Need advice for tenant not paying rent

Avigg

Hi everyone,

I need your advice and help for my query. My tenant used to pay rent on every 10th of the month. The last rent I received was on Dec 10th. He missed Jan 10th payment and he said he is waiting for some money from his client and will pay me in a week but missed the date. 

He again promised to pay the rent on Jan 22 but again no response. He promised to pay me rent last week but got nothing. I chased him again but he started to ignore my calls and messages. I am worried as second month rent date is approaching this week Feb 10th and I am not sure if he will be able to pay me the rent. 

The tenancy agreement  runs from Sept 2021 to Sept 2022. Due to Covid I sent him the renewal agreement via email last year in Sept  but he never returned the signed copy. He lives alone in the property. He missed rent date several time in the past but paid the rent eventually after 3/4 days max. This time he is not responding to my calls and messages so I am but worried and want to explore my options. I am willing to make a payment plan but he is not responding to my messages and communication is one sided. 

In case he misses his rent payment again on Feb 10, what options can I take? Can I serve him Section 8 notice? Or what else can I do?

Thanks for reading my post. 

Regards

Slithery

Avigg said:

The tenancy agreement  runs from Sept 2021 to Sept 2022.

If he didn't sign the renewal agreement then no, it doesn't. Depending on the previous agreement the tenant will either be on a CPT or a SPT. This is good for you as you can serve a S21 immediately alongside your S8 without having to wait until the end of the fixed term.

Have you read...

Ending/renewing an AST

Avigg

Slithery said:

Avigg said:

The tenancy agreement  runs from Sept 2021 to Sept 2022.

If he didn't sign the renewal agreement then no, it doesn't. Depending on the previous agreement the tenant will either be on a CPT or a SPT. This is good for you as you can serve a S21 immediately alongside your S8 without having to wait until the end of the fixed term.

Have you read...

Ending/renewing an AST

Thanks for your response. He signed the AST tenancy agreement. I need to find the signed Sept 2020 copy. Do I need the last signed agreement in order to serve any notice? 

3card

Have you got proof the tenant received the prescribed information (How to rent, gas cert, deposit prescribed info, etc) at the start of the tenancy? To serve a section 21 this will need to me proven?
If you dont have a proof its not a problem but you will need to issue it all again with proof 

I am going through a very similar situation at the moment

canaldumidi

If the last fixed term agreement he signed has expired, then as explained (read the link already provided) he now has a CPT or SPT.

Post 4: 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?

Once the rent owed is =/> than 2 months, serve a S8 (G8), along with a S21 Notice.

Before serving the S21, check all 84 questions here to ensure it will be valid:

S21 checklist (Is a S21 valid?)

You could also serve a S8 (G10). See

Schedule 2 (17 S8 Grounds a LL can use)

Alternatively (or in addition) follow tthe well-established tea & cake process).