pregnant, ill & just been served eviction notice

Fair&Pure

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Keep notes of everything you've done to resolve this.

After leaving the phone ringing for 42 minutes, the court in Surrey finally picked up and said they process the paperwork for ALL the courts.

Then finally the London court picked up the phone. They said the paperwork is not even considered "served" yet and won't be considered served on my till 27th June, at which point I then have 14 days from 27th June to file my defence. Good to have finally got to the bottom of this!

Samsung_Note2

Fair&Pure wrote: »

That sounds more sarcastic than helpful to be honest.

And yes the arrears are paid. This is a S21 claim so arrears aren't relevant.

Actually id say its bloody good advice..how many times the Bailiffs turn up and its a rush to get your stuff packed in 1 Hour.

Be prepared and if worst doesn't happen you can unpack at your leisure...if your evicted at least the hard work is done and you can concentrate on the important stuff like getting to council etc.

Thats how it comes across to me anyway.

Fair&Pure

Samsung_Note2 wrote: »

Actually id say its bloody good advice..how many times the Bailiffs turn up and its a rush to get your stuff packed in 1 Hour.

Be prepared and if worst doesn't happen you can unpack at your leisure...if your evicted at least the hard work is done and you can concentrate on the important stuff like getting to council etc.

Thats how it comes across to me anyway.

Surely the most essential work is to find another home ASAP or get my current landlord to let me stay here. Packing would come once there is actually a home to move to.

pmlindyloo

What is your current financial situation?

Are you receiving benefits or maternity pay? What are you future plans?

I only ask this to see what options you have.

You may be able to get some extra time as regards moving but from what you have said it is unlikely that you will be able to stay there in the long term.

Have you visited the council in person? They may be able to help with a deposit bond scheme for a new accommodation.

Recent legislation means that anyone who is threatened with homelessness is entitled to help and support. Of course it does depend on individual councils what support they can offer but since you are heavily pregnant and a victim of abuse then you should be classed as vulnerable.

If you haven't already gone in person to the council then I would suggest you do so.

Have you tried CAB for some help with your defence?

What did Shelter say?

steampowered

Fair&Pure wrote: »

The paperwork states that it is an Accelerated Procedure. So, it would seem I'm best off assuming date of service is considered 2 working days after the Issue Date? And making sure I get my Defence Form in by then. Which gives me about one to two days I think. And presumably I sent the Defence to both courts.

Gosh!

Your approach to timing sounds very sensible.

As this is an accelerated procedure, an automatic order for possession will be granted unless a Defence is filed in time. So getting that Defence in on time is critical.

As this is an accelerated procedure the court will send a copy of the Defence to the claimant (so no need to do it yourself, contrary to what I said earlier).

Please read about the procedure here: https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part55

As this is a s21 eviction proceeding rather than a s8, you should check out the grounds for opposing a s21 eviction proceeding.

Don't get too caught up into the minutiae of whether every statement made in the landlord's claim form is correct. Proving that a statement made in the claim form is incorrect is not a valid ground for opposing a s21 eviction.

Focus first on whether you have any grounds for opposing a s21 eviction, and then get that defence in ASAP.

Consider posting a thread on CAG or on a more specialist site where you may find people with more expertise in eviction proceedings, in addition to speaking to the CAB/Shelter (as you can probably tell I know my legal stuff but I am not an eviction specialist, and I doubt many others are as this is a general House Buying forum rather than an eviction forum).

I agree totally with the poster above about going to see the council in person if possible.

Fair&Pure

pmlindyloo wrote: »

What is your current financial situation?

Are you receiving benefits or maternity pay? What are you future plans?

I only ask this to see what options you have.

You may be able to get some extra time as regards moving but from what you have said it is unlikely that you will be able to stay there in the long term.

Have you visited the council in person? They may be able to help with a deposit bond scheme for a new accommodation.

Recent legislation means that anyone who is threatened with homelessness is entitled to help and support. Of course it does depend on individual councils what support they can offer but since you are heavily pregnant and a victim of abuse then you should be classed as vulnerable.

If you haven't already gone in person to the council then I would suggest you do so.

Have you tried CAB for some help with your defence?

What did Shelter say?

Am in full-time employment, but money is very tight regardless. Due to the state of my ex I doubt he will pay proper child support. I've spoken to the Council and been advised that I'd be eligible for emergency re-housing because of the domestic violence. They said that would involve them putting me into a bed and breakfast place which the advisor plainly stated "won't be a very nice place at all" (at least she's honest!) or referring me to a refuge for DV victims. The alternative is to try find new privately rented accommodation. Which means coming up with just under £4000 combined security deposit and advance rent. Technically my current Landlord should be giving me the £2250 security deposit they have from me back in a timely fashion, but I'll believe that when I see it. Not sure how I'm gonna swing it financially. Absolutely no family who can help me in any way.

Pixie5740

Providing you haven't caused any damage over and above fair wear and tear, and there is no rent outstanding when the tenancy ends, the landlord has no right to withhold your money. That said your money won't be returned to you until your tenancy has ended unless you can negotiate an early return with your landlord but I wouldn't hold my breath about that.

See G_M's Deposits: payment, protection and return for more information although I suspect your focus at the moment is defending the Section 21 and/or finding alternative accommodation.

Fair&Pure

Shelter said there's a strong likelihood the S.21 will be deemed invalid because of them failing to provide the EPC and How To Rent booklet plus lying about it on the form. They said if that happens, LL has to serve S.21 Notice to Quit all over again, wait 2 months etc. I'd still ultimately have to move, but this would buy more time and I could just continue living here and paying rent as usual, while saving up for the new place and having time to get myself sorted.

Samsung_Note2

Fair&Pure wrote: »

Surely the most essential work is to find another home ASAP or get my current landlord to let me stay here. Packing would come once there is actually a home to move to.

True you need to sort somewhere else to live,unless LL will go back and allow you to stay.

But the point about packing is still valid..we have a three bed house and id imagine with out hectic lifestyle and hours worked it could take us weeks to get packed with only essentials to live with.

When we faced eviction we wanted to be prepared to leave on our terms and when we chose and not when some monkey in a stab vest told us we had too...turns out we stayed put,but wanted to be in control of when we had to go if that makes sense.

Fair&Pure

Samsung_Note2 wrote: »

True you need to sort somewhere else to live,unless LL will go back and allow you to stay.

But the point about packing is still valid..we have a three bed house and id imagine with out hectic lifestyle and hours worked it could take us weeks to get packed with only essentials to live with.

When we faced eviction we wanted to be prepared to leave on our terms and when we chose and not when some monkey in a stab vest told us we had too...turns out we stayed put,but wanted to be in control of when we had to go if that makes sense.

Glad you were able to keep your place in the end!