Tenant rent arrears

pm86

Hi all.

Going to keep this short and simple.

A tenant is about £4500 in arrears in a property I own. Estate agents haven't been much use in trying to recover this and tenant has promised the world but no payments.

I'm writing up a LBA before we start with court proceedings.

I've got the exact amount of arrears to put in the letter with details of the reason for the letter.

Is there anything else I need to factor in?

As the property is next door to where I live, I was going to take photographic/video evidence of me posting/handing the letter depending if anyone else is in.

Property is in England if that helps.

They're on a rolling contract now as we didn't offer a renewal after the initial 6 months finished, served a Section 21 and nothing happened.

Thanks in advance.

Pixie5740

If they are in arrears why did you issue a Section 21 rather than a Section 8? 1) A Section 8 is faster, 2) you can deal with the arrears at the same time as the Section 8 eviction in court instead of doing it separately.

What do you mean nothing happened when you served the Section 21. You do know that a Section 21 doesn't end a tenancy and that it's just notice that the landlord might go to court to get an eviction order. Tenants still have a legally binding tenancy and therefore right to be in the property after the notice date on a Section 21.

theartfullodger

pm86 wrote: »

.............A tenant is about £4500 in arrears in a property I own. ....................

As the property is next door to where I live, ...

You live next door, they owe £4.5k & no court action?? Since you can serve a valid s8g10 if only 1p is underpaid for only 1 day I am at a loss as to how you have let this happen: Could you kindly explain, please??

....they're on a rolling contract now as we didn't offer a renewal after the initial 6 months finished, served a Section 21 and nothing happened....

Well, it wouldn't: An s21 notice does not end a tenancy, nor does it require a tenant to leave. Why haven't you simply started court action?? How confident are you all pre-reqs for s21 have been complied with?

What training have you done in how to be a landlord, please?

saajan_12

What exactly did you expect to happen?

Check the Section 21 is valid (including but not limited to:
- Deposit protected and prescribed information served OR deposit returned
- Using form 6a if tenancy started after Oct 2015
- Gives 2 full months notice from when the tenant received it and was served within last 6 months
- 'How to rent' booklet given
- Gas safe cert given
- EPC cert given
- Tenant's names, property address etc correct

If it is valid, apply for a possession order NOW through the court. File a separate money claim for the arrears.

If not, serve a section 8 notice and apply for a possession order when that expires, combining it with a money claim for your arrears.