I NEED help!!! Please

G_M

So the tenant is paying 2 months in advance each month?

So when/if he does leave, he will not need to pay rent for the final 2 months occupation?

I suspect this is a very dodgy and unreliable way to actually take a deposit and avoid protecting it. Bad advice!

You have no option but to use the courts to evict.

Going in and changing the locks will make you liable to "a fine not exceeding £400 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both;"

You need to find out if your agent has served a S8, or a S21 and what information/dates was on the Notice.

tbs624

Softly softly? Lazy , lazy LA.

S21 is a notice of intent to repossess - it's effectively a no fault notice but can't be used before the expiry of the FT.

LAs and LLs who try to circumvent the deposit regs will usually come unstuck, especially if hoping to rely on a S21.

S8 - can be Ground 8 (mandatory repossession) plus discretionary Grounds 10 and 11.

Google Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2

mrsdarbs

he has put a copy of the notice and rental statement in the post this afternoon as he said my solicitor will need them. He issued this time based on me needing to sell, nothing was mentioned of arrears!?

No he does not pay two months each time. He paid two months when he first moved in, then just one month, monthly. So he was always one month in advance. That then got used last year so now he pays at the beginning of May for May - does that make sense?

mrsdarbs

O h I have no bloody idea - this is why I paid a letting agent What a nightmare!

mrsdarbs

Yeah it was intention to repossess, but presumably with no deposit - that's sort of void - have I understood that right.

Sorry I'm not usually quite this dim, but extremely stressed, overtired, hormonal and just not dealing with all this news very well today!

tbs624

mrsdarbs wrote: »

he has put a copy of the notice and rental statement in the post this afternoon as he said my solicitor will need them. He issued this time based on me needing to sell, nothing was mentioned of arrears!?

No he does not pay two months each time. He paid two months when he first moved in, then just one month, monthly. So he was always one month in advance. That then got used last year so now he pays at the beginning of May for May - does that make sense?

...how does the tenancy agreement detail this extra "advance rent"? What was supposed to happen at the start of month 6? Was the T to pay monthly rent as usual and then receive back this "advance rent" at some point?

Or did the agreement state that the T paid as normal up to month 5 and then the "advance rent" was to be used for the final month?

tbs624

mrsdarbs wrote: »

O h I have no bloody idea - this is why I paid a letting agent What a nightmare!

Unfortunately, there is no requirement for a person setting up in business as an LA to have any prior LL& T knowledge, any specific training or qualiifications - despite the fact that they may be handling hundreds of thousand ££'s worth of other folks money and property.

tbs624

mrsdarbs wrote: »

Yeah it was intention to repossess, but presumably with no deposit - that's sort of void - have I understood that right.

Sorry I'm not usually quite this dim, but extremely stressed, overtired, hormonal and just not dealing with all this news very well today!

If any funds paidto you/the LA by the T can be shown to be a tenancy deposit then the law requires that it was scheme registered and the prescribed info from the scheme must be passed to the T. No registration = no valid S21 may be served.

That's not the same as "no deposit = no valid S21"

If there was categorically nothing that could be construed to be a deposit then the S21 will be fine, if served/timed correctly and you/the LA can show that the T was appropriately served with the S21..

If your LA is useless you may want to think about signing up to LandlordLaw (run by a specialist LL& T solicitor) or one of the national LL associations just to guide you through bringing the tenancy to an end properly . You can set down the membership fee on your tax return ( you are declaring the rental income to HMRC?)

mrsdarbs

The agent is a very close family friend's father - whom I had trusted. Won't make the mistake of mixing business and pleasure again. On two occasions previously I had gone to change agents. The first time I was living in NI and I was going to sort it when we was back local, but that was a previous tenant and the LA sorted it. The second time round I was going to go in to see a new LA, but went into hospital and had my son instead and since then (Oct last year) my husband and I have been focussing on family time as we knew he'd be going to Afghan in Feb and he had all the training etc - didn't really give the flat much thought - rent was coming in, albeit the lower amount, but it was a case of something is better than nothing. Now all this!

I will get the tenancy agreement and re-read it now.

mrsdarbs

Just says:

"xxx for each rental period payable in advance on the first day of each such rental period. 2 months rent taken in advance.

No deposit taken."