Tenant going to lose their job

fozzeh

I'm into month 8 of my current tenant being in the house (6 months through EA, 2nd privately).

She is in the process of (probably) losing her job (was made redundant 9 months ago, paid for 6 months up front from 31/12/10 and on temporary contract with her current one) and will be looking at claiming housing benefits.

As the landlord, is there anything I need to do if she does get sacked? She has enough for months 3 and 4 of the current agreement and says she can get up to £600 pcm towards her rent costs based on a preliminary evaluation, which is more than enough based on her current rent.

Do I need to worry too much at this stage?

Thankfully, tenancy agreement has a gaurantor in place!

Thanks

BUTTERS

I would say you do not have to worry too much. She has kept you updated on her situation and is already looking at if she can afford the rent later down the line.

Having the guarantor in place is great thing if things do come to the worst.

theartfullodger

You've much less to worry about than tenant.. she sounds like she's doing all you could ask for at presnt.

Hope it works out for you both..

££sc££

I don't think so. Especially if she has monies available to cover any delay in her claim being assessed before payment is made to her from council. Our local council is currently taking about 2.5 months to assess claims due to a big back log although councils vary vastly.

Benji

It may be prudent to issue the tenant with a section 21 notice to expire at the end of her current fixed term. This doesn't kick her out - it just means that if there are payment problems you can apply to the court for possession under section 21 immediately. S21 is not always the best bet for evicting with arrears, but will be the quickest once the expiry date is reached.

This may help http://tenancyanswers.ucoz.com/index/ast_tenants_not_in_breach_of_contract/0-37

If you feel bad issuing the s21 in the tenants current circumstances, you can wait but remember it will always need to have at least 2 months between service and expiry.

LydiaJ

If you really must issue a S21, then at least explain that you don't really want her out and are just covering your bases. But it would be better to leave it for now if you can. At the moment she's doing everything she can to keep you informed and maintain a positive relationship with you. If you go in all heavyhanded, issuing a S21 before there's any indication that she won't pay, then you'll add some serious stress to what is presumably already a difficult situation for her, and you may lose her goodwill. And you really don't want to lose her goodwill if you can help it.

Benji

LydiaJ wrote: »

then you'll add some serious stress to what is presumably already a difficult situation for her, and you may lose her goodwill. And you really don't want to lose her goodwill if you can help it.

Benji wrote: »

If you feel bad issuing the s21 in the tenants current circumstances, you can wait but remember it will always need to have at least 2 months between service and expiry.

It is always a difficult balance between protecting the landlords wallet and the tenants feelings in what is obviously a difficult time. As the poster is a landlord, I think it is important that he has information about protecting himself - only he can judge how appropriate a specific course of action would be.

franklee

Benji wrote: »

It may be prudent to issue the tenant with a section 21 notice to expire at the end of her current fixed term. This doesn't kick her out - it just means that if there are payment problems you can apply to the court for possession under section 21 immediately. S21 is not always the best bet for evicting with arrears, but will be the quickest once the expiry date is reached.

This may help http://tenancyanswers.ucoz.com/index/ast_tenants_not_in_breach_of_contract/0-37

If you feel bad issuing the s21 in the tenants current circumstances, you can wait but remember it will always need to have at least 2 months between service and expiry.

Leaving a S21 notice dangling over a tenant's head (Sword of Damocles) is pretty rotten IMO, especially she hasn't done anything wrong yet. I'm sure the law intends a tenant get two months notice before a landlord can start possession proceedings but if the landlord actively says a tenant can stay, and the tenant falls for it thus wasting the notice period, then in effect they are left without the right to notice. Which of us would like to live with a landlord who, without any further warning, can start eviction proceedings? To make that worse a tenant may think twice about keeping the landlord informed if they are penalised for it and next time may keep quiet to avoid a precautionary S21. IMO it's an appalling way to treat a good tenant who, when the housing benefits come through, may well carry on being a good tenant. It's about time this loophole was closed.

Plus a couple of Painsmith's comments call into question the validity of an S21 where the landlord indicates a tenant can stay after serving it although I realise a number of you landlordzone peeps don't agree with this point.

fozzeh

Cheers for all of the above.

She is a good tenant and wants to stay in the house (has done it up quite nicely with the work she has done) and think she is a genuine person.

I think it is good that she has kept me informed within a reasonable timescale...at least I have nothing to worry about in the immediate future. Just hope it all pans out nicely...don't fancy having to muck around sorting things out 40 miles away when we have a new babba in October!