Tenancy Help!!

Matthew402007

Hi

I am in a 12 month tenancy with my friend, but my friend has moved out to live with her boyfriend, and I am 2 months in arrears with the rent, however I now have the money to clear all of my arrears, but my landlord does not want it.

He says if we are both not out by the 20th, in ten days, he is serving us with an eviction notice.

Does this mean I will get a CCJ? How long will the eviction notice give me to move out?

I want to just put all the arrears into his bank account, but I am afraid that he will take the money, and give me the eviction notice anyway because my friend has moved out (which he says has now broken the contract because she no longer lives here).

I need more time to find a place than 10 days

But I dont want a CCJ either, what should I do?

I cant talk to my landlord as hes set on what he wants.

Thanks

BitterAndTwisted

Are you still in your fixed-term? What date did the tenancy start? Are you on a joint-tenancy? This is important, so please answer these questions.

Whatever happens your landlord cannot just "refuse" to accept the rent. If he is determined to evict you he will have to serve you with the correct documentation (possibly a Section 8 Notice from the sound of it) and then go to court to secure your eviction. The courts are quite busy these days so waiting for a court date could take a month or two, very possibly longer.

Just because your pal has moved out does not necessarily mean their legal obligation to pay their rent has ended and it does not mean that they have "broken" the contractual agreement.

Matthew402007

Hi,

Yes I am only in month 4 of my 12 month tenancy. I have my landlords bank details so I could just put it in there. But my fear is that I will get the section 8 notice anyway, and then have zero money to secure anywhere else.

Would I have to attend court? Would I get a CCJ even if I paid all the rent? The rent is due again on the 21st, I do not want to be 3 months in arrears, so I wanted to just pay it off now.

Matthew402007

Sorry, and my tenancy started on the 21st of February.

BitterAndTwisted

If you are less than two months in arrears your landlord will not be able to issue you with a Section 8 Notice. You will have to owe two months of rent on the day the Section 8 is issued and also owe two months of rent on the day of the court hearing or your landlord's application will fail. That is assuming the landlord is willing to play it legally.

n.b.: two month's rent owed is not the same as in arrears because rental agreements require you to pay the rent one month in advance.

You still haven't answered the question about whether this is a joint-tenancy. If you are on a joint-tenancy your obligation is the pay the whole of the rent in full, not just "your share" and your pal's obligation has not ended just because they have chosen to move out.

If you have the rent due and can pay it, I can't see that there is anything stopping you from paying it into the landlord's bank account to prevent your being issued with that Section 8.

Matthew402007

Wow this information is amazing!

Yes, it is a joint tenancy. We both signed it for 12 months.

But she has moved out into her boyfriends apartment now, but I have a friend who stays with me most of the time, and she is willing to pay the other half of the rent.

Although ofcourse I do not have to state that officially, as I can afford to pay the rent in full myself anyway now.

Can he not serve an eviction notice due to my friend moving out, and breaking the contract?

Is there any other way he can evict me, if I pay this rent owed into his account? Its really all I have, and I need to keep this contract alive, because 10 days just is not enough time to find anywhere else, and pass all the referencing etc.

The landlord has already text me with "If your not out by the 20th I will serve an eviction notice, I want you out", and I have only ever met him once.

Ofcourse with me being late on the rent, it has rightly annoyed him, I have apologised a lot, and I need to keep the property, and not get a CCJ.

Werdnal

B&T's advice above is spot on, but also beware that even if you pay off the rent owed, making the S8 option unavailable to your LL, he may still be peeved enough about you letting yourself get behind with rent, that he will issue you a S21 notice. This will give you 2 month notice (probably to co-incide with the end of you fixed term) that he will apply for possession order to evict you.

My advice would be to pay off your arrears now, but be prepared to start looking for alternative accommodation for when your fixed term ends. This LL sounds well pee'd off (wouldn't you be if you had a bad paying tenant), so will not want you staying long term anyway!

dancingfairy

He doesn't seem to understand lettings very well your landlord. He can 'want you out' as much as he likes but there is such a thing as a contract and the law to consider.
It's not good that you are behind with the rent but all he can do is apply to the courts stating you are 2 months (or more_ behind with the rent) and it's up to the courts to then decide. If you paid the rent up to date you wouldn't then be 2 months behind so the court action would fail.
He might be rightly cross/annoyed that the rent is behind but he can't threaten you.
Are you 100% sure there is no break clause in your contract at the 6 month mark? if not then I don't see how he can evict you before the end of the 12 months. He can apply to the courts to say you have broken the tenancy with one person having moved out but that will be at the courts discretion.
Phone Shelter and have a chat with them but I don't think you need to worry about having to move out just yet.
df

BitterAndTwisted

Matthew402007 wrote: »

Yes, it is a joint tenancy. We both signed it for 12 months.

In which case you are BOTH legally-bound until the end of the AST in eight month's time. The landlord could decide to issue you with a Section 21 Notice but cannot bring the tenancy to an end before that date.

But she has moved out into her boyfriends apartment now, but I have a friend who stays with me most of the time, and she is willing to pay the other half of the rent.

Having a friend move in brings about another complication for your landlord in that there is someone resident who does not have a formal tenancy.

Although of course I do not have to state that officially, as I can afford to pay the rent in full myself anyway now.

Can he not serve an eviction notice due to my friend moving out, and breaking the contract?

No, he can't because your friend has not "broken the contract". Even though they have chosen not live in the property they still have a legally obligation as do you. If your friend decides not to continue to pay their share of the rent there is nothing stopping you from going to court and claiming it from them.

Is there any other way he can evict me, if I pay this rent owed into his account? Its really all I have, and I need to keep this contract alive, because 10 days just is not enough time to find anywhere else, and pass all the referencing etc.

If you pay down the rent owed to less than two months there is nothing on this earth that the landlord can do to legally evict you. Be assured that you WILL NOT have to find another property with only ten day's notice IF the landlord is prepared to go down the legal route.

The landlord has already text me with "If your not out by the 20th I will serve an eviction notice, I want you out", and I have only ever met him once.

That may be what he thinks but that does not reflect reality.

Ofcourse with me being late on the rent, it has rightly annoyed him, I have apologised a lot, and I need to keep the property, and not get a CCJ.

Pay the rent owed and contact your "pal" and tell her that her legal obligation still stands, regardless of whether she chooses to live with you or not and that you will chase her through the courts to secure her share of the rent if necessary.

It_can_get_better

The landlord can still start proceedings under section 8 during the fixed term even if the arrears are less than 2 months. What they won't be able to use is Ground 8, but can still use discretionary grounds 10 and 11. It is then up to the court to decide if it is reasonable to evict.

BitterAndTwisted

dancingfairy wrote: »

Are you 100% sure there is no break clause in your contract at the 6 month mark? if not then I don't see how he can evict you before the end of the 12 months.

Good point about the possibility of a break-clause, I'd overlooked that.



He can apply to the courts to say you have broken the tenancy with one person having moved out but that will be at the courts discretion.

No, he can't. There's no such thing as "breaking the tenancy" by one person choosing to move out. Their joint-liability still stands whether either or both of them choose to live in the property or not. They are both legally-bound to pay the rent in full and on time until the fixed-term expires if there is no break-clause. This is what needs to be impressed upon the co-tenant very forcefully indeed