Help re eviction, dodgy agent and landlord

Bantex_2

If you were given notice in March, why are you still there?

Tazzytazz

Bantex wrote: »

If you were given notice in March, why are you still there?

I was looking for places. I was working part time but lost my job. It's more difficult than ever to find a place now. In the meantime I have been paying my rent and kept everything up to date.

[Deleted User]

Bantex wrote: »

If you were given notice in March, why are you still there?

1. The notice was not legally valid
2. The (invalid) notice doesn't expire until May 9th
3. Notice is a request for possession, it does not oblige the tenant to leave
4. Numerous valid reasons for staying past notice period

There is no reason the OP should have left by now, even if we pretend the notice was valid. He has every legal right to remain in the property, he has done nothing wrong. Might be best to argue the morality of outstaying notice in another thread, one without a distressed OP who has potentially been illegally evicted from their home?

G_M

1) First you need to get back and establish if the Ll or agent has been into your home. And whether they have removed (stolen) any of your possessions. And whether they have locked you out.

If so, they have broken the crimanl law. See Protection from Eviction Act 1977. See also the Housing Act 1988 which states that only a court can evict a tenant.

Go to the police, quote the law. If you get told it's a civil matter, insist on speaking to a senior officer and making a complaint.

2) If the above has not happened, change the lock yourself to protect yourself from illegal eviction. It costs £5-15 for a new lock and takes 10 minutes with a screwdriver.

3) Pay your rent! Do not go into rent arrears. If the S21 Notice has expired, still pay your rent. If the fixed term of your tenancy has ended,
still pay your rent. Continue to pay till the tenancy actually ends and you leave.

3) You can only be evicted by a court, following a valid S21 Notice, or a S8 Notice.
A S21 will not be valid if your deposit is not registered, so a court will not order possession.
A S8 Notice is usually for rent arrears, so still pay your rent.

4) If you owe rent, the landlord/agent can chase your guarantor. Neither you nor the guarantor will get CCJs unless
a) you and/or he get taken to court AND
b) the court orders you to pay AND
c) you still fail to pay

but if you owe rent the best thing to do is to pay your rent. This
* protects you from a S8 Notice
* protects your guarantor from court action and
* is the right thing to do

[Deleted User]

Hey Tazzytazz, any news? :-)