S21 – Attending Possession Hearing

Kynthia

Mossfarr wrote: »

thesaint,

that is only a defence against the timescale the tenant is given to get out. They have no defence against eventual eviction with a S21 notice.
mossfarr

Of course tenants can defend it otherwise why would there be a hearing for the OP to attend? The judge would have granted possession automatically otherwise and the tenants would have received notice in the post.

The tenants may have put in a nonsense defense, or a potentially valid one such as that the S21 was invalid for some reason or not served to them. Therefore the OP will need to take all their evidence and paperwork such as:
Tenancy agreement including date when fixed term ended
Copy of S21 and proof of when it was served
Evidence that the deposit is correctly protected
Copies of all correspondence
Invoices for any work done on the property recently and a copy of the latest inspection report and inventory. (Although poor property standards isn't a valid defense to a S21 I'd want to be prepared to argue an allegation.)

theartfullodger

It is unusual for there to be hearings for s21 - usually matters are handle by the judge on his own looking at the paperwork. Are you sure it is a hearing not a request for paperwork??


It sounds like there is something wrong with landlord's paperwork or deposit protection or serving of PI.

Was PI served prior to s21 service??

Done any training or read any books on being a landlord??

Cheers!

mandm65

Thanks Guys for your input, much appreciated.

S21 was served, in order to avoid the hassle I engaged what I thought was a solicitor firm specialising in tenant evictions, please read my earlier post cowboy outfit.

Its is correct that court hearing is arranged because my tenants have put a defence forward but I am unable to share that as I have not received any documentation which indicates what defence my tenants have put forward, would it be possible to know the tenants defence in advance?

I am also suspecting that s21 may not have served correctly, (will find out on the day) considering the way cowboy outfit have been communicating with me, I have lost faith and seems considerable amount of money, unsure if I can recover that sum?

I also notice that they misspelled the tenants name, unsure if this can invalidate the S21?

DandelionPatrol

Mossfarr wrote: »

jjlandlord,
there is no defence to a S21. It is simply a notice that the landlord wants his property back, no reason has to be given.

For starters

• s21 not valid
• s21 incorrectly served
• deposit not protected iirc

mandm65 wrote: »

Thanks Guys for your input, much appreciated.

S21 was served, in order to avoid the hassle I engaged what I thought was a solicitor firm specialising in tenant evictions, please read my earlier post cowboy outfit.

Its is correct that court hearing is arranged because my tenants have put a defence forward but I am unable to share that as I have not received any documentation which indicates what defence my tenants have put forward, would it be possible to know the tenants defence in advance?

I am also suspecting that s21 may not have served correctly, (will find out on the day) considering the way cowboy outfit have been communicating with me, I have lost faith and seems considerable amount of money, unsure if I can recover that sum?

I also notice that they misspelled the tenants name, unsure if this can invalidate the S21?

You should contact the court to find out if they have put forward a defence. It is fairly fundamental to the court system that neither side gets ambushed on the day - except by things hidden in full view in the paperwork.

If the defence is that there are problems with the s21 notice, it is probably better to get the hearing cancelled rather than incur costs.

mandm65

DandelionPatrol wrote: »

You should contact the court to find out if they have put forward a defence. It is fairly fundamental to the court system that neither side gets ambushed on the day - except by things hidden in full view in the paperwork.

If the defence is that there are problems with the s21 notice, it is probably better to get the hearing cancelled rather than incur costs.

Its helpful to know that i can get the hearing cancelled, assuming S21 was served incorrectly.
Is there a way to get the money back i paid to the cowboy outfit?

DandelionPatrol

mandm65 wrote: »

Is there a way to get the money back i paid to the cowboy outfit?

Complaints procedure and suing. Be sure that there really is an error in the paperwork and that you are able to prove that you gave them the correct information.

Pixie5740

Have you joined a landlord association yet? I believe that you can get legal advice from them so they could help you check that the Section 21 currently issued is indeed valid and help you issue another one if necessary.

thesaint

mandm65 wrote: »

Its is correct that court hearing is arranged because my tenants have put a defence forward but I am unable to share that as I have not received any documentation which indicates what defence my tenants have put forward, would it be possible to know the tenants defence in advance?

The court should have forwarded you a copy of the defence put forward by the tenant(form N11B).

The court then invite you to write a response to the defence.
I believe the court forward your copy to the tenant.

I had this situation on the 8th July. The tenant made up a lot of lies on their defence, and didn't bother to show. The tenants defence was proved to be lies, but the judge still gave them an extra 2 weeks to leave.
They are due out tomorrow, but I am confident they will go nowhere.

mandm65

thesaint wrote: »

The court should have forwarded you a copy of the defence put forward by the tenant(form N11B).

They must have forwarded the copy of the defence put forward by the tenant to cowboy outfit. I have asked them but they are denying it, i will ring the court myself and ask them to send it to me.

thesaint wrote: »

I had this situation on the 8th July. The tenant made up a lot of lies on their defence, and didn't bother to show. The tenants defence was proved to be lies, but the judge still gave them an extra 2 weeks to leave.
They are due out tomorrow, but I am confident they will go nowhere.

I am keeping my finger crossed for you, hope all goes well for you.

G_M

Have you seen the S21?

What was date & method of service? What was expiry date? Was it a S21 (4)(a) or (1)(b)? If 4a and tenancy is periodic, what are the dates of periods? Did you take a deposit? Date taken? Was it registered? Date? PI served? Date?

If the S21 is clearly invalid for some reason, I would cut your losses - cancel the hearing and re-serve a new S21 properly and start again.

And use the complaints procedure for your 'legal advisers'......