landlord in person or in writing direct. The LA has shown to be untrustworthy and that explanation over insurance is gobbledegook which leads me to think that the messages are not being passed over properly.

jenhug

We wrote a letter last night to the LL and sent it recorded, direct to their home. I am going to send one myself asking them to let her stay. She is going to phone the court tomorrow to see if they can delay the warrant at all.

Thanks for the help. I will update.

G_M

Much more information needed.

Where are you? Eng?Wales or Scotland?
What type of contract is involved? Fixed Term tenancy? Started when? For how long?
What arrears if any remain?
What Notice has been received Wording? S21?
Has there been a court hearing? When? What did the court say?

RuthnJasper

The LAs sound like a nightmare! I hope this story has a happy conclusion for you and your neighbour (plus kids), Jenhug. I live in a rented HA property and my nice neighbours more than make up for anything else that I have to go without.

Good luck. x