Tenants rights

kwalkden

Our tenant moved into the property in January 2020.  Her tenancy agreement ends in July 2020. We issued her with a section 21 notice to quit the property in May and will be expecting her to vacate the property in July. This is due to the fact that she has not paid any rent in all the time she has resided in the property. She was placed with us by the LA on the basis that she was homeless and the LA paid her deposit and her first months rent. We have received no further monies since that date. She has changed the locks  to the property and has blocked all incoming calls from us. She has young children. What are our rights. What are her rights? 

anselld

Any s21 issued in May should have given three months notice, so it sounds invalid.
In any case Court proceedings cannot now start until after 23 August.
Probably best to issue a new s21 and s8 to give three months notice after service.
Check s21 validity..
https://markprichard.co.uk/content/documents/170522-Section-21-checker-tool.pdf

[Deleted User]

kwalkden said:

Our tenant moved into the property in January 2020.  Her tenancy agreement ends in July 2020. We issued her with a section 21 notice to quit the property in May and will be expecting her to vacate the property in July. This is due to the fact that she has not paid any rent in all the time she has resided in the property. She was placed with us by the LA on the basis that she was homeless and the LA paid her deposit and her first months rent. We have received no further monies since that date. She has changed the locks  to the property and has blocked all incoming calls from us. She has young children. What are our rights. What are her rights? 

I'm assuming the property is in England or Wales since you say her tenancy agreement ends in July 2020.  The fixed term ending is not the end of the tenancy it's just the end of the fixed term period.  If the tenant remains in occupation the day after the fixed term ends the tenancy simply becomes periodic.

A Section 21 isn't notice to quit.  It is notice that you might go to court to get a possession order.  Are you sure the Section 21 is valid and that you gave the correct amount of notice?  Is there a reason you went for a Section 21 rather than a Section 8 using ground 8 when the tenant owed two months rent?

As for the tenants rights she has the right to remain in the property until she is legally evicted.  This means you getting a possession order from a court and then if necessary using bailiffs to physically remove her from the property.

Read Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

macman

Presumably the OP used an S21 rather than an S8 because they thought that the tenant might pay up the arrears at some later date? They had decided they wanted her out anyway so safer to use an S21 once the 6m AST had expired.
I agree, re-serve the S21 giving the correct 3m notice, but first ensure the tenacy is fully regularised. 

greatcrested

Coronavirus Act 2020 - the S21 should have had an expiry date after three, not two, months so it is invalid.

You need to re-issue. But since you've already made one error, make sure yu don't make another! Before re-issuing, check all 87 questions in the checker below. It is up-to-date in every way except for the 3 month (coronavirus act) change.

S21 checklist (Is a S21 valid?)

dimbo61

Please contact the LA on Monday and speak to the person who arranged the placement of this tenant and her children.
She will be receiving the Local Housing Allowance which depends on the number of bedrooms.
Now there can be a delay of up to 6 weeks for this to be paid to the tenant but she is now taking the urine.
Getting evicted for not paying the rent will not get her and her children rehoused.
You can apply to have the rent paid direct to you as the Landlord if the tenant is incapable or Won't pay the rent when they should 

knightstyle

Agree with above but if she gets evicted for non payment of rent she will get help with housing from LA, She will go into temporary for a few weeks then another mug/landlord will be found and another deposit paid by the LA.
There are single mums for who this is how they live. We have two in this small street and all their money goes on drink, drugs and lots of plastic toys they buy for the kids as a way of saying sorry for not being decent parents, it all ends up dumped in the street a few weeks later, often hardly used.

HampshireH

Have you spoken to the local authority?

I would do that immediately. If they paid the deposit and 1st month you could have asked for any benefits to be paid directly.

If she is claiming and not paying they will want to know.

smoo123

Hi, looking for advice please! My son and his friends have just finished a year's tenancy in a private house - which has been pretty poor in general - repairs not carried out, no hot water for a lengthy period, not enough food storage.  Legally there are also holes - they were only sent the deposit protection info towards the end of the year (and not within the requisite 30 days), they weren't given gas/electricity certificates on time, etc.   Now they are only being offered 2/3 of their deposit back - reasons listed: an oven clean, chipped decoration, a dent in a wall, (a very small amount of) rubbish clearance.  My question is - where do they stand legally in terms of compensation?  My understanding is that the Deposit Protection Scheme deals solely with the deposit - if there are other issues to be considered (such as the safety certificates), should we bypass the DPS and pursue this via the small claims court?  Some of the reasons listed are correct (the oven probably does need a clean) but there were so many issues NOT addressed by the landlord during the year they were there, the £600 charge feels excessive - not to mention the fact that no one even lived in the property for the last three months of lockdown - the landlord is already quids in.  I have no experience of using the small claims court - is it likely to leave me out of pocket?    

theartfullodger

kwalkden said:

.................. What are our rights................

You have the right to educate yourself regarding being a landlord etc etc etc..

When I started in 2000 I thought I knew what I was doing: Oh my stupidity, oh the Hubris!

Painful, expensive, long-drawn out, complicated mistakes.  I resolved to start learning & get educated.  Still learning, still making mistakes.

greatcrested

smoo123 said:

Hi, looking for advice please! My son and his friends have just finished a year's tenancy in a private house - which has been pretty poor in general - repairs not carried out, no hot water for a lengthy period, not enough food storage.  Legally there are also holes - they were only sent the deposit protection info towards the end of the year (and not within the requisite 30 days), they weren't given gas/electricity certificates on time, etc.   Now they are only being offered 2/3 of their deposit back - reasons listed: an oven clean, chipped decoration, a dent in a wall, (a very small amount of) rubbish clearance.  My question is - where do they stand legally in terms of compensation?  My understanding is that the Deposit Protection Scheme deals solely with the deposit - if there are other issues to be considered (such as the safety certificates), should we bypass the DPS and pursue this via the small claims court?  Some of the reasons listed are correct (the oven probably does need a clean) but there were so many issues NOT addressed by the landlord during the year they were there, the £600 charge feels excessive - not to mention the fact that no one even lived in the property for the last three months of lockdown - the landlord is already quids in.  I have no experience of using the small claims court - is it likely to leave me out of pocket?    

This is unrelated to the OP's problem in this thread.

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