S21 – Attending Possession Hearing

thesaint

G_M wrote: »

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.

It is not advisable to cancel the hearing for two reasons.

1. The OP will not get the fee returned anyway, so the hearing can be a fruitful fact-finding mission.
2. The "Cowboy outfit" will deny any claim(as they should) that anything was wrong with the claim they put forward, and that the claim would have succeeded if the landlord attended.

If the "Cowboy outfit" got it wrong, then the landlord would be well advised to have undeniable proof of this.

G_M

Good points.

Though it might also depend on timescales. I may have missed the date of the hearing, but if it's not soon, and OP is very keen to get possession, then re-serving now gets the ball rolling again.

franklee

Having read the OP's previous thread linked to I don't think there's enough to show the company he's used is a "Cowboy outfit". Evicting a tenant through section 21 is a well established process so long as the details are got right it should be straightforward. They come across as busy without time to explain the process to a rookie so the emails are hurried but not fundamentally wrong. (Given they are going for cheap at volume it's not surprising they are short of time to hand hold the client). They have been pro-active in chasing the courts when things took too long. Most importantly for the OP they are no win no fee so I'd let them get on with it and if they loose claim the fees back.

One point of confusion from the OP's third earlier thread is that it's seems like the OP served the S21 themselves, unless the firm served a fresh one? Does that affect the no win no fee?

If time is of the essence the OP could, after seeking appropriate advice, serve a new S21 without prejudice to the first one to start the next ball rolling. it would help to have seen the tenant's defence first to avoid making any mistake twice.

mandm65

G_M wrote: »

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'......

Yes the S21 was served by better half, it was checked by the 'legal advisers' and they deemed it valid. There was a small gap that Mrs did not keep the evidence of serving the s21 but my 'legal advisers' assured me that it was not a problem and asked me to complete a form, believe N215.

mandm65

thesaint wrote: »

It is not advisable to cancel the hearing for two reasons.

1. The OP will not get the fee returned anyway, so the hearing can be a fruitful fact-finding mission.
2. The "Cowboy outfit" will deny any claim(as they should) that anything was wrong with the claim they put forward, and that the claim would have succeeded if the landlord attended.

If the "Cowboy outfit" got it wrong, then the landlord would be well advised to have undeniable proof of this.

Thanks for that, i agree with you, its best to let it roll to establish some facts and yes lets see hope that things go according to the plan and i would not need to go after them.

I rang the court yesterday and it seems that my rotten luck continues, the clerk I spoke with could not see on the system hearing was due to my S21 was deemed invalid, in fact when I asked her for the copy of the tenants defence, she replied she could not see that on the system either. According to her the status in their system said that ‘the judge is not satisfied that I am entitled to a Possession order’, that’s all.
When I explained to her that in order for me to prepare for the hearing I would need to establish the facts hence need to know the tenant’s defence, she asked me to write to them and request a copy of the tenants defence.

I guess I need to ask my ‘legal advisers’ aka cowboy outfit and see what they can do, unsure by writing to court direct invalidate my claim to ‘no win no fee’!

mandm65

franklee wrote: »

Having read the OP's previous thread linked to I don't think there's enough to show the company he's used is a "Cowboy outfit".
Evicting a tenant through section 21 is a well established process so long as the details are got right it should be straightforward. They come across as busy without time to explain the process to a rookie so the emails are hurried but not fundamentally wrong. (Given they are going for cheap at volume it's not surprising they are short of time to hand hold the client). They have been pro-active in chasing the courts when things took too long. Most importantly for the OP they are no win no fee so I'd let them get on with it and if they loose claim the fees back.

One point of confusion from the OP's third earlier thread is that it's seems like the OP served the S21 themselves, unless the firm served a fresh one? Does that affect the no win no fee?

If time is of the essence the OP could, after seeking appropriate advice, serve a new S21 without prejudice to the first one to start the next ball rolling. it would help to have seen the tenant's defence first to avoid making any mistake twice.

Thanks for reading the previous post and perhaps highlighting that they may not as bad as appear. I guess its natural to draw conclusions when you expect professional service but disappointment creeps in quickly when what was delivered did not meet your expectations, especially when you are paying large sum of money for the service. Anyway I let the readers to draw their own conclusion and if they feel that they are following the procedure correctly and its just they are unable to communicate correctly then so be it.

Like I mentioned earlier that we served the S21 and they reviewed all the paper work including the tenancy agreement etc and they confirmed in writing (email) that all is in order.

Unsure how serving a new S21 under the current circumstance would be helpful? Beside if my ‘legal advisers’ are saying that it was correctly served then do I have the right to dispute that?

You are right that it would helpful to know the tenants defence, in fact, it would guide us for the next best course of action.

thesaint

As I read it, the Sec 21 paperwork is incorrect.
The judge may have made this decision by himself, or the tenants defence has cast doubt on it.

You would be advised to let us have a look at your Sec 21. You would need to redact all identifiers regarding names and addresses.

mandm65

thesaint wrote: »

As I read it, the Sec 21 paperwork is incorrect.
The judge may have made this decision by himself, or the tenants defence has cast doubt on it.

You would be advised to let us have a look at your Sec 21. You would need to redact all identifiers regarding names and addresses.

[FONT=&quot]Apology for the delay, was away for a few days. Anyway as requested i have created a copy of the S21 with all identifiers removed but how do I upload it?[/FONT]

martindow

mandm65 wrote: »

Yes the S21 was served by better half, it was checked by the 'legal advisers' and they deemed it valid. There was a small gap that Mrs did not keep the evidence of serving the s21 but my 'legal advisers' assured me that it was not a problem and asked me to complete a form, believe N215.

Did the T sign something acknowledging receipt of the S21 or do you have some other evidence that it was served? May be they have disputed receiving the S21.

It sounds to me as if the outfit you are using failed to let you know of the T's defence, no response was made to this defence and the judge then threw your claim out.

thesaint

mandm65 wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]Apology for the delay, was away for a few days. Anyway as requested i have created a copy of the S21 with all identifiers removed but how do I upload it?[/FONT]

You need to upload it to an image hosting site, such as photobucket, and then insert the link to the image.