Tenant with 3 mths rent arrears!

Dragon_Lily

I'm looking for information to give to a friend who told me that her tenant of 2 years, who has always paid the rent on time has not paid the rent for 3 mths! :eek: She really needs the extra income from the rental of the property (which was her mothers old house). The tenant has a rolling tenancy ie month by month not a fixed tenancy.

The tenant initially told her that she had lent a friend some money and they hadn't paid her back, another story was that the rent had been paid into the wrong bank account. The tenant has said that she will be getting a bonus at the end of the year which would clear the arrears. Of course I have told my friend that this sounds like another story and is probably not true. She really concerned that she will have to go down the route of re-possession but she is not sure of the process.


My friend has since given the tenant a letter outlining the rent arrears and stating that if rent is not paid continually from the end of June she would start legal proceedings.


Does anyone know how my friend would stand regarding evicting the tenant if she needed to if the tenant doesn't continue to pay the rent and the arrears?

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

Guest101

Dragon_Lily wrote: »

I'm looking for information to give to a friend who told me that her tenant of 2 years, who has always paid the rent on time has not paid the rent for 3 mths! :eek: She really needs the extra income from the rental of the property (which was her mothers old house). The tenant has a rolling tenancy ie month by month not a fixed tenancy.

The tenant initially told her that she had lent a friend some money and they hadn't paid her back, another story was that the rent had been paid into the wrong bank account. The tenant has said that she will be getting a bonus at the end of the year which would clear the arrears. Of course I have told my friend that this sounds like another story and is probably not true. She really concerned that she will have to go down the route of re-possession but she is not sure of the process.


My friend has since given the tenant a letter outlining the rent arrears and stating that if rent is not paid continually from the end of June she would start legal proceedings.


Does anyone know how my friend would stand regarding evicting the tenant if she needed to if the tenant doesn't continue to pay the rent and the arrears?

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

Section 8 & 21 notice, takes about 2-3 months

if that's the route to go, happy to assist

theartfullodger

IMHO people should stick to contracts - ie landlords should provide the required quality of property & repair if needed promptly, tenants should pay on time.

I would have not left it that long nor given her more time, but stated rent required immediately:

Strongly suggest she issues, today, s21 & s8 (ground 8, 10 & 11) notices. If rent still not paid end June then the 14 day expiry on s8g8 will be up so she can apply to the court.

IMHO a landlord in these circumstances wants a possession order: Having got one he can decide if he wishes to be patient & flexible, and see if the tenant starts paying on time in full.. or not...

Does your "friend" not have the ability to post a simple question and/or ask advice?

S21 only valid if deposit protected correctly - was it? S8 easily defending if there are repair issues, even those only the tenant thinks are repair issues.

Landlords who "really need the income" from a property probably should not be landlords... they need to be able to handle a rainy day (eg major roof repair) or the tenant (or agent..)-from-hell who doesn't pay for 7 months: And handle both financially & emotionally.

Marktheshark

Section 8 is the one for rent arrears.
Served on its own will get accelerated possession for rent arrears.

HOWEVER :
Go round and speak with them first, I know of one Landlord who threw the teddy and served a S8 only to turn up to enforce it with bailiffs to find undertakers at the house, she had lost her job and died of aggressive breast cancer.
Paying bills was probably not high on her list at the time.

benjus

Marktheshark wrote: »

Section 8 is the one for rent arrears.
Served on its own will get accelerated possession for rent arrears.

Accelerated possession is only available for Section 21. Section 8 will require a court hearing.

G_M

S8 Notice.

During either a Fixed Term tenancy or Statutory Periodic Tenancy, a S8 Notice can be used by a landlord, but he must still go to court. There are 17 specific grounds a S8 can be issued – the most common is rent arrears (Ground 8), & for this a landlord can go straight to court without a notice period. For a mandatory possession order, the tenant must owe at least two months rent both when the S8 Notice is served by the Landlord, and when the case comes to court.

Example S8 Notice (seeking possession for rent arrears etc)

Schedule 2 (17 S8 Grounds a LL can use)

Algar

G_M wrote: »

S8 Notice.

During either a Fixed Term tenancy or Statutory Periodic Tenancy, a S8 Notice can be used by a landlord, but he must still go to court. There are 17 specific grounds a S8 can be issued – the most common is rent arrears (Ground 8), & for this a landlord can go straight to court without a notice period. For a mandatory possession order, the tenant must owe at least two months rent both when the S8 Notice is served by the Landlord, and when the case comes to court.

Example S8 Notice (seeking possession for rent arrears etc)

Schedule 2 (17 S8 Grounds a LL can use)

No, ground 8 still requires 14 days before a court date can be applied for, it's only g.14 that can allow you to apply for a court date on the same date.

Dragon_Lily

Thanks to the posters who have provided constructive and useful responses. My friend has looked at Section 8 & 21 but was a little confused about which one to follow. She's not very computer savy, hence me asking the question on here, as i know there are some very knowledge people on this forum.

G_M

Dragon_Lily wrote: »

Thanks to the posters who have provided constructive and useful responses. My friend has looked at Section 8 & 21 but was a little confused about which one to follow. She's not very computer savy, hence me asking the question on here, as i know there are some very knowledge people on this forum.

This post will explain how a LL can end a tenancy:


* Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

Briefly:

S21 can be used after any fixed term has ended. No reason is needed. 2 months notice is required (plus some other conditions).

S8 can be used at any time. A reason is required. For S8 Ground 8, the reason is rent arrears. Notice as explained above! (apologies).

You friend may not be computer literate, but more worryingly, given that she's a landlord, is she is not very property-letting literate!

Dragon_Lily

G_M wrote: »

This post will explain how a LL can end a tenancy:


* Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

Briefly:

S21 can be used after any fixed term has ended. No reason is needed. 2 months notice is required (plus some other conditions).

S8 can be used at any time. A reason is required. For S8 Ground 8, the reason is rent arrears. Notice as explained above! (apologies).

You friend may not be computer literate, but more worryingly, given that she's a landlord, is she is not very property-letting literate!

Thanks GM

I agree regarding your last point. I've passed on the info about Section 8, which sounds more suitable for her situation and also advised her about maybe joining a landlord association or something which will help her in future. I wouldn't want to be that ignorant when renting out property even its just one house!

AndyAtu

G_M wrote: »

This post will explain how a LL can end a tenancy:


* Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

So, at the end of FT on AST, a tenant can simply vacate the property without the two months notice, e.g. a couple of weeks notice, provided all rent is paid on time and up to the last month of the AST?