section 21

tibbers

Hi all,
My stepson has been issued with a section 21 as the landlord requires his flat back. He has to be out by 16th september. He went to see the housing ppl, as he will be homeless, they then rang the letting agency and they told him that if he paid his rent on time, (was due 17th aug and he paid it), then he can stay in the flat but he has to have another flat inspection (it was very untidy etc last one), and if there is no more complaints, then all is good.
Also for the past 2 weeks, the agency have been asking for proof of id from ourselves as were guarantors, and from my stepson. I rang and asked them why they are asking now for id as he is supposed to be moving out, and he has been in the property for over a year! I told them he had shown his passport and hubby had showed his driving licence to the agents when he moved in last year, but she said there is no record of this and needs the ids for audit reasons.
Needless to say, stepson is confused as to why the section 21 was issued in the first place saying that landlord wants his flat back, but agents are saying he can stay now hes paid his rent, depending on the other conditions. And why are they asking for photo ids now?

Guest101

tibbers wrote: »

Hi all,
My stepson has been issued with a section 21 as the landlord requires his flat back. He has to be out by 16th september. He went to see the housing ppl, as he will be homeless, they then rang the letting agency and they told him that if he paid his rent on time, (was due 17th aug and he paid it), then he can stay in the flat but he has to have another flat inspection (it was very untidy etc last one), and if there is no more complaints, then all is good.
Also for the past 2 weeks, the agency have been asking for proof of id from ourselves as were guarantors, and from my stepson. I rang and asked them why they are asking now for id as he is supposed to be moving out, and he has been in the property for over a year! I told them he had shown his passport and hubby had showed his driving licence to the agents when he moved in last year, but she said there is no record of this and needs the ids for audit reasons.
Needless to say, stepson is confused as to why the section 21 was issued in the first place saying that landlord wants his flat back, but agents are saying he can stay now hes paid his rent, depending on the other conditions. And why are they asking for photo ids now?

1: he doesn't need to move out, s21 does not end a tenancy

on a side note, but optional:
2: the way he keeps his flat is not at all anyone's business, ignore the 'inspection'
3: ignore the request for Id
4: ask the letting agent why they're discussing his tenancy with a 3rd party

theartfullodger

When was did the last signed tenancy start? If after 01/10/2015 there are new requirements for s21. Even if before many landlords get them wrong..

Stepson needs do nothing, just see what landlord does next.

That the landlord "wants it back" is all very interesting but until stepson is evicted after valid notice, court order then bailiffs it's his home, his property, and he doesn;t have to leave if he doesn't want to.

csgohan4

Either way he needs to look for somewhere else as the LL is wanting him out eventually.


If he goes down the wait for the bailiffs route, he will find it difficult to get a good reference for onward housing in private renting.


If he withdraws rent he will also find potentially a CCJ against his name which will affect future credit applications.

tibbers

His agreement was signed 17/7/15 and was for 6 months. that has now ended and is on a rolling month to month one, no new contract has been signed. Infact, the only contract that was signed was when he moved in, and that has been lost by universal credit when he had to send it of to them as proof he was renting last year for housing benefit. If he wants another contract, he has to pay £60 for a new one...

So if we hold back on the photo ids, will we get into trouble or do they really need them?

dancingfairy

Sounds a bit if a mess to be honest. No offence but are you getting the full story? It seems odd that the letting agents have said he can stay if he pays his rent and have now started worrying about having a guarantor . The letting agents appear to have discovered they don't have the correct paperwork from an internal point of view regarding you as guarantors. So what? This isn't your problem. One wonders whether they actually managed to get the guarantee set up properly in the first place. I suspect not (which may actually be in your favour).
What has been received in writing regarding notice? Just the s21? It seems very odd that the agents have said he can stay if he pays his rent.
He can either start looking for a new place and serve his own notice.
Or he can try and get 'confirmation' from the letting agents that he can stay if he pays the rent, which will invalidate the s21 which means they will have to serve it again, giving him a few more months to get a deposit etc together.
If he can't find somewhere under his own steam and doesn't want to argue that the letting agents said he can stay then he will need to wait and see when/ if the landlord goes to court for possession. This is not a nice position to be in but if he can't find somewhere himself then he unfortunately will have to let the process take its course and obviously not be in control of timings etc.
Regards
Df

dancingfairy

Either stepson is lying and there are rent arrers or the letting agents or council is lying as to what was said/ agreed or the letting agents are seriously confused and incompetent. Obviously you are best placed to know what's going on here.
Df

mrginge

Sounds like the s.21 is a being used as a bit of a nudge to me.

So if you want the nudge to be carried through, then by all means simply ignore the agents requests.

Clearly nudges like that only get applied if there is a reason to do so, so perhaps tell your stepson to pull his finger out?
I don't think advice such as 'do nothing' is going to be particularly beneficial to your stepson's situation

tibbers

dancingfairy wrote: »

Either stepson is lying and there are rent arrers or the letting agents or council is lying as to what was said/ agreed or the letting agents are seriously confused and incompetent. Obviously you are best placed to know what's going on here.
Df

There are no rent arrears, the problem arose when he left his job 2months ago, due to drugs, (he was clean of drugs when he moved in, but relapsed in Jan this year), applied for Universal Credit of which they told him he would be sanctioned as he left his job of his own accord. He informed the agents that he had lost his job, so they knew he wouldnt be able to afford his rent for august. They had had complaints about ppl coming and going all hours of day and night, making a noise up and down the outside stairs. The agents also know that he is a drug addict, and it clearly states in the agreement, "no smoking, drugs etc to be allowed in the property", yet they still let him and his friends do this, but as they say, they have no proof so cant do anything.
So, the agents rang us, explained the situation he was in, and said they will issue a section 21 and say that the landlord needed his flat back so that stepson would get a good reference from them and it would also release us from being guarantors.
But, last week, they have constantly been emailing asking for flippin photo id and now they say he can stay!!!

[Deleted User]

Check with the Letting Agency that he can actually stay. Local authorities have been known to lie to argue that they have no responsibility for a prospective homeless person.

If the lettings agency are asking for ID.., is it really such a big hassle to provide it again? Does it matter why they need it.., it sounds like your son has messed up rather, caused a few problems and if there's any chance at all of him retaining the tenancy I'd shut up and grab it lol.

Is the rent paid to the LA/LL directly.., as if you son is on drugs again, and not in receipt of benefits, are you sure there aren't arrears (if he's on drugs with no other income, I suspect the HLA could have been spent if sent to your son)? The LA knowing he was unable to pay the rent in August doesn't mean the arrears don't exist lol (and although you don't say, I'd wonder if the rent hasn't been paid for a longer period from the way your post reads.., unless you have been paying it). I'd strongly advise you check up on that. And get his rent paid directly.

If your son has to send his tenancy agreement to anyone, its normal to send a copy (find a shop, go to the library pay 10p a page to copy it). Or you could go to him, take it, scan it into your pc, keep the original and give him a copy whenever he needs it. As you are guarantors, you should have been sent a copy when you were asked to become guarantors. Try asking the LA for one now if you weren't. If your son isn't capable, you have to protect your interests.

Try and get some support re drug use. Are there any mental health problems he is self medicating for (can often be the case)? If so, get him some help. There are agencies/charities that work with people who are/may become homeless and are drug users.

nobblyned

"The agents also know that he is a drug addict, and it clearly states in the agreement, "no smoking, drugs etc to be allowed in the property", yet they still let him and his friends do this"

If that doesn't define victim mentality then I don't know what does. It is your stepson's landlord's agent's fault that he takes drugs in the house and disturbs everyone around him???

Pity his neighbours.