S21 – Attending Possession Hearing

HappyMJ

mandm65 wrote: »

Like i said contract mentioned no deposit was taken.
HAH

Just to confirm....You didn't take a deposit?

The majority of LL's would insist on a deposit so you can deduct any damages from that. If they have damaged the property you would have to bring a county court claim against your tenants. If they've just left the property and not given you a forwarding address you won't know where they now live to bring a claim so may not be able to recover your losses at all. It's not recommended.

franklee

mandm65 wrote: »

Notice was posted by Mrs and we did not keep a record of that, hence I believe N215.

G_M asked what was the date & method of service?

You have said Mrs posted it but not on what date.

Given it was dated 28th Feb I'll assume it was posted first class on that day which was a Saturday. In which case it wasn't deemed served until Tue 3rd March. Allow two working days for first class postage. Therefore IMO the notice is too short and thus invalid. Two months would take you to 3rd May not 30th April.

I think you are going to have trouble proving you posted the notice before the day you dated it on, if that's what you did. Maybe at the hearing the judge will let you off, hard to predict but I wouldn't bank on it.

To get more accurate help it would help you if you answered the previous questions by telling us posting date and method e.g. was it first class post or what?

mandm65

franklee wrote: »

To get more accurate help it would help you if you answered the previous questions by telling us posting date and method e.g. was it first class post or what?

I can confirmt that it was posted same day, 28th Feb and it was first class post.
HAH

franklee

mandm65 wrote: »

I can confirmt that it was posted same day, 28th Feb and it was first class post.

Right then then notice is too short. Posting on a Saturday isn't deemed served that day, see my previous post. You would need a lot of goodwill from the judge to get possession with that as they are usually very particular about dates. I wouldn't count on it.

silvercar

franklee wrote: »

Right then then notice is too short. Posting on a Saturday isn't deemed served that day, see my previous post. You would need a lot of goodwill from the judge to get possession with that as they are usually very particular about dates. I wouldn't count on it.

Unless it was claimed that it was also hand delivered on 28th.

franklee

silvercar wrote: »

Unless it was claimed that it was also hand delivered on 28th.

Judges probably see people try it on all the time and they can probably spot it a mile away which isn't going to give the OP the benefit of any leeway the judge may have been planning to offer. The OP would easily get caught out in a lie as he will already have filled in details of service on the claim form. Good luck with saying he just "remembered" it was also served by hand with no evidence of that.

Besides which the 28th is a Saturday and thus not a working day. Tessa explains deemed service here which is a good guide to follow:

http://www.landlordlaw.co.uk/landlords/possession-notices/intro

"Personal service - If the document is served personally before 4.30p.m. on a business day, on that day; or in any other case, on the next business day after that day."

"Delivering the document to the property (eg putting it through the letter box, attaching it to the door, etc) after 4.30pm - the next business day"

alchemist.1

Date of service would be Monday, 2nd March if he posted it on the 28th Feb by first class post.

laidbackgjr

silvercar wrote: »

Unless it was claimed that it was also hand delivered on 28th.

And also very easy for the tenant to defend - by showing the judge the stamped envelope in which it arrived! If you do choose to hand deliver - you would need to create a good evidence - either good date & timed photograph or even better a signed receipt from the tenant.

mandm65

Right got the copy of the tenants defence, let me post the relevant sections.
His defence is that he is in fragile and ill health, summited a letter from his GP confirming that he has been receiving various treatments.
He accepts that he received the notice (section 3 of the claim) but says on 10/07/2015.
He also accepts that he received the notice (section 5 of the claim) but says on 10/07/2015.
When asked how long you wish to be allowed to remain in the premises, he says until end of November.
Also submits a supporting document which alleges that landlord bulling him and asking for cash payments, rent always paid by DD.
He concludes his supporting document by saying that he asked landlord in May to give him a few months to find alternative property, states that the local council is also looking for a suitable property for him, states that as soon as he finds alternative he will leave.
He also submits a letter from the local council confirming he attended a housing option appointment back in March.

So I leave it to the expert here to see where i stand, give me some pointers/perhaps how best to prepare myself for the hearing.
Cheers

Pixie5740

If I remember correctly from one of your previous threads you are trying to get rid of this tenant because his adult children moved in with him. He claims this is because his health isn't great and given that his GP has confirmed he is receiving various treatments this could be true. Is this all really worth getting rid of this particular tenant? Better the devil you know and all that.

If you do want to continue down this route then you'd better hunker down. It sounds as though he is going for social housing which will take a while.