Evicting Tenant-Possession Order Delays...

Pearl1

So I'm in the process of evicting my tenant, have got as far as issuing possession order with a date given by the county court that he gives us the property. This was 22 dec, however another date of 3 Jan has been issued. I have no idea why the 22 dec wasn't upheld and another date being given, other than on the notice it states 'THIS ORDER WAS MADE WITHOUT A HEARING. WITHIN 14 DAYS OF ITS BEING SERVED EITHER PARTY MAY APPLY FOR IT TO BE SET ASIDE OR VARIED'.
I have no idea what this means other than it's delaying the process..?? CAN ANYONE SHED ANY LIGHT?
I just want to know can this be done again? And if so, how many times can it be done until they actually have to move out, or more realistically, then we have to get bailiff's involved?
Any info on realistic timeline on this would be great.

da_rule

The text you quoted, was this on the original order (the one dated 22 Dec)?

If so, it means what it says, the other side (your tenant) can apply to the court to have the order set aside or varied. It would appear that they have varied it by changing the date. The tenants may have argued that evicting them 3 days before Christmas made it impossible for them to get alternative accommodation etc.

If they've applied once to vary the order they shouldn't be able to keep doing it. You could contact the court and ask them why it was varied.

If they don't move out by the specified date, you could apply to the High Court to expedite the process.

anselld

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?50166-Enforcement-of-a-Possession-Order-using-the-HCEO-route

Pearl1

da_rule wrote: »

The text you quoted, was this on the original order (the one dated 22 Dec)?

Yes this was on the original order that gave them the 22 dec date to move out, but it's also on the new order that was dated 19 Dec with a moving out date of 3 Jan. This is what concerns me as it's quoted on the second order which is why I'm wondering how many times this can be used. I will ring the court tomorrow, I wasn't aware I could do that, to ask what will happen next...

Thanks for your help.

da_rule

Yeah you can always contact the court to ask who applied to vary the order and why it was agreed to. They may also be able to tell you whether any other applications have been lodged (i.e. to vary it again).

[Deleted User]

When I was being evicted.. it could have happened just before Xmas like your application but it was actually set for early January. I assumed it was in appreciation of the difficulties in finding alternative accommodation over the Xmas shut down period.

Pearl1

Thanks for the replies guys. As it's christmas the court was only answering emergency housing questions Friday when I rang so have to ring Tuesday when it's back to normal hours - funnily enough the day they should be moving out. FAT CHANCE! I'll ask if another application for it to be varied has been made but what they guy did tell me is that if it goes to bailiff's (which it will inevitably will) it's gonna be WEEKs... Really frustrating. Not sure whether to g down the HCEO route as it's quite costly but otherwise this could go on for months...