Evicting a tenant (Updated at post #34)

Doozergirl

Hi,

My tenants are sporadic and part payers and now three months in arrears. We've been accommodating and friendly but it seems that they are the kind of people that take that as an excuse to walk over us. They both work and the rent is cheap. This month they are ignoring me entirely after I presented them with a statement of arrears last month. They said it was their intention to save up and move out. I suspect they have decided to use my rent to save a deposit to the poor sod that ends up with them next time.

There was no deposit, so nothing to protect. I have printed off a Section 8 and a Section 21 and have filled them out but I worried about getting it wrong. Is there someone that can check what I've done or would it best to pay someone to do it for me? The rent date is different to the tenancy date as we had agreed to move it to better suit payday.

I suspect that the arrears are lost once they decide to move, one of the risks of doing this, unless anyone has a successful experience of chasing back rent?

I suspect they'll move before any court dates etc but won't pay. They've certainly not given notice, I don't think they're intelligent enough.

DTDfanBoy

Why in God's name have you not taken a deposit ?

Pixie5740

Are you a member of a landlords association? If not it might be a good idea to join one so you can get help and advice for this kind of thing. Membership fees are also tax deductible.

If you can prove they owe you rent then you can pursue the tenants through the small claims court. You might not get all your money back but you might get some. You could even wind up getting them slapped with a CCJ. That will be a big red flag to any future landlords.

maninthestreet

You need those two from "Can't Pay? We'll Take it Away!"

silvercar

Sorry to here this.

The order of play is evict first then worry about chasing arrears.

This will go 2 ways, either they will start paying off the arrears before they are evicted or they will move out before court. Probably depends how quickly they find their next home.

landlordzone forum will (also) have people able to advise on correct wording of notices. Definitely go with S8 and S21, because if they clear some of the arrears S8 will fail and you will need S21.

Doozergirl

Thanks, silvercar.

I've had the world's longest text message this morning. We've got ourselves a professional tenant.

Upshot is that they say they are moving in January 'sometime'. She has quoted everything that I've ever learned about the eviction process and is demanding an eviction notice with 'correct dates'. Says we won't be able to remove her before April/May so she can leave in January if she wants to.

No point paying anyone, I'll send section 8 and section 21, wait until they've gone and go for small claims.

Pixie5740

Hmmmm....

You can't issue an eviction notice. Sure you can take the belt and braces approach and issue both a Section 21 and Section 8. Then if she doesn't move out you can use these notices to go to court and the court can grant an eviction notice providing all the paperwork is in order.

I wouldn't bother corresponding with this woman via text. Keep everything formal and communicate using good old fashioned letters....get proof of postage.

Good luck.

RAS

Two copies of all letters sent first class from two different post offices with free certificates of posting.

Do not text. Write.

And please get someone to check those section 8 and 21 notice before you send them, as getting them wrong will put you bakc months.

Remember that unless she gives you formal notice, the tenancy continues even after they leave; you cannot just re-let until the end of their formal notice or the court grants possession.

thesaint

What date did the tenancy start, and how long was the fixed term?
Was an end date of the tenancy specified?
What are the tenancy periods?

I would file a MCOL for the rent now.

G_M

Start a small claims action for the rent now. Might even scupper their mortgage application....... though this might rebound on you if they stay. Geting rid is best option.

Serve S21 and S8. (assuming they are not in fixed term).

Do you know where they work? Will you be able to find them once they move? Could you trace them later via friends or family?

Join a LL's Association and next time, please!, take a deposit!

sean_30

I can understand first hand how stressful this can be and how many sleepless and stressful night/days lie ahead.

Let me tell tell you one thing first that you need to understand, all rights are with the tenant and there is nothing apart from waiting that you can do until they leave or the courts get them out.
There are 2 possible paths that you can take to resolve this. The first is to do everything by the book, follow the legal path and hope that the tennants might not leave the property flooded, stripped, damaged, etc.

The second which I took and found it worked was to change the locks and unlawfully evict tenants, once the police turned up I walked away because I did not want to be arrested. Once they gained access to the property (I heard about)gluing the locks therefore, they have to call out a locksmith again. Finally remove all their belongings into a storage and inform them in writing. Be prepared to deal with Police, Shelter, Council and tenants but if you do not want to be walked over and made a fool out of these are the steps that you need to take to get them out quickly. As you said there is no deposit, no rent, they probably ruined the address by non payment of bills, council tax, etc.

For anyone who thinks this approach is wrong, they are right and I would advise to think carefully. Once my tenants left I was faced with £3000 repair bill and still facing possibilty of prosecution by Council. On the other hand if they stayed at the property I would still incurre the repair bill, 6-9 months without rent and same time in sleepless nights and stressful days.