Comments on: Section 21 – Notice of Possession Order Form

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:53:50 +0000

Hello Paula,

My suggestion is that you’ve answered your own question. If this man has already conned you out of two grand I would not be surprised if he’s trying to muscle you out of your house in order to make it more attractive as a quick sale or to spite his mortgage company. I’d sit tight. Also unless the mortgage company is a well known high street brand, I might be tempted to temporarily suspend payments to them. Explain you’ve been getting confusing contact from the landlord and you just want them to send through documentary, legal proof that they’ve taken control of the house and then you’ll resume rent and make any back payments due.

By: paula

paula — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:08:48 +0000

hi i need help URGENTLY im totally confused my ex landlord took hes wife to court for half the houses they own but he aint been paying mortgage on the house i live in so the mortgage people took it back as far as i knew as they said to me as long as i pay the rent i can stay here but now ex landlord handed me eviction notice today which ends on my birthday what a birthday present WHO DO I LISTEN TO the mortage people or ex landlord who i might add conned me out of 2 grand in rent i have disabled child too

By: Benji

Benji — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:44:46 +0000

Penny, I assume youre evicting for non payment of rent?
If so and they are receiving benefits, have you applied to the council to get the benefits paid direct to you? If not, get onto it tomorrow. The benefits will be suspended whilst they look into it.

By: Benji

Benji — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:28:25 +0000

Penny, if the tenants dont surrender the property by the date on the possession order you need to apply for a bailiffs warrant (£85 IIRC?). That takes between 2 weeks to 2 months depending how busy they are.
It is not automatic.
Chances are, if your tenants are playing the system, they will leave as per the possession order. The council are probably advising them on all this. Unfortunately, if they are struggling to house them they may tell the tenants to wait until the bailiffs actually turn up to throw them out.
Youre nearly there now.

P.s once you have possession, make sure you change the locks.

By: Penny

Penny — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:54:09 +0000

I am new to being a landlord and have phoned myself if the position of having had to serve a Possession Order to the Court which has been served upon the Tenant to which they had returned a reply of requesting the Court to allow a further 42 days, which I believe is quite common. I was told by a Solicitor that this would be allowed whether I agreed or not, so I have gone along with it. 42 days will expire on the 15th February 2012. My question is, do I have to do anything further or will the Courts automatically proceed with an eviction order so that they Tenants can be housed which they have shown to be the course they always intended to take when coming into the country. I was unaware of this as I was led to believe that they were Professional Tenants not DHSS. The usual scam I believe. Another question, do I have any recourse to the Estate Agents as they were the ones who said they had obtained references and I wonder where from.

By: Alistair

Alistair — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:03:40 +0000

I thought I would offer some valuable advice for Landlords when considering renting out a property to persons on Housing Benefit. Most Landlords are aware that renting to HB Tenants are becoming more popular due to the local authority housing shortage. Local Councils are offering to pay Tenants deposits for them due to the shortage of Council property and keeping their waiting lists down.
Landlords unless the Tenants decide to leave your ONLY option of getting them out is through the Court system, regardless of rent arrears, damage antisocial behavior or just the simple fact you may want to sell.
HB tenants will receive all the free advice and every trick in the book from the Council in order to keep them in the property.
I have successfully taken a number of Tenants to Court, through this process I learnt what lengths the Council will go to, to keep a Tenant off their waiting list for as long as possible.
BELOW IS A LIST OF THINGS TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE DONE AT THE START OF ANY TENANCY AGREEMENT.
1, Inventory with photos
2, Valid gas safety cert (do not let this ever run out)
3, Valid EPC
4, Deposit into a protection scheme within the 14 days of receiving it.
When serving notice
1, Insure your give the required clear 2 months notice(recorded delivery)
2, Insure the dates are correct and received in plenty of time(the day before the new rolling contract starts, if they signed on the 30th your notice states the 29th)
3, Insure if on a rolling contract you put PERIODIC CONTRACT on the section 21 notice, if you do not state periodic on the notice it will be invalid in Court. The Tenant will be informed by the Council and will be advised not to tell the Landlord that the lack of one simple word on the notice deems it invalid and you will have to start the whole process again.
The Council will request the Judge for an extension for the Tenants, however if you follow the above, the maximum time a Judge can allow is 6 weeks.
Not all HB tenants are a pain and it is not their fault there is a shortage.
HB pay the rent directly to the tenants, however should the tenant have 6 weeks or more in rent arrears you may ring the HB and request you the Landlord are paid directly into your account. They can not refuse this otherwise it is they themselves who are putting the Tenant in danger of intentional homelessness.
One last bit of advice keep a record of any repairs carried out on the property, and do keep your house well maintained, regardless of any arrears the Tenant can request HB paid back to them if there are any outstanding repairs.
When considering renting to HB it maybe worth your while to get environmental health out to inspect your property, having them on board for a unruly Tenant will only help your case if they request the 6 week extension.
I had to repairing smashed windows, guttering, lead replacement, lights, doors and even falling down ceilings due to the tenants informing the Environmental health she had rented it out in this state in a bid to get HB paid directly to her again regardless of the existing 6K arrears.
I had no proof the Tenant had done the damage the first time, however,EV took photos of all the repairs, when they reappeared just in time for the Court case I Had proof the Tenants had done it deliberately the second time.
The Council stood up in Court and lied for the Tenants, fortunately for me I had written proof from another Council section, good job for me that Council departments do not liaise with each other.
Not often a Judge will call a civil servant a lier. My Tenants were ordered to leave with her 6 children within 3 days of the hearing. It pays to do it by the book.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:37:06 +0000

Hello Linda,

Thank you. If your tenancy is silent on the notice you must give then read: http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/138304.pdf
particularly page 13.

You may be legally entitled to stop paying on 31st January if you give written notice of your decision to quit via the Agent promptly.

By: linda

linda — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:52:59 +0000

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for your advice, very helpful

I’ve looked back over the agreement and yes it mentions month by month until I or my landlord gives notice, I cannot find anything that says length of notice I must give though, assuming it’s 30 days would I be able to send letter stating that even though he’s issued notice, the agents are not the most helpful people i’ve dealt with so the less contact needed the better!

Linda

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:46:58 +0000

Hello linda,

This link might help:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/138304.pdf

At the end of your tenancy (31st Jan) the law stipulates the tenancy converts to a “Statutory Periodic Tenancy”. In simple words, it just keeps rolling on month by month. It sounds like your landlord did not know you wanted to leave and so has issued a Section 21 Notice giving you at least two whole months notice to leave. So far, so legal.

Your tenancy agreement will contain the rules which decide how much notice you have to give to your landlord if you want to leave. So there is no “fixed answer” I can give you.

My suggestion is to read the government guide and your tenancy agreement and see if you can work it out. If you’re still confused, come back here and you’ll need to include the wording of your tenancy as it refers to notice from you.

Hope this helps.

By: linda

linda — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:20:19 +0000

my ast ends on 31st Jan and on the 5th I received a letter saying landlord was giving me notice to vacate the property by 18th March, as I am going to be from the property by the 21st Jan, before the end of the ast am I liable for the extra rent till march as ice been told I am? any suggestions, I’m very confused as I thought i would only be liable if it was me that ended tenancy early to cover rent till date agreed, I have not signed to stay longer than 31st Jan