House sale /Eviction of Tenants/Buy to let mortgage rates

jonnydeppiwish!

There’s no scorn or ridicule, just posters pointing out your lack of understanding of being a landlord.

theartfullodger

GDB2222 said:

.....

We have a tenant who has been arrested for cocaine smuggling. He’s been in custody for ten days and there’s no indication that he’s going to be released. The flat is a shambles, with the door broken in by the police. Even though he may well be in jail for the next ten years, we are going through the formal eviction process as if he were still in residence. That’s going to take six months plus. It’s obviously right that we don’t add to his troubles by throwing him out onto the street, but it’s still annoying. 

There's a test case of someone serving 12 years sentence who was ruled to still have tenancy.

theartfullodger

As tenant no longer there it's no longer an AST so s8 and s21 no longer apply.  You do actually need to serve a formal notice to quit. Humbly suggest you ask your solicitors about this. Were they specialists in landlord/tenants matters please?

But many agents, solicitors and judges don't understand this.  

In your shoes I'd serve ntq and s21 also . And pursue all (tenant may move back, who knows what judge decides...).

Beware easy defence by tenant by claiming disrepair (which you may well disagree with but judge may agree). Well covered on Shelter Legal website, an excellent free resource which IMHO too many landlords and agents ignore .

https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/housing_conditions/legal_remedies_for_disrepair#:~:text=and complaint procedures.-,Tenant deducts from rent or offsets rent arrears,the procedure for doing so.


I had tenants subletting (only rooms...) bragging about town how they were getting more doing so than rent, unpaid, should have been.  I informed HMRC of their additional income and was pleased to find HMRC took action against tenants (complicated comms..)

Best regards 

_Penny_Dreadful

Mallory1 said:

Section 8 , as advised by the Solicitors we are using,  as the tenant ( who doesn't actually live there but sublets.)  is in breach of so many points on the contract.

We are waiting on a court date and have been advised of the process,  time frames & cost for a private bailiff should it come to it, which it sounds like it will.

We were very clear with them that unfortunately we had to sell the flat as we couldn't afford to keep it with the mortgage renewal coming up and gave plenty of time to find somewhere new. There was no way they could possibly have thought we would renew the tenancy with the way they behaved as tenants throughout. The tenant was not actually living there but subletting to another family member who more than likely wouldn't pass reference checks. 

Which ground(s) did you use with the Section 8 notice? 

Mallory1

Thank you for your useful advice, really appreciate it. 

I will ask that question of our solicitors.  We have been advised that as they are not admitting to the sublet and the person on the contract insists that they live there, they  are "technically " still the tenant and this is the correct route ...I will ask again .  

We have just been given a court date so it is in motion.

On grounds for section 8  - please see my previous comment listing some of the breaches - subletting, consistent late payment, pets at property, Not registering for/paying for utilities, pets, registering businesses at the address, the list goes on. 

theartfullodger

Thanks but please, which numbered grounds. (You did get a copy & proof of service?).

GDB2222

theartfullodger said:

GDB2222 said:

.....

We have a tenant who has been arrested for cocaine smuggling. He’s been in custody for ten days and there’s no indication that he’s going to be released. The flat is a shambles, with the door broken in by the police. Even though he may well be in jail for the next ten years, we are going through the formal eviction process as if he were still in residence. That’s going to take six months plus. It’s obviously right that we don’t add to his troubles by throwing him out onto the street, but it’s still annoying. 

There's a test case of someone serving 12 years sentence who was ruled to still have tenancy.

Yes, but it is somewhat ridiculous. I expect that the tenant would surrender his tenancy, as we would make it worth his while. If you know how to get in contact…? 

_Penny_Dreadful

Mallory1 said:

On grounds for section 8  - please see my previous comment listing some of the breaches - subletting, consistent late payment, pets at property, Not registering for/paying for utilities, pets, registering businesses at the address, the list goes on. 

That doesn’t help. There are 20 different grounds that can be used for a Section 8 notice (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7A, 7B, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 14A, 15, 16 and 17) some are mandatory grounds for eviction whilst the others are discretionary so which ones did you use? 

Long story short is that you entered into a contract with someone that can only be ended by them (the tenant) or a court. You also entered into a contract with the mortgage lender saying that after a set period the interest rate would revert to the SVR (or whatever this particular lender calls it) unless you remortgage or pay off the outstanding balance. There is no magic bullet that will get you out of these contracts. Offering someone a fixed term tenancy agreement where the end of the fixed term coincided with the end of your mortgage deal was always going to be risky as was marketing the property for sale with a tenant in-situ. Presumably the buyer wants vacant possession because even if it’s an investor who wants to buy no one is going to want these people as tenants. 

You’re not the first landlord to have had issues with Foxtons. I have never encountered a landlord who used them that did not end up bitterly regretting it. 

propertyrental

If by "aggressive/offensive attitudes and responses" you are referring to my response, it was not intended to be such. Forthright? Yes.

My intention was to provide you with facts, corrections to erroneous statements, and advice - which I did.

Simply agreeing with your actions would have been of no benefit.

If I caused offence I apologise, but I stand by the content of my post.

Mallory1

The Solicitors served Section 8 on grounds of 8 ( 2 months and above in arrears)  , 10 & 11 rent arrears grounds served to the tenant and all other occupiers.  It was decided not to list the other items as apparently this is the main reason that the court will take notice of...

We now have our court date.

We have three months between end of tenancy and mortgage renewal.

 

We have obviously been very lucky in the past we have never encoutered this type of tenant. We have never had a tenant not leave at the end of the contract when all notice has been given etc.  Clearly we are departing the LL world with a dramatic flourish to say the very least !