How to evict professional tenant?

[CharlesRiver]

Make sure your eviction specialist has this information it would be a good response to any sob story the tenant brings up at a hearing.

Thank you very much davetg. Yes, you are right, this is very important. I will note it down.

[Luke]

It's an interesting theoretical question, but, in real life, to go bankrupt owning a property with no mortgage would take some considerable effort.

You could have paid off your mortgage and decided to rent your house out and live abroad on the rental income , then you get a professional tenant as a tenant and you deplete all your savings taking legal action and living expenses and then you run out of savings ?

[CharlesRiver]

Do not contact the tenant directly, only do it via your legal representative. This is one stupid tenant saying those things in an email, and they show he is scared, plus they are gold for your case; ensure your legal rep, and so the court, see them. You can sleep a little easier tonight.

Thank you Turbine Terry very much for your advice. I have stopped responding his email, because with anything I responded, he would start to blame me from the very beginning, and call me stupid or other bad things. I am scared of him because of his verbal violence.

[CharlesRiver]

What have you done about the advice you've been given already?

I have re-read your post#41, and I agree with all your point.

Based on the advice I got here, I have done the followings:

1) I have the Section 8 notice served. Will apply for possession order after two weeks. I will have the eviction specialist representing me in the court. The solicitors I talked to didn't make much progress. I also started to do research on Landlord Action, to see if they will be a better representative for me in the court.

2) I have contacted Council, and Council staff is trying to mediate it.

3) I tried to apply online for direct deposit of the rent from Credit Union to my bank account or the letting agent's bank account, but without creditor reference number, I cannot proceed.

4) I have stopped responding to the tenant directly because he has been trying to irritate me in each of his email.

Thank you everybody for all the advice.

[Luke]

CharlesRiver,

3 . Universal Credit ( and not Credit Union ?)

[Turbine Terry]

You're not helping yourself, though, by giving the impression that things are unfair, because that doesn't help you.
And you'll mislead other people reading the forum, who'll interpret and remember it as "professional tenant can outsmart their landlord in unfair system".

I don’t agree at all that it is necessary to be so harsh in order to not mislead others that will be using the forum. The kicking people when they are down by throwing their errors and faults back at them (errors they have already acknowledge and stated themselves; in this case, at least 12 times in one thread! ) and the ‘it’s your own fault’ mentality, so as to deter other users from making the same mistakes is not needed, or wise, and it does not help new users. Often on these forums the ‘must be harsh to deter others from doing the same’ attitude seems to be used as an excuse for giving others a bit of a kicking, under the disguise of being in everyone’s best interests. I can’t respect that style of advice giving. Indeed, it could just as easily stop new users with issues from posting if they feel that the price of advice comes with all the ‘suck it up, life’s unfair attitude, you made your bed now lie in it etc’ comments. Plus, it may deter users from full disclosure of all the facts of their issues as they may not state all details for fear of being told how stupid they have been.

Anyone reading this thread clearly knows that the OP knows that it was due to his own shortcomings that he now finds himself in his nightmare. It insults him and others users intelligence to think that if the advice isn’t accompanied with a bit of kicking, then they, and others may make/remake the same mistakes. The OP has been more contrite then I have ever seen, and what he is going through is soul destroying. Landlords that have experienced what he is going through will have more sympathy. I also feel a retraction of the word ‘crook’ is IMO required as it is: not true, totally unnecessary, completely unhelpful, and only made someone in a bad situation feel worse. Even after being labelled a crook the OP has the class to (totally unnecessarily) apologise to you! Sorry JPK, I have said how highly I value your contributions, and I normally do, and it is not just you but other users, and I feel that it does not set a very good tone on the forum at times. There are ways to achieve exactly what you and others want to do (deter others from making the same mistakes) without making those seeking our expertise, who are already contrite, and in a bad situation and feeling awful, feel worse.

