UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello everyone.
Here's a strange and tricky one for ya. I doubt if i will get a response, but here goes.....
In 2004 when i moved into my present home my landlord sent me a Tenancy Agreement to sign. I did not sign it. I have always paid my rent on time which has increased on a number of occasions over the years.
I have recently received a Possession notice (Accelerated Procedure) which contains a Tenancy Agreement dated 2004 allegedly signed by me, yet i have not signed it. My signature appears to have been forged!!
I want to contest  this notice so do I now have to prove that the signature is not mine.......... or does my landlord have to prove that the signature is mine?
At this moment in time i am what is known as flumoxed! I am employed but i cannot afford a solicitor so i am on my own with this one.
Cheers.

If you were correctly served a Section 21 previously and that has now expired, the Landlord is within their right to evict you, regardless of there being a signed tenancy agreement or not. It's not great that someone may have forged your signature on a document, that's for sure, but there doesn't even need to be a signed document for a tenancy to exist. At the end of the day, the Landlord can serve a Section 21 with no justification whatsoever and the Landlord can evict you... which is what is happening here. It's not like a Section 8 where the Tenant can defend against it in some cases, the Section 21 results in guaranteed eviction. So - upon first reading - I'm a little unclear what it is that you want to contest... it is going to happen!

I would focus your efforts on finding somewhere else to live. The only way you can contest a Section 21 was if it wasn't served correctly, or if you gave your Landlord a deposit and it wasn't protected correctly (that would render the Section 21 invalid)... however, your tenancy has existed for a loooong time, before deposit protection rules came into place way back in Apr 2007, so even that might be nebulous.

This seems an odd attitude.

You have accepted the contract, you paid the rent.

The law allows for situations where incomplete, unfair, or outdated contracts exist, in those instances the standard AST going to PST is assumed to be in place no matter what you have signed or not.

Do you in someway think that after ten years of renting a house, because you didn't sign a contract, you can just stay forever? Buy your own house and THEN you have that right.

To but it very very bluntly - you're completely screwed and you better find a new place to live, rather than combat your eviction...


As to elaborate on the reason, there are three possible scenarios for your problem (at least I though of three, someone might have another)


One - you've received a tenancy agreement, but you haven't signed it. Thus, it can be perceived as you not agreeing with the contents of the contract and making no deal with your landlord. As such, you're living in somebody else's property, without anyone's but their permission. Essentially, you're a guest in the landlord's home.


If that is the case, they can simply stop permitting you to stay at their property. In the following sense you can be viewed as a trespasser, thus evicted by the court of law or other authority.


Two - you've received a tenancy agreement, but you haven't signed it. However, you and the landlord agreeing on the same thing is a valid verbal agreement, solidified by the fact you've lived in the property for 10 years. The verbal agreement is not disputable in court unless there is explicit proof of the agreement being made.
Such proof will be a recording of the time when you agreed on the deal. I will assume you have none, thus there is nothing to help you in a dispute.


Three - there is a tenancy agreement signed by both parties. Your signature is forged , but the fact you've lived in the property for 10 years, paid a legitimate rent and had no severe problems with the landlord only acts against you. Putting myself in the judge's place, I'd see this as a desperate attempt to combat eviction.


The only way to prove the forging is hiring a professional graphologist to examine the documents, but there is no way to guarantee the result of the investigation. If you can prove the fraud you can follow with fraud charges, but that is a completely different law suit.


It took me a minute to research if you can or can not dispute the eviction on the grounds of deposit protection. After I read the case study of a similar problem to yours -> click <- I found out that is also not an option. Basically you can only contest on the grounds if the contract began pre April the 6th, 2014 and then converted to a periodic tenancy by default after the fixed term has expired after the said date.
In your case the landlord is not forced to secure your deposit in a government authorised scheme, which is a common mistake and a requirement for service a legitimate Section 21 notice after April the 6th, 2014.




Unfortunately, I can't provide you with a solution to your problem, except finding a new home for you and your family.  It's best just to let it go and focus your time and energy into something achievable, rather than wasting your resources. You might want to contact a lawyer and get the things going on with that forgery.
This is a criminal offence and I wouldn't let it slide - eviction or not.


Best Regards,
Bob Tenant @ Bob's Tenancy Cleaning London

If the Landlord handed you keys to the house and rent was payed then in law a tenancy exists, and you are bound by the 1988 housing act. So the section 21 will be valid as long as it was served properly.