Rent arrears due to hidden late charges

artyclarty

kelsall_13 wrote: »

No the fee is 100% an accumulation of 13 late payments and this months rent of £550.00 - over half of this has already been paid however.

Am I reading this correctly? Why has the rent not been paid in full on the 10th?

If the above is true, your girlfriend is indeed incurring a late fee every month and the debt is most certainly payable. £90-odd for an admin fee plus late payment of penalty of a couple of ££s does seem about right.

Fwiw, I am not saying that I agree with the fee or the cost.

I'm wondering if the the issue is that debt has now reached the magical figure in which a S8 ground 8 can be served.

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Section 8: mandatory grounds

If your landlord proves a mandatory ground, the court must order you to leave, usually in 14 days.
Ground 8 is the most commonly used mandatory ground. It's used if you have rent arrears of at least:

• 2 months if you pay rent monthly
• 8 weeks if you pay rent weekly

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https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/eviction_of_assured_shorthold_tenants

The rather short notice mentioned at the start of this thread along with the arrears point towards a Section 8. If this is the case, the choice is to pay the arrears before the court date or be evicted much faster than would otherwise be the case with a Section 21 notice.

Section 8 could also class your girlfriend as being made intentionally homeless and so the the council will likely not help her find somewhere if this is needed.

Please consider your next steps very carefully.

GDB2222

Has the LL actually written every month complaining about the late payment of rent and asking for the £100 penalty? If not, there is a legal principle Estoppel By Convention that comes into play.

That principle reasonably says that if the LL has accepted the late payments without complaint for a long period, then it doesn't matter what's in the tenancy agreement - the parties have effectively agreed something different. In other words, the LL can't keep quiet, then unexpectedly slap 13 months' worth of penalties on the tenant in one go.

Coupled with charging £100 (which is clearly a penalty) per late payment, the LL's claim would fail in court if properly defended.

I do wonder whether the LL is serious in his claim or simply wants the property back? In that case, as the OP wants to leave anyway, why not simply gracefully agree to leave, and pay any arrears but dispute the late payment penalties?

Smodlet

GDB2222, love your signature. :T

gingercordial

Regardless of the late payment issue (since the landlord has gone down the s.21 route at this stage not s.8) it is vital that you confirm whether that notice is valid. Please answer the questions that were asked before:

- Exactly what date was the notice served? Confirm the day and month.
- How was it served to her? Post or some other means? What day did it arrive?
- What date is written on the notice for its expiry? Confirm the day and month.
- Did your girlfriend pay a deposit?
- Was that deposit properly protected in a tenancy deposit scheme?


If the notice is invalid, it has no effect and she does not have to go anywhere. The landlord will find this out when he goes to court. Make sure she gives valid notice of her own at the right time before she moves in with you.

If the notice is valid, it would still take weeks/months for the courts to evict her so if she is moving in with you in June anyway it is unlikely to be a problem. In any case, once you get to the date the notice states, if the landlord says he is going to court to start the process point out she'll be gone in x weeks anyway and convince him not to bother.