UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi there

My tenant has sent me an email, on the day the rent was due, stating he could not afford to pay the rent and could we come to an arrangement. He already used his deposit for a missed payment last year. He said in his email that if we couldnt come to any agreement he would leave the premises.
Now, because this is effectively the second missed payment and we have no deposit, I said that we couldnt make any agreements and, in a very formal email back, advised him that i would take him up on his offer to leave and gave him one month to vacate - he is on a periodic tenancy now.   His response was that he would let me know when he was leaving.
Since then, I have sent him an email, attempting to contact him to discuss handover of keys and paperwork that he must leave in the house - gas certificate, paperwork for new boiler, etc and have tried to ring him but he appears to be ignoring me.
Where do i stand with regards to getting him out at the end of this month, bearing in mind he has offered to leave? I knwo i wont get any more money out of him and i already have a new tenant lined up to move in when the porperty is vacant.

Thanks

You stand nowhere.  When you say you used the deposit for rent does this mean that you actually had the deposit in the first place and didn't put it in a protection scheme?

The only way to get him out involuntarily is through the courts.  Issue a section 21 tomorrow.

Have you protected the deposit when you received it ?
If you haven't, then you can't issue a Section 21 notice. Or rather, you can, but it's invalid and holds no power. Also, the tenant can easily take you up in court for up to three times the deposit sum. And he will get at least one times the money. Regulations are iron in that matter.
So, be aware that you might lose more than just a month's rent if you go hard in.
If this is the case, I suggest you calmly and gently end the matter without the need for external solutions like courts and so on..

If you have protected the deposit, then you can go for a Section 21, no problems. In two months of time he can be out, if he's not gone voluntarily.

In any case, since it's the second time not paying the rent, you are able to issue a Section 8 notice, seeking possession on the grounds of rent arrears. This is unrelated to the protection of the deposit, so if it comes to involuntary eviction it's your way out, 100%.
It might take time through the courts to get it done, but in the end, they can't object, having missed two payments. Just be prepared to cover the processing fees on each instance through the courts..

My personal recommendation would still be to try and settle this in a calmly fashion. Any other forceful resolution will result in you having to pay money, which are already owed to you. And, realistically, you won't get back any of them.

Hope this helps,
Best Regards,
Bob Tenant @ http://www.bobstenancycleaning.co.uk/

I am new to this sort of thing but have been reading up on it, the answer would be to issue a section 8 on the basis of non payment and not having a TDS would be irrelevant, you should have a clause in you agreement that if rent is not paid within 14 days of it being due that you can take back possession of your property.

as I said I am new to this but I think the above is correct, the only thing I am not sure of is that he may be able to claim 3 x the deposit still if you didn't have a TDS?

Kev

Quote from: kevsan1 on February 17, 2015, 11:55:40 PM
I am new to this sort of thing but have been reading up on it, the answer would be to issue a section 8 on the basis of non payment and not having a TDS would be irrelevant, you should have a clause in you agreement that if rent is not paid within 14 days of it being due that you can take back possession of your property.

as I said I am new to this but I think the above is correct, the only thing I am not sure of is that he may be able to claim 3 x the deposit still if you didn't have a TDS?

Kev

You're not new, you've been a landlord for at least 8 years.  There is no such clause that could be put into a contract that would work.  You seem clueless about any sort of legislation that exists.  If you really think you can walk up to your property 14 days after the rent due date and take back possession then there is something seriously wrong and you need to give up landlording asap.

Quote from: kevsan1 on February 17, 2015, 11:55:40 PMI am new to this sort of thing but have been reading up on it, the answer would be to issue a section 8 on the basis of non payment and not having a TDS would be irrelevant, you should have a clause in you agreement that if rent is not paid within 14 days of it being due that you can take back possession of your property.

Section 8 and Deposits are separate things, that's true. But you can't take possession of a property without a Court order... the clause in your tenancy agreements might say something like - "If, at any time, any part of the Rent is unpaid for a period of 14 Days after becoming due or if any of the circumstances mentioned in Grounds 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14 of Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 shall arise, then the Landlord (in possession of a Court order) may re-enter the Property and the tenancy shall be ended." - so the concept of a 14 day timeframe isn't realistic... it's more like you can start the process after 14 days (which would then take much longer) and it all needs to be legal.