UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi, I've been reading through a lot of pages related to landlords and tenants,

I've noticed that the landlord is at a distinct dis-advantage in certain circumstances, especially if the tenant is refusing to leave and in arrears.

My question is can anything be done about this? Is it worth contacting an MP to have the law changed to make it more fair to both landlord and tenant...

My reasons for this are as follows...

If  tenant refuses to pay rent you have the option to evict them. However this is at the landlords expense, and it can run into many 100's of pounds,
However if the tenant has refused to pay rent under their contractual agreement, then shouldn't the landlord be able to sue them for the expense?

It just seems very strange that one person doesn't behave within a lawful agreement, yet the landlord is left with a financial bill.

Shouldn't it be turned around where if the tenant is being a *&^&* then they should be forced to pay for the trouble they caused?

I;m all for being a good landlord, but I feel that tenants should be held legally responsible for their actions also.

If a Landlord pays out money to evict a Tenant, that money can be recovered from them. It's not lost. Some Landlords will just feel their trial is over and be thankful that they're able to move on. The laws as they stand are not unfair - they are most equitable in my opinion. When you judge that they are one-sided it may be that you're really, truly, only looking at it from that perspective that matters to you. Just as you appear concerned about taking on a troublesome Tenant, there are many Tenants out there who are just as troubled by getting stuck with an incompetent / rule-bending / law-breaking / nasty / bullying Landlord.

It's always worth looking at things from different angles. A Landlord should not suffer a financial loss due to the action / or inaction of a Tenant and there are remedies in place to try to ensure they do not.

One thing it's worth recognising is this... in this day and age of perceived inequality Landlords are perceived as Public Enemy #3... probably Bankers and MPs still take the top spots. It's unlikely an MP, who's position somewhat depends on populism, is going to stick their neck out to help. Even though many MPs are Landlords themselves, they are also sucking-up the hit and run.

I think the laws are fair, but the practice of exercising the law is not always fair.
Most people opt for a Section 21 when evicting tenants due to the messy and unreliable Section 8 procedure.

I cannot believe it could take a court almost 8 months to evict a tenant when the tenant hasn't paid any rent, yet, you can have an eviction take place within 2 months with no given reason.

I feel the courts need to be better and more efficient at dealing with Section 8 evictions. There may well be different circumstances each time, but 8 months is not acceptable in any standards.

As for you saying that you can recover the losses from the tenant, do you mean that I could evict a tenant with a section 21 and then recover those costs?

The cost of a section 21 eviction could be the cost of a stamp.

Ahh, but what about the enforcement if you have to apply to the courts?

Yes.

Quote from: Hippogriff on February 11, 2017, 05:13:44 AM
Yes.

lol, that's a generalized answer.

Could I just clarity the most complicated part of a section 8 eviction.
1. I fill out the notice of seeking possession.
2. on that form, I give my grounds 8, 10, and 11.
3. I complete the form and give it to my tenant. (preferably with a witness).
4. In this event of a section 8, 10 and 11, I am required to give at least 2 weeks notice. (the rent is paid monthly).
5. I wait for 2 weeks, and if no rent is paid, I go down to the court and apply for a hearing.
6. the court gives me the next available hearing, and I go down there to explain that the tenant has not paid the rent.
7. The court grants me the possession order and asks if I want to recuperate the rental arrears and the court costs (which I do).
8. the court sends out a summons for the amount owed.
9. if the tenant does not leave the property I must return to the court.
10. the court unleashes the bailiffs and they kick the tenant out.

Does this sound accurate?

Hi,

We are new to this site but thougt we would share our experience, so far .....But firstly to Steve1000 notice our answer would be yes.

In 2015, as part of our retirement plan we decided to purchase a property and rent it out.  We purchased a flat, and wanting to be good landlords and not wanting any calls about thing not working, we refurbished it, new boiler, fitted kitchen, appliances, fitted wardrobes, light-fittings, internal doors etc etc.  It was beautiful.

Last October our 2nd tenant stopped paying the rent, reason being he had lost his job.  So we are now at stage 10 of Steve1000's post, unleashing the bailiff's

Yesterday our solicitor applied to the court for a warrant of possession, which we are led to believe can take 6 weeks to be issued (longer down south so I'm told) Then the tenant has a further two weeks to leave.

