UK Landlord Forum / Life

Am in a crappy situation due to not putting my tenants deposit in a holding scheme! I know!!! its in a separate bank account, but I know that means jack s**t Her rental payments are now becoming erratic, the tenant also did not report a leak so it caused loads of damage to flat below. She has gone to the council saying she wants to be rehoused, but has already turned down an offer.
Shelter have been in contact with me with the snide little bit at the end of the letter saying she can take me to court and get 3 to 4 times as much back...WTF?
I have been renting my flat for 4 years, it was my home for 10 years before I moved to another county due to work BUT sadly in that time I have become unwell and my health is bad enough that I had to give up my job in Jan this year.
What can I do to get her out?
Do I bite the bullet and give her the deposit back so I can issue a section 21, or do I put the money in the DPS and fight it out if she does eventually move.
I do not think there are any other options open to me, money is now tight for me due to not working and I cannot even move back to my home, or put it on the market because of this woman.
Any advice greatly appreciated, but am not sure if I am in the right place as not a lot of people appear to offer advice...

hi missdove.. would give her the section 21.. and give her deposit back as she
moves out. may have to bite  the bullet to get rid of her,. ignore shelter may be just idol
threats .i rent my property through a letting agent and rely on rent as my only source of income..
when large repair bills can be a strain ,in the long term, letting is a good option.
get her out as painless as you can.. then manage property yourself.
                  hope this helps a little cheers the slug..

Thanks for getting back to me Slug (love the name) and good to know that I have had at least 1 reply...Yes I might well have to give her the deposit back which does pain me, especially as I also know I will have to get it redecorated due to the orange and green paint job she has done!
As for going to court, you cannot give what you have not got!
Go easy
Miss Dove

 :)thanks missdove  hope advice helped a little, redecorated my
rental property in magnolia. neutral colours, with clause on tenancy
that no decoration takes place with out landlords permission.
learnt this the hard way , navy blue bedroom. took 3 coats to redo.
some times easier to use relining paper then repaint,
                                  cheers the slug.                         

Yep you will have to return the deposit for a S21 to work.
You could use a S8 as I don't think the deposit regs affect this way.
S21 is better though as it is no fault possession.
Be very careful with this one she is obviously going to try and use you to obtain council accommodation.
Learn from this' don't trust a LA.
Get RGI on any other tenant for the future.
You will have learnt a harsh lesson.

Thanks for the advice sort of! Yes but my harsh lesson has been becoming unwell as I am not as sharp as I used to be...
Not sure what you mean by do not trust an LA? And RGI I gather you mean by background checks?

Our tenants pay a month in advance so we always ask for 2 months in advance when they sign the contract, its not a deposit, its just 2 months in advance, so you dont have to use the scheme

Ok that's interesting, but can you still issue a section 21? And could they still be advised by places such as Shelter that you could be liable for up to 3/4 times the rental deposit if taken to court?

If it is clearly stated in the contract then I don't see the leg to stand on, most don't really know the laws and if challenged you can just point out what it says in the contract.... if people who take advice from shelter have the money to take legal action on the basis of the deposit scheme not being used despite being stipulated and agreed in the contract, I would imagine its too much of a risk for them to try it (your legal fees et al.)

Avoid all use of the term deposit, and stipulate TWO MONTHS RENT IN ADVANCE ON SIGNING THIS CONTRACT. (ie, one months for the 1st month of rental and a second to cover the deposit).

I've never been challenged over this.

I don't see how this effects a section 21 order which is for possession of the property.