Notice to Quit when there is no rental agreement

poorbabe

Question:

If a house is rented but there is no signed paperwork (never do business with friends!) how can the owner reclaim the property due to consistent unpaid/late rent which now total £2,000? Especially if the owner is overseas but will fly back to the UK to sort this out?

Can a letter, signed on the owner's behalf, giving notice to quit be the first step?


PS: It's NOT me. I'd never be that generous if I owned property.

malaxim

Its not easy and that's from an experience 10 years ago so I'd guess now its even harder.
My only suggestion is to take legal advice from local solicitors who specialise in this sort of thing.

silvercar

A contract will exist even if it is not written. By the fact that rent has been paid there is an assumed contract.

The first step would be to serve 2 months notice (generally known as a section 21) notice. This should end on a rent day and give the tenants 2 clear months to vacate the property. (There is the opportunity to act quicker by taking action for the rent arrears (section 8 I think) but this would give the tenants the opportunity to pay some rent and then the action would fail.)

If the tenants fail to vacate after the stipulated date, the landlord needs tog o to court to get possession. If the tenants don't leave with a court order then its back to court to appoint baliffs to physically remove them.

poorbabe

Thanks to you both. However, I'd already posted the letter before I saw silvercar's reply. It gave one month's notice from today's date.

The owner wasn't inclined to end it on a rent day which is 1st of the month. His reason is this has been an ongoing situation for 4/5 months. They pay in dribs and drabs, late and always promise to get the situation back to the agreement.

He rang a few mins ago and will fly back in 2 weeks or so, prepared for a legal battle.

Glad it ain't me!:cool:

clutton_2

""The owner wasn't inclined to end it on a rent day"" - the owner will need to accustom him/herself to the law rather than "inclinations". Landlords Notice has to be 2 months ending on rent day - that is the law. A clever tenant could get advice which will tell him that this landlord should not have been managing this property himself from overseas, but should have had a UK agent doing it - that also is the law.

Eviction/notice "Letters" dont count in a court room - a Notice to Quit, whether it be because he wants the house back (a Section 21 Notice ) or due to Rent arrears (Section 8 Notices) have to be written in the prescribed legal form, at the correct date.

Did he take a deposit after April 2007 - if he did there are further complications - Did he put the money in a Tenancy Deposit Scheme ? if he did not - he is up the creek without a paddle and with a leaky hull.

He really needs legal advice - and pronto.

He could join National Landlords association, and use their legal help line and do it all himself - but - he wont just be able to "pop back home " sort it out in a day or two - it will take several months. If he did not have the common sense to issue a Tenancy Agreement then i suggest he puts the whole thing in the hands of a solicitor, pays a shed load of money, then put it in the hands of a good letting agent.

i know this is not what you wanted to hear ..... its a tough business

speedtwin

clutton wrote: »

"". Landlords Notice has to be 2 months ending on rent day - that is the law.

I totally agree with everything clutton said except the above. If a section 21 is served during the fixed period and the 2 months notice starts within it but the 2 months ends outside the fixed period it doesnt have to be on a rent day. I beleive this is the only time you can do this (if not i'm sure someone will let us know)

clutton_2

I'm not sure about this last point - this is what NLA is so darned useful for !!!

speedtwin

I was a bit supprised when i first came across it. I have served 2 s21's this way and one when to court without a problem. I think if i remember correctly the s21 you use for a fixed term says 2 months notice not to end before the end of the fixed term but nothing about just after.

Arla is darned useful too

poorbabe

To be honest I could never understand why this situation happened in the first place, especially when the owner had more than enough knowledge based on other people's experiences

However, I know enough about life to realise that some of us need to be bitten and THEN we get the message. Such is this situation. Hopefully it won't cost him an arm and a leg to resolve the situation, but time will tell.

Thanks for all your input gang. So very much appreciated :T