Service address for the previous tenant

[fyfvec]

Hi,

My tenant is (hopefully) moving out, but still owes a huge amount of unpaid rent. The deposit won't cover the full amount.
I'm worried they will move out without paying up and without giving me the new address.

Is it possible to file a money claim without a known address?

Anything I can do before they move out to get their new address?

Even if they do give me some kind of address, how do I know if it's a real one?

Thanks

[JK0]

Don't sweat it.

Address the court papers to your property address. That tenant chooses not to redirect, or to provide another address is to your benefit. He won't know about the case, and try to defend it.

In due course you can enforce judgement against his bank account or wages.

[fyfvec]

That's an interesting approach, thanks.

What if they do provide a fake new address? Then I have a dilemma whether to send the court papers to that, or to my property address, knowing full well that they don't live there anymore.

If they provide a new address, should that be in writing? Just to cover myself - it will be their problem then if they don't collect the mail there.

[jpkeates]

You use the last address they give you for correspondence.
If they give you a fake address, that's their problem, the court papers will be undelivered and they'll lose the case by default.

And you can always look up the address they give you on google maps streetview, to see that it's a real place and looks like somewhere people live.

[fyfvec]

Do not ask for or accept rent for any period after the expiry of a notice to quit unless you want a new periodic tenancy to arise.

What should I do in this situation if the tenant pays the rent to my bank account? I can't stop them doing this. I can't transfer it back either as I don't know their bank details. What's the best course of action here?

[Lawcruncher]

You can refund the rent by cheque. You can probably also ask your bank to return it and not accept further funds from the same source.

However, a problem here is whether the notice was valid.

[fyfvec]

Cheques are a massive pain as I'll have to keep the balance on this particular account until they cash the cheques in.

The other idea I had was to reply to tenants for each transfer to say that I accept this payment as contribution to mesne profits and if they don't agree then they should provide the bank account details to which I will return the payment. Will this be safe?

[jpkeates]

The beauty of cheques is that they are an actual payment on receipt, whether or not they're cashed.
Offering to return the money isn't the same thing.

However, the notice issue is important, because the tenancy is ongoing and rent remains due.

[Lawcruncher]

The other idea I had was to reply to tenants for each transfer to say that I accept this payment as contribution to mesne profits and if they don't agree then they should provide the bank account details to which I will return the payment. Will this be safe?

No.

The words and phrases not to mess with but to leave to professionals include:

without prejudice
subject to contract
mesne profits

If you wish to maintain that someone is not a tenant the only safe option is not to accept or demand money from them. If you wait until they have vacated you can claim mesne profits. It is not appropriate to claim mesne profits for a future period as they are compensation for trespass and you cannot claim compensation for something which has not happened.

Assuming no provisions to the contrary in the terms of the tenancy: For a notice to quit to be valid it must be clear on the face of it that it is a notice to quit and be unconditional and unambiguous. The date on which it expires must also be stated or ascertainable at the time of service. In the absence of any provision to the contrary in the terms of the tenancy, the date specified must be the last or first day of a period of a tenancy. Ignoring current temporary provisions applicable to landlords, the minimum period of notice for residential property is four weeks.

We do not have sufficient information to say whether the notice includes the right date, but the wording of the notice is such that it cannot be classed as clear, or at least crystal clear. "I will today be giving my one months notice" is, as has been pointed out, on its own not strictly notice but an expression of an intention to give notice. I can, however, imagine a sympathetic judge saying it is clear enough for a notice drafted by a non-lawyer. "I will have moved out the property by the 16th of January 2021" on its own is no more than a statement that the tenant is moving out. "I will wait to hear from you regarding return of the keys and check the property is acceptable to you" is I think a clear expression of an intention to bring the tenancy to an end. It may be held to be sufficient to read the first sentence as: "I give you one month's notice". Of course the notice can only be valid if the correct period of notice is one month and it ends on the right day.

If the notice is invalid what is the position? A landlord can accept an invalid notice and, if certain conditions are fulfilled, it will bind the tenant. Here, however, there is the complication that the notice was only given by one of two tenants and the other wishes to remain in occupation. In such circumstances I cannot see that the tenant who wishes to remain is bound by an invalid notice unless he confirms it.

Your priority has to be to establish if the notice is valid as you do not want to be starting proceedings which will fail.

[fyfvec]

I'm not the OP, but does the LandlordZONE's own template represents a valid notice?
https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/pdf/T...ce-to-Quit.pdf

[Lawcruncher]

I'm not the OP

Noted thank you.

...does the LandlordZONE's own template represents a valid notice?

Yes, for a tenancy where the minimum notice period is four weeks.

The saving words "or on the day on which a complete period of the tenancy expires next after a minimum of [insert minimum period of notice] from the service of this notice" are judicially approved.

[Moderator2]

fyfvec,

Please read the forum rules, in particular about hijacking other threads, and posting about your issues in existing threads, doing so just leads to confusion and can be very irritating to thread originators.

[Lawcruncher]

Address the court papers to your property address.

Whilst the practice directions say that a claim form may be served on an individual at his usual or last known residence, they go on to say that where a claimant has reason to believe that where an address is one at which the defendant no longer resides, the claimant must take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of the defendant’s current residence or place of business. So, if you know your tenant has vacated the residential premises you let to him you cannot serve a claim form on him by sending it to those premises.

Full information including exceptions is set out here: https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...es/part06#6.11

[JK0]

But it then goes on to say that if you can't ascertain his new address, you can still serve it at his old one.

[Section20z]

At the time the OP posted the tenant was still resident so this is the only address on which to serve. Quickly.