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Need help with potentially Illegal Eviction

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Comments

  • Manh28
    Manh28 Posts: 6 Forumite
    HampshireH wrote: »
    A court isnt going to email you and the landlord wouldnt receive copies of any paperwork you were sent (if dont properly).

    As I suggested. Contact the court and see if they have awarded posession against you.

    If it helps, ask your former LL for the case reference # and a copy of the notice he served. Advise him at the same time that if they are not received for further investigation then you will be calling the police for theft.

    You sound like a bad tenant based on the usual definition , (rent arrears, all leaving the country for many months etc). However, that is no excuse to evict someone illegally. It's a very stupid landlord that would do this.

    You need to do some legwork to find out

    Only thing he did is writing those emails. He did not use any of the legal frameworks you mentioned. And he emailed me this bit of information too!
  • GrumpyDil
    GrumpyDil Posts: 1,597
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    Ok.

    You really need to speak to shelter or a solicitor.

    I sympathise with you but I would have struggled to have you as a tenant in arrears and not occupying the property for that long as that has issues around insurance. That said, if I had decided to go down the eviction route, I would have made sure to do it legally.I

    Speak to shelter making sure you have all the emails etc available as that will help piece the situation together and work out a plan going forward. Also if no eviction notice was issued them i would be raising the items that the landlord took with the police as, although you probably have a civil option to persue the landlord, if he had no legal right to enter the property and remove and dispose of the items then my view is that this also amounts to theft but expect some interesting discussion with the police over that.
  • silvercar
    silvercar Posts: 46,865
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    Have you paid all the rent due up to the date of eviction? Is this more or less than the value of goods that the landlord took?

    I'm not saying that the landlord's behaviour was correct, but going forward you may find that you still owe money.
    I'm a Forum Ambassador on The Coronavirus Boards as well as the housing, mortgages and student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189
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    franklee wrote: »
    Not enough information.

    You were away from the first week of July and were evicted in November. Given the rent arrears it could have been two weeks notice under section 8 and then possession order etc. There is time for that to go through especially if undefended.
    This was my first thought, too.

    Then add in the extended absence, even after possession was gained, and there could well be a strong argument that the property had been abandoned.

    Timeline:
    July - tenant leaves the UK, in substantial rent arrears
    October - (departure + 3mo) - notified by landlord of forthcoming possession claim
    November - (departure + 4mo, notification + 1mo) - possession gained by landlord
    April - (departure + 9mo, possession + 5mo) - tenant returns to country, demands possessions back.

    OP - you say...
    it wasn't possible for me to return and negotiate
    Yes, it was possible. You chose not to.

    OP - can you please give a simple answer to these... By the time possession was gained by the landlord in November, how much (both in £ and months rent) did you owe? How much of those arrears did you pay between possession being gained and your return in April?
  • Red-Squirrel_2
    Red-Squirrel_2 Posts: 4,341 Forumite
    GrumpyDil wrote: »
    if he had no legal right to enter the property and remove and dispose of the items then my view is that this also amounts to theft but expect some interesting discussion with the police over that.

    I can't imagine that he had any right to appropriate the OP's jewellery, important documents and electronic equipment, no matter how much rent was owed!
  • Cakeguts
    Cakeguts Posts: 7,627
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    AdrianC wrote: »
    This was my first thought, too.

    Then add in the extended absence, even after possession was gained, and there could well be a strong argument that the property had been abandoned.

    Timeline:
    July - tenant leaves the UK, in substantial rent arrears
    October - (departure + 3mo) - notified by landlord of forthcoming possession claim
    November - (departure + 4mo, notification + 1mo) - possession gained by landlord
    April - (departure + 9mo, possession + 5mo) - tenant returns to country, demands possessions back.

    OP - you say...
    Yes, it was possible. You chose not to.

    OP - can you please give a simple answer to these... By the time possession was gained by the landlord in November, how much (both in £ and months rent) did you owe? How much of those arrears did you pay between possession being gained and your return in April?

    Also the possession documents S8 and S21 would have been sent to the UK property not where the OP was staying for the 9 months simply because the OP says that they were only in contact by email there so the landlord didn't have an address to serve the S8 or the S21 on.

    There is also another problem that I can see. Who leaves valuables in a property that they intend to leave vacant for several months? Not only that but the insurance would run out after about a month anyway. If you knew that you would be leaving the country for a while would you leave valuable gold in an empty house? I wouldn't I would do what my neighbour has done and put it into a bank vault. The other things I would rent storage for.

    Looking at it from the other side. We have tenant in serious rent arrears who leaves the country for 9 months leaving behind valuable items in the property.

    I don't think they have any claim against the landlord who probably stored their items free of charge for many months. (There were rent arrears.)
  • pinkshoes
    pinkshoes Posts: 20,039
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    Thinking of it in another way...

    How much rent did you owe until you were evicted?

    What is the value of the possessions that were disposed of?

    Are these two values comparable? If yes, then it would probably best to just move on...

    On the other hand, if your possessions were worth more than the rent owed then you might want to put the wind up him a bit.

    Tell him that you have checked with the court and there is no record of the eviction, therefore this was illegal. Then state that he either needs to return all your missng possessions, or pay you £X for your losses otherwise you will be taking him to court over the illegal eviction which can result in a maximum fine of £X or a custodial sentence of X.

    (You will need to look at the maximum sentences and penalties)
    Should've = Should HAVE (not 'of')
    Would've = Would HAVE (not 'of')

    No, I am not perfect, but yes I do judge people on their use of basic English language. If you didn't know the above, then learn it! (If English is your second language, then you are forgiven!)
  • parkrunner
    parkrunner Posts: 2,610
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    Manh28 wrote: »
    Only thing he did is writing those emails. He did not use any of the legal frameworks you mentioned. And he emailed me this bit of information too!

    Are you saying he actually told you he hadn't done it legally ie used the proper forms etc?
    It's nothing , not nothink.
  • parkrunner
    parkrunner Posts: 2,610
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    Even ignoring any possible illegal eviction the police should be informed about all your missing items.
    It's nothing , not nothink.
  • HampshireH
    HampshireH Posts: 4,434
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    So OP what course of action did you take today?
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