Evicting Tenants

I decided to find out what steps are needed to be taken in order to evict assured shorthold tenants in case ’shit happens’ (in England and Wales); which it usually does. God forbid, there may be a time that a tenant of mine steps out of line; consequently I will have to take his/her ass to the dry cleaners and evict him/her from my property.

Evicting Tenants:

An “eviction” is a legal proceeding by which the landlord seeks to reclaim the premises (apartment or home), causing the tenant to vacate.

Evicting tenants can be costly, lengthy and complicated situation, so I suggest you take up yoga during this ordeal to gain discipline and self-control.

There are a lot of professional companies out there that will actually handle the eviction for you (for a fee, of course). Just google ‘evicting tenants’ and you’ll get plenty of results. If you don’t want to go for that option, would strongly recommend getting some kind of legal advice from an expert, for example, a solicitor with eviction experience or a letting agent.

It is a criminal offence for a landlord to evict a tenant without a court order. You can’t even step in your own property without permission from your tenant. So don’t go to the extra lengths of lifting heavy weights at the gym with the hope of using those newly developed muscles to break down a door, Rambo style, because If you take steps to evict an occupier without a court order, you could be liable to criminal prosecution (and immediate imprisonment for three months) and/or a claim for damages by the tenant.

In addition, a landlord only has a right to evict where the agreement with the tenant contains such a right, and/or where the landlord is able to rely on one of the ’statutory grounds for possession’.

Statutory grounds for possession:

1. A claim by the owner who has:
(a) lived in the property before it was let or
(b) wishes to recover possession because he needs it as a home for himself or spouse.
2. A claim by a mortgage whose mortgage predates the grant of the tenancy who needs possession in order to sell the property. A notice must have been served before the tenancy commenced by a mortgagor who is an owner/occupier on the tenant.
3. An out of season let of a holiday home for a period of less than 8 months. The property must have been let on a holiday basis for the previous 12 months. Notice must have been served by the landlord not later than the beginning of the tenancy that the property may be recovered on this ground.
4. A tenancy of not more than 12 months and at sometime during the preceding 12 months the property was let to a student by an educational institution. A notice must have been served not later than the commencement date of the agreement that possession could be sought on this ground.
5. A let of a dwelling that has been used for ministerial purposes and the courts are satisfied that it will again be used for ministerial purposes.
6. The landlord wants to demolish or reconstruct the property and needs possession so to do.
7. The tenant has died and possession has passed to a person without entitlement. ( This is only applicable during a periodic term).
8. Two months (8 weeks) rent arrears exist both at the time of serving notice and on the day of the court hearing.
Discretionary:
9. The tenant has been offered suitable alternative accommodation
10. Some rent was due when the notice was served and at the date of the proceedings.
11. The tenant has been persistently late in paying the rent.
12. Any other obligation in the agreement has been broken.
13. The behaviour of the tenant or someone living with them has caused deterioration to the property or common parts.
14. The tenant or someone living with them is guilty of nuisance or noise anywhere in the locality, or has been convicted of using the property for immoral or illegal means.
15. The condition of the furniture has deteriorated through ill-treatment by the tenant.
16. The tenancy was granted because the tenant was employed by the landlord and such employment has ceased.
17. The tenant falsely induced the landlord into the tenancy.

You can also evict a tenant for other breaches of his tenancy agreement (e.g. antisocial behaviour or damaging the property), although these proceedings will normally be more complex and expensive.

Although evicting tenants should be pretty straight forward, it can be a costly, lengthy and complicated situation, so prepare yourself. Of course, you could be lucky, and it could go smoothly. There are a lot of professional companies out there that will actually handle the eviction for you, but obviously they’ll be a charge. To get in contact with a professional company that deals with tenant evictions just google ‘evicting tenants’ and you’ll get plenty of results.

Steps for evicting tenants:

Keep moving onto the next step if the current fails…

Step 1- Ask your tenant to leave

I think it’s always best to simply ask your tenant to leave, before taking any legal actions. You could be surprised, your tenant maybe willing to vacate your property willingly. If your tenant agrees, make sure he/she signs a document clarifying the agreement.

Step 2 - serve a valid possession notice

you should serve a valid possession notice. The landlord can serve one of two different types of possession notice, commonly referred to as Section 8 Notices, and Section 21 Notices. If the tenancy has come to an end or the landlord wishes to use a break clause built into the contract then the landlord must serve a Notice under Section 21 of the Housing Act giving the tenant not less than two months (or one period of the tenancy if this is longer) notice to vacate the premises. If the tenant is in breach of the terms of the tenancy then the landlord must serve a notice under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 citing the relevant grounds for possession listed in Schedule II of the Act.

You can find a lot of these notices online; you usually have to download them (for a fee) and fill in the form. Ideally, I would recommend using a solitior that has experience with the renting/landlord side of things. They can offer you are much more smoother and stress free eviction process.

A section 8 or 21 notice is usually enough to move the tenant out. However, if that fails due to stubborn tenants:

Step 3 - getting a court order:

If your tenant didn’t vacate your property after receiving the notice, you should apply for an order from the county court telling your tenant to leave. This is known as an Accelerated Possession Procedure. Most tenants are entitled to stay in their accommodation until a possession order takes effect.
Sometimes landlords are able to get a possession order automatically but other times they need to prove a reason to the court. There may be a court hearing.

Step 4 - get the bailiffs involved

If your tenant hasn’t vacated the property by the date the court instructed (assuming you won your case), you could arrange for a bailiff to evict your tenant. The court employs bailiffs. The tenant will receive a letter from the court saying when the bailiffs will arrive. Bailiffs can physically remove the tenant and his/her belongings from the property but must not use violence or unreasonable force in doing so.

Extra notes:

If your tenant owes you rent; provided you win the case, you should get what is owed, included the costs of going to court and possibly further compensation. However, if your tenant is not working, you could well find that he/she is permitted to pay the money back over some ridiculous length of time, with the potential for further defaults along the way.

If you decided to use a professional company to evict your tenant, make sure you are aware of the costs. On average, it costs about £750. Of course, prices could vary drastically depending on circumstances.

Most professional companies that specialise in this area will offer various packages. For example, in most cases, tenants leave after receiving a section 8 or 21 notice. Consequently, you can instruct the company to send your tenant a section notice, and if your tenant moves out, you will only need to pay for that service, as opposed to the whole package, which includes taking your tenants to court and getting bailiffs involved.

if you are in a position where you need to evict a tenant, you should consult a solicitor before taking any action. Even if you are relying on one of the grounds for possession that entitle you to a possession order as of right, the court will expect you to follow the correct procedure.

Judges dislike evicting tenants and will not do so if the landlord has not got his paperwork in order. It is very easy for someone who is unfamiliar with the process to misunderstand the rules and get things wrong.

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I’m Evicting My Tenant - Property Investment wrote, on Jul 9th, 2007

	[...] of a letting agent. If you want to know more indepth info about evicting tenants, you can go to my Evicting Tenants [...]
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