Although we will be applying for a county court judgement for the tenant to repay everything that he owes, our solicitor tells us that in most cases landlords do not get their money, tenant absconds, can't afford to pay etc etc , so finally the landlord walks away cutting their losses.

So haw galling for us to have to sit her allowing this person to live in our property for the next two months rent free and knowing that we will probably never be paid the rent he owes us.  And who knows what state the property will be  in when he does leave.

So,when we do get our property back we will have received just 9 months rent from an 18 month letting period, i.e 2 months to the letting agent, 9 months to us and 7 months as unpaid.  Thankfully we have legal cover insurance covering our legal costs. 

It may be worth pointing out that we did ask our solicitor about applying for the warrant be transferred to a the High Court for a High Court Enforcement Officer to carry out the eviction, which can be quicker than the above process, but they said that we would have to pay these costs ourselves as they are not covered by our insurance.

As landlord, we have done everything legally required of us, but never imagined that our legal system could be this slow when it comes to regaining possession of our property, aargh!!  .

Sharing over, have a good day

Thank you for your reply EP, I expect your information will be very useful to other people as it has been to me.

I wanted to ask if you would provide the time scales for each stage in the eviction?

I am aware that people will usually abscond when they owe money, but I'm a little unclear as o how this works.
I presumed if you owe money to a creditor, bailiff, or anyone else, you either pay it or find yourself in court.
I then assumed a court would order you to pay the amount, and if you didn't have the money, then you would be ordered to pay a nominal amount each week or month.
I assume that people will then again try to disappear, but It's not so difficult to find someone in England and wales, especially if they are claiming benefits.

For that reason, I would assume that failure to pay a court fine would render you in hot water, and would usually get you placed on the police wanted list.
Surely that would be enough to make someone pay their own debts?
I don't really see how or why this would be difficult for the government.
Personally I would like to see an attachment of earnings on them, for the money that they owe.
People need to take responsibility for their actions, this was banged into me damn hard by my parents.

As for the eviction process, I expected the courts to grant another 2 weeks to the tenant, as they will be forced to find a new place to live, However, 6 weeks, is simply not acceptable. One month is reasonable at most. Any non paying tenant is fully aware that they are a non paying tenant, and I don't think granting 6 extra weeks is professional behavior of the courts.

What I would like to see, is a band of landlords, seeking to clear up this process.
To me, a person should be given one month to find another place to live, and then 2 weeks grace period, before being kicked out by the courts bailiffs and fined for the privilege, and I think due to the recent changes in the housing laws, this should be pushed for in parliament.

Quote from: steve1000 on February 18, 2017, 02:19:57 PMPersonally I would like to see an attachment of earnings on them, for the money that they owe.

All fine in theory - and perfectly possible - but the person has to be earning. It has struck me, in the past, how someone can completely change when their circumstances completely change. That Tenant, who has never missed a rental payment in years and always maintains good communication with you, can stop paying and implement complete radio silence if they lose their job.

In this day and age, where many jobs are lacking security and many people don't have much in savings this can happen in a heartbeat. At that point it can become like getting blood from a stone.

The answer is still yes.

The rest of your commentary is a bit of guff, sorry.

You shouldn't apologize if you're trying to offend somebody... what guff are you referring to?
A petition against some of the rules, and having them streamlined in the future is perfectly reasonable.
In fact, many politicians are landlords, so it may even be easier to have this sort of stuff changed if someone pushed for it.

If there answer is still yes, then what can be done about it?

I recently heard a story about an employee who was left unpaid, and was later dismissed after an argument ensued.
So yes, the market has changed, but the only logical step relating to the would be to restore the employment laws.
but I agree that would be completely off topic..

Bloody yawn, man. You type a lot but don't convey much. I don't propose to do anything about it. You are, and best of luck to you. Start your petition - start it later today and post the link in this thread. Anyone can do it. Even you can do it. So let's (you) crack on. Don't leave it to "someone"... you're in the chair.

Recently heard a story? We all did. We all did. A lot of us go to pubs, and other places, and end up taking to strangers. We learn to treat the things we hear with healthy scepticism.