Arrears In Rent

Murphybear

deepam wrote: »

I don't want to do anything illegal. I just want my flat back. After all it has been my hard earned/honest money

Good plan. The penalties for illegal eviction can be quite severe, the following from the Shelter website.


“If you've been evicted illegally, you can apply to the court for an injunction to order your landlord to:

let you back into your home
stop harassing you
You can send or take your form to your county court.

You probably have to wait 3 days or longer for a court hearing.

Your landlord could be fined or sent to prison for not obeying an injunction.”

GDB2222

deepam wrote: »

I don't want to do anything illegal. I just want my flat back. After all it has been my hard earned/honest money

You can't get it back legally unless the tenant decides to leave voluntarily or you get a court order. Even with a court order, you need bailiffs or sheriffs to enforce it.

With the requirement to pay the rent in advance, you may not need to wait two months to issue a S8 notice, but even then it will take months for a court order and enforcement.

In an ideal world the council would rehouse him, but these days they only do that on the day of enforcement.

Personally I think you are panicking. Tenants on benefits are perfectly capable of paying the rent, depending on the local reference rent and how much they receive. Even if there's a modest shortfall you can weigh that against the cost of taking enforcement action. Including possibly several months without rent at all if he decides not to pay you, plus a void whilst you're looking for a new tenant.

theartfullodger

deepam wrote: »

....................................
"The Rent
£900.00 (Nine Hundred Pounds and Zero Pence) per calendar month (“The Rent”)
payable in advance.".........................

"Notwithstanding Clause 2 of the Main Terms of the Tenancy the Parties agree that with effect
from 16 January 2020, the Rent shall be increased to £950.00 (Nine Hundred and Fifty
Pounds and Zero Pence) for the remainder of the term."

This with ..

"Payment Method
The Tenant shall pay to the Agent the sum of £5,400.00 (five thousand four hundred
pounds and zero pence) by cleared funds in advance for the period 16 July 2019 to
15 January 2020.
Thereafter the Tenant shall pay to the Agent the sum of £5,700.00 (five thousand
seven hundred pounds and zero pence) by cleared funds in advance for the period
16 January 2020 to 15 July 2020, both of such payments being due on 16 July 2019."

- is a complete muddle, especially the ""both of such due on 16 July.


I reckon if it got to court tenant could argue rent was monthly, and would probably win.


Start using an agreement without all this garbage wording, I 'umbly suggest

G_M

deepam wrote: »

G_M some more from my agreement

"The Rent
£900.00 (Nine Hundred Pounds and Zero Pence) per calendar month (“The Rent”)
payable in advance."

Seems clear. It's a monthly rent. Rent is payable monthly in advance.

So provided the tenant pays each month, in advance, there will be no arrears and a S8 Ground 8 Notice will fail.

Of course, this is contradicted by the other clause:

"Payment Method
The Tenant shall pay to the Agent the sum of £5,400.00 (five thousand four hundred
pounds and zero pence) by cleared funds in advance for the period 16 July 2019 to
15 January 2020.
Thereafter the Tenant shall pay to the Agent the sum of £5,700.00 (five thousand
seven hundred pounds and zero pence) by cleared funds in advance for the period
16 January 2020 to 15 July 2020, both of such payments being due on 16 July 2019."

However where two clauses in a contract contradict each other, the courts will always interpret using the clause that benefits the party who did not write the contract, so in this case whichever clause benefits the tenant.

Frankly it's a dreadful contract! Who on earth drafted it, or where on earth did you find it?

Comms69

deepam wrote: »

I don't want to do anything illegal. I just want my flat back. After all it has been my hard earned/honest money

Well it's been the tenants money


You should honestly pay him to leave. It's the most sensible and quickest way to get your property back

Kentish_Dave

diggingdude wrote: »

Are you seriously recommending an illegal eviction? You should be banned for that

Are you a lawyer then, or just pontificating as though you are while actually carrying hods?

And, to answer your points in order, no, I did not recommend anything, and no, people should not be banned for offering advice that you disagree with.

As I mentioned, I think, but you skipped over, the legality or not is for the courts to decide, someone is quite free to act and allow the courts to sort it out if they want, just like a tenant can stay in place until a court orders otherwise.

Kentish_Dave

Comms69 wrote: »

No!

Stop it now.

This is a criminal offence, you are inciting someone to commit a crime. Stop it.

You just don’t get how this works, do you? You get to pet what you want, and I get to post what I want. People can choose to follow which they prefer to follow.

And I didn’t incite anything.

ThePants999

Kentish_Dave wrote: »

As I mentioned, I think, but you skipped over, the legality or not is for the courts to decide, someone is quite free to act and allow the courts to sort it out if they want, just like a tenant can stay in place until a court orders otherwise.

NOW what are you on about!?

Criminal courts don't decide whether an act is legal or not. Statute does that. The court just decides whether there's enough evidence that you did it!

To say that someone is free to commit an illegal act and allow the courts to sort it out is just bizarre. What are you arguing? That there's no physical force preventing you from doing it? Well, sure. I'm "free" to come and assault you - would you like to argue that I should?

Comparing it to the tenant's case is silly too. The law is not symmetrical. A tenant commits no crime by leaving or by staying. A landlord DOES commit a crime by evicting a tenant without a court-ordered bailiff.

ThePants999

Kentish_Dave wrote: »

You just don’t get how this works, do you? You get to pet what you want, and I get to post what I want. People can choose to follow which they prefer to follow.

Ah, okay. You're one of those. Never mind then.

G_M

Kentish_Dave wrote: »

You just don’t get how this works, do you? You get to pet what you want, and......

Frankly if I got to pet what I want I would be up before the courts. Ah well, the inside of my head can get pretty murky at times. Sorry folks!