Anyway, I have enjoyed most of my time on here, but I think I will retire for a while as it’s not a place I really feel I want to be associated with at present.

[CharlesRiver]

3 . Universal Credit ( and not Credit Union ?)

You are right, it is Universal Credit. My bad. Thanks for the correction.
I clicked the link davetg posted https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ears-deduction
It is quite straightforward, however, because I don't have the Creditor reference number, it didn't go through.

[davetg]

You are right, it is Universal Credit. My bad. Thanks for the correction.
I clicked the link davetg posted https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ears-deduction
It is quite straightforward, however, because I don't have the Creditor reference number, it didn't go through.

I did not have a a creditor reference number but it was not a problem - just looked at the process again and got this message;-

"Creditor reference number (if known)
You will have this if you’ve previously set up payment schedules with the DWP. It can be found on your last payment schedule. For example 0000012345"

Does it suggest what you need to do when it failed?

Keep trying - any money you get will be a bonus but more importantly your tenant will not be getting it. I would expect your eviction specialist should be able to help with this

[Sunshine newbie]

I have also fallen foul of a professional tenant mine is now evicted without any possessions, to see them into the next life..

There is light at the end of the tunnel. Make sure everything is recorded, don't engage with the tenant. Although you have now employed a professional keep in touch with the courts direct as they are not always on top of things.
Good luck

[CharlesRiver]

Thank you very much davetg . I tried one more time, and this time I deleted the surname that automatically showed in the "Creditor reference number " box, and left it empty, then the application went through.

[CharlesRiver]

Thank you very much for your advice Sunshine newbie. Great to know that your T has been evicted. Congratulations!

[jpkeates]

I also feel a retraction of the word ‘crook’ is IMO required as it is: not true, totally unnecessary, completely unhelpful, and only made someone in a bad situation feel worse.

First if all, there’s no reason to respond to anything else in that post. I, pretty obviously, don’t agree with some of it, but every point you make is valid and reasonable. And there’s no point simply listing my own thoughts.

But I do have to take issue with the implication that l described the OP as a crook. I didn’t and didn’t intend to. I am sorry if what I wrote could be misinterpreted that way, that’s just clumsy of me.

What I said was that creating an AST agreement that acknowledges the property was substandard and making the tenant responsible for repairs would make them “look like a crook”. Which is a warning I stand by.

That’s very possibly going to be a problem in court, and being prepared for that might be helpful.

I don’t think the OP is a crook for a second.
If I did, I wouldn’t be trying to help them.

But nor do I think it helps anyone to get the impression that this mess is the result of a system loaded against landlords.
This mess is a result of a series of mistakes, and it will be fixed by addressing the consequences of those mistakes, not being unhappy about the general state of things.

And thanks for taking the trouble to detail your issues in the way that you did. Insightful.

[jpkeates]

I have the Section 8 notice served. Will apply for possession order after two weeks. I will have the eviction specialist representing me in the court. The solicitors I talked to didn't make much progress. I also started to do research on Landlord Action, to see if they will be a better representative for me in the court.

Good.

Unless they’re a solicitor (or barrister) they won’t be able to “represent” you in court. They should be allowed to accompany you to court. But only certain, qualified people can represent someone in court.

[CharlesRiver]

Good.

Unless they’re a solicitor (or barrister) they won’t be able to “represent” you in court. They should be allowed to accompany you to court. But only certain, qualified people can represent someone in court.

Thanks for pointing out this. I thought the eviction specialist could represent me in the court.

[jpkeates]

Thanks for pointing out this. I thought the eviction specialist could represent me in the court.

You'll either need to appear personally or to send a solicitor (or theoretically a barrister) to represent you.
It's possible that an eviction specialist might be able to arrange that.

And they'll advise you on the best approach, but normally, the expectation is that you'll be there (if only to answer any questions that might arise).
It's also very possible that the tenant won't show up, which will make things simpler.
But if they do appear, they might be able to access some legal support, but that's becoming less and less available.