Tenant Problem!! help please other landlords

marliepanda

Perhaps the personal circumstances of the tenant are making it difficult for her to move?

You want your property back, but you need to remember she is leaving her home, and right now legally it is her home. It's yours only when she is legally evicted or leaves of her own accord.

G_M

Just want to counter some of the comments above.

If it so happens that, at the point where the Landlord's circumstances, or tenants actions, make eviction the desired course of action, two months notice happens to expire on 28th December, that is just timing.

The landlord should serve notice via a S21 with two months notice, wherever that 2 months happens to fall.

Of course, the LL still has the option, as seems to be happening here, not to apply immediately to the courts, but to allow the festive season to end before taking that next step.

Halle71

It seems to have escaped some people's attention that the tenant has broken their contract while the OP has done things by the book.
I can't imagine there is a clause in any tenancy agreement that says a tenant cannot be asked to vacate a property at an inconvenient time in the calendar.

The tenant, who appears able to pay their rent, is either making a point by withholding it or using the situation as an excuse to avoid paying.

Even if the OP has the funds to cover the mortgage when the tenant does not pay or to cover voids, why should they be supporting another family? Lots of people have pointed out that landlords should be prepared for such costs so, by the same token, tenants should also be aware that they can be evicted if correct process is used - they sign contracts to this effect.

JencParker

nanna1959 wrote: »

I have already said that the timing was unfortunate, but personal circumstances which I will not go into dictated. She had a full 2 months notice, perfectly adequate to find somewhere, and has the wherewithal to pay, but chooses not to. I stopped being sympathetic when she stopped paying. Had she attempted to pay the rent, I may have been able to extend the notice period, but without this income I am unable to.

Perhaps being a landlord is not right for you if you do not have the back up funds to cover a short period without receiving rent to pay your mortgage.

tbs624

OP - I would not phone/text your T at this stage. Have you sent the T a formal Rent Statement? If not, then do so (keep a copy) and get on with serving the S8 as suggested by B&T.

Guest101

Halle71 wrote: »

It seems to have escaped some people's attention that the tenant has broken their contract while the OP has done things by the book.
I can't imagine there is a clause in any tenancy agreement that says a tenant cannot be asked to vacate a property at an inconvenient time in the calendar.

The tenant, who appears able to pay their rent, is either making a point by withholding it or using the situation as an excuse to avoid paying.

Even if the OP has the funds to cover the mortgage when the tenant does not pay or to cover voids, why should they be supporting another family? Lots of people have pointed out that landlords should be prepared for such costs so, by the same token, tenants should also be aware that they can be evicted if correct process is used - they sign contracts to this effect.

Let's try this again.

1: the tenant does not legally have to leave when notice is served. My point about dates was on a practical level, rather than a legal. But the relevant legal position is that the notice could expire 25th December. The tenant does not have to leave. - no matter what the contract says.

2: the fact the LL has a mortgage to pay is irrelevant as far as the tenant and LL contract is concerned. Ofcourse the T not paying rent is a breach and the LL has the option of going to court to recover these monies.

3: yes it is a business and the ll should plan better, for this very reason!

neas

I tend to sit in the middle of all the opinions stated above.

I believe it is all down to legal and moral implications.

From a legal perspective:

The S21 simply states on the 28th december I will start court proceedings to evict you, if of course you leave before, brilliant.

From a moral perspective:

1. When the landlord serves you with a s21 notice morally you should leave after 2 months to make it easy, you knew that could happen and forcing the landlord to go to court will just cause undue stress... unless the circumstances are difficult

2. Morally (again not legally) serving the tenant notice to leave on the 28th december is a nasty move, if I had to move my family out of the home 3 days after xmas I'd give you the middle finger.... because you are causing me to do the following ( incur additional expense moving, stress before xmas, additional expense with landlord deposit shenningans and contract fees (£300 for a new contract anyone?)

So legally everything has occured correctly, the landlord can now apply to court. Morally the tenant should've left but didn't but on the flip side the landlord is screwing the tenant as well a bit. I'm not suprised they need till the end of Jan. Probably the rent arrears is a way for the tenant to 'give back' the scrooge landlord.

All of 2 is irrelrevant from a business point though for moving forward. Simply go to court, get an eviction notice... Attempt to claim back money from tenant (Weigh up probability later maybe?). Keep things logical, unemotional and business like.

I'm assuming a good landlord who runs this as a proper business would factor in say 1-2 months a year on average where the property is empty and this would factor into other budget decisions i.e. keeping money aside for repairs/updates?

jamie11

What's with all this 'morally' business? Morals don't come into it. Neither should anything to do with Christmas. Renting is a business. It should be treated as one, and in that I include tenants and landlords alike, and bailiffs that tend to do sod-all for virtually the whole of the Christmas period.

Bribery as Artful suggests, is an equally bad practice, if it becomes generally known that some landlords will give a backhander to regain possession then all the 'cute' tenants out there are going to expect it.

One thing the OP needs to do now is check that paperwork for the council bond, if your council is anything like mine then there will be strict reporting and claiming procedures, miss one of their conditions and you'll lose the lot.

theartfullodger

neas wrote: »

I tend to sit in the middle of all the opinions stated above.

I believe it is all down to legal and moral implications.

From a legal perspective:

The S21 simply states on the 28th december I will start court proceedings to evict you, if of course you leave before, brilliant.

err... no, S21 simply allows the landlord to start court proceedings after expiry- there is no "I will" necessarily: He may well not - many landlords serve s21s early so,should they later wish to evict, they don't have the 2-month+ wait..

From a moral perspective:

1. When the landlord serves you with a s21 notice morally you should leave after 2 months to make it easy, you knew that could happen and forcing the landlord to go to court will just cause undue stress... unless the circumstances are difficult

Errr... no. An S21 does not end a tenancy, does not oblige a tenant to leave. A landlord has an absolute legal right to use S21 or other legal routes to evict. A tenant also has an absolute legal right to stay until carried out by bailiffs executing a court order, usually some months after s21 expiry. Morality?? See Proudhon "Property is theft".

Cheers!

Kynthia

OP, this is a consumer forum so you are going to get many views and opinions based more often on a consumer (tenant is this case) point of view. It is assumed that as a business person you can pay for professional advice rather than rely on forums should you need it, and you also have the option of joining a landlord association for their resources too. There are many current and ex-landlords here that will also give you good information, so try not to respond to every post you dissagree with. However you could try the landlordzone forum if you prefer, which also gives very accurate information to tenants too.

I would keep things professional with your tenant, no phone calls just letters and stick to facts (keeping copies in a file). Send a current rent statement showing arrears, then as the S21 has expired apply for possession now as it takes time to get and enforce. You can also serve a S8 as well and look into how to sue for your arrears.