Setting aside Eviction Warrant

BaliBarney

Be grateful for the forum community advice on my situation.

I am a HA tenant of many years always paid the rent on time until this year due to various personal issues I let arrears accrue. Current total is £1800 odd.

I was taken to court for a possession hearing last month under section 10 and 11. I have dyslexia and misinterpreted the date of the hearing to be a week later than the actual date and therefore wasn’t in attendance. The HA was awarded full possession. I only realised when the HA sent me a letter two days later informing me that they had been awarded full possession and that I had to leave two weeks later (that date has now passed)

I have sought advice from Shelter and they also referred me to a housing solicitor. They have both advised that in order to appeal the possession decision I must pass 3 criteria. 1. I must act swiftly 2. Have extenuating circumstances for non attendance 3. Original claim must be under discretionary grounds. Their advice is that I pass two of the criteria but having dyslexia and interpreting the hearing date incorrectly is not extenuating circumstances.

They have both advised me to wait until the HA applies for a warrant of eviction as there is not criteria for me to apply to have it set aside. They have both said if I was to clear the current arrears (which I can) then in their experience of many years they have never known a judge to grant a warrant of eviction with cleared arrears. They also state the application to set aside the warrant should also include a variation of the possession order.

Can any forum members offer advice on the advice I have had that if I clear the arrears and then apply to set aside the warrant of eviction is it the norm for it to be set aside ? They did say you can’t guarantee it would be set aside but they said they have never known that to be the case.

Would appreciate advice from other housing solicitors, those with experience and knowledge in this sector

Thanks

da_rule

Have you actually contacted the HA and told them that you can clear the arrears and ask them if they would be willing to not enforce the order if you did so? This would get them their rental income and save them having to pay for another application to court to obtain a warrant. I would not rely on being able to get a warrant set aside as ultimately the court has granted possession of the property to the HA, on an absolute ground (rent arrears). The court only has limited powers to stay or set aside the warrant and cannot order the HA to accept payment of the rent. The fact that you can pay the arrears but have not contacted the HA to make arrangements to do so may also be looked at negatively.

BaliBarney

Thanks for your response da_rule.

Funnily enough I have done that but didn’t include it in my original OP as I thought it not relative.

My assigned “Income Adviser” at the HA is somewhat brash and dismissive. When I got the letter from her stating they had been awarded possession I was aghast as I thought the hearing was that coming week. When I explained I had the date wrong, even though adamant it was that week, it would have been due to my dyslexia. She was dismissive of this. She even stated that “Had you been at the hearing I was prepared to offer you a repayment agreement and suspended possession order, but now you’ve lost your home”. She said this with glee and a air of “Ha Ha”. I am in no doubt of how I interpreted her.

I phoned Shelter and they advised the same as you, so I phoned the HA and asked to speak to my assigned income advisor but she wasn’t available. (This is not the norm as I’ll explain later). As she wasn’t available I spoke to the Income advisor I was currently on the phone to. She verified my address and details and could see from the notes that it had been to court and full possession had been awarded.

I said to her that I had taken advice from Shelter and that if I was to pay off the current arrears would they consider not seeking possession nor a warrant of eviction. she replied that they would be prepared to do this but only on the basis that payment is made so the arrears were cleared but the payment would need to include a months rent in advance as per my tenancy agreement. (I was at that point able to clear the arrears inclusive of a months rent in advance) —- Then all of a sudden she said my incomes advisor is now free and she is going to put me through to her. I reiterated what her colleague just said to me but my income advisor said no they weren’t prepared to accept that and will be seeking a warrant of eviction if I don’t leave by the date of the order.

Just for a bit of back history I have had letters of the last two years from her (income advisor) stating things like “despite repeated attempts to contact you” “we have tried to contact you to help but been unable to or you’ve not returned contact”. On EVERY occasion I have contacted her to no avail, she doesn’t respond to emails nor messages left for her. I even emailed her once and said “NAME, how can you send me a letter stating you’ve tried to contact me despite repeated attempts yet I have been in constant contact with the HA by email and phone and it is you that is uncontactable. My contact details are correct and you’ve never responded to my regular emails or returned my calls”

Just to go back to your suggestion I do wonder why her colleague said this was viable in full knowledge of my situation but I got the distinct feeling that whilst on the phone my income advisor heard what was said and then suddenly became available and said that this was not possible. I got the feeling that this was a personal decision made by my income advisor off of her own back. After all if the HA policy and position in these situations was to always seek a warrant of eviction why did her colleague say to me by paying the arrears plus a months rent in advance was acceptable ?

Just to correct you, the possession claim was made under section 10 & 11 and possession is is not granted under mandatory grounds. These two sections are discretionary.

babyblade41

It appears you have not paid rent consistently so highly likely the possession order will stand.

I agree that using dyslexia for not understanding the date is irrelevant. (My OH has severe dyslexia)

Your only hope is paying in full and the one month in advance pretty much.

HA's won't normally evict unless there are real problems and work with the tenant to find a solution .

gomer

Try speaking to the income officers manager. They may be a little more open to discuss options.