HB/LHA-funded tenant; and Prohibition Order

[adamsmith]

i am a 1st time landlord and took on some tenants, but boy have i been hit the the worst of them all, i fell for their emotional story and now stuck, how do i evict them? i did try a section 21 but the tenants filed a defence, when it got to court, the judge threw it out and found in favour of the tenants saying my notice was wrong. they are professional bad DSS tenants. they harrass the neigbours, anti social beaviour, nuisance, the kids are so foul mouthed, and his girlfriend is pushing babies out like a factory, number 7 now....!!!

the tenancy began on 31/08/08 and was for 6 months on AST which i assume finishes on 02/03/09, this is 6 months. they have put false allegations against me and know every trick in the book, i dont know anything so need help. the deposit is protected under DPS, LHA has now been stopped being paid directly, council are no help at all. what can i do? i know i wont ever see the rent arrears, i just want my house back, i saved up all my life and now my life is at a stand still and its affecting my family and relationship with my partner.

the tenancy is now periodic.

PLEASE HELP????

[westminster]

how do i evict them? i did try a section 21 but the tenants filed a defence, when it got to court, the judge threw it out and found in favour of the tenants saying my notice was wrong....

the tenancy began on 31/08/08 and was for 6 months on AST which i assume finishes on 02/03/09, this is 6 months.

A six month term commencing 31st August 2008 would end on 27th February 2009.

Your notice may have been invalid because the dates were wrong. There is no defence to a s.21 except technical errors relating to the validity of the notice.

In a periodic tenancy, you must give T at least two months and the notice must also expire at the end of a rental period. It's essential to get the expiry date correct, or the notice will be invalid.

If rent is due monthly under the terms of the expired fixed term contract (disregard the dates you are paid LHA), then the periods in your tenancy run last-day-of-the-month to second-last-day-of-the-month, e.g. 28th Feb - 30th March, 31st March - 29th April, 30th April - 30th May, 31st May - 29th June, 30th June - 30th July, 31st July - 30th August, 31st August - 29th September, etc.

To serve valid notice on your T, you must serve a s.21(4)(a) notice before 30th June, requiring possession "after 30th August 2010.

You must allow a couple of days between posting and delivery, so unless you post the notice today, you'll have to hand deliver it with a witness present. Either way, you must keep a copy of the notice and obtain proof of service (as you'll need this proof for possession proceedings). If posting, post two identical copies first class from two different post offices, and get two *free* certificates of posting (do not use a signed-for delivery service). If hand delivering, a witness is necessary to verify service (through the letter box - you don't need to physically hand it to the T).

(If you miss the 29th June deadline, and serve notice before 31st July instead, then the notice would have to require possession "after 29th September 2010").

Note that the name of the tenant(s) must be the person or persons named on the tenancy agreement, (not just everybody who happens to live there).

Here's a template s.21(4)(a) notice
http://www.letlink.co.uk/GeneralInfo...on/S21_4_A.pdf

See also
http://www.letlink.co.uk/letting-fac...d-tenancy.html

The day after the notice expires, you can then apply to the court a for possession order.

[thesaint]

i LHA has now been stopped being paid directly, council are no help at all. what can i do? i know i wont ever see the rent arrears,

Who has stopped receiving direct payment?

[natt48]

From a stress point of view I would consider getting a professional to sort it. There companies who specialise in eviction!

Farm it out!

[natt48]

I know I've seen the people on TV obviously that doesn't make them right but it's a good place to start from

[natt48]

Missed the link

http://www.landlordaction.co.uk/OnTVAndInThePapers.php

[Snorkerz]

A company like LandlordAction will charge up to £864 plus VAT (£1015) to evict your tenant http://www.landlordaction.co.uk/Evictions-Domestic.php

Post #3 will cost you (see the steps in the above link)

• Step 1 - £0
• Step 2 - £150
• Step 3 - £90

Westminster has already given you the basics of the info you would need, and you can ask on here whenever you have more queries.

[adamsmith]

thanks for the tips and support. i am living in england so the laws will be different.

the AST began on 30/08/08 for 6 months, i had the expiry as 30th february 2009, however there are only 28 days in february. so what date will be 6 months AST end. the tenants know every trick in the book, know all the rights. with regards to the false allegations, what i meant to say was that they damaged the house and then called the council telling them that i would not fix them. i'll give you an example, the rainwater drain pipe at the front of the property was dislodged by the terror kids 4 times, i fixed it and then it was completely dislodged so i refused to repair it as it was negligence on their part and malicious. i have also learned that the previous landlord is trying to calim damages from the tenants and rent arrears.

rent is paid monthly and generally towards the end of the month but no later than the last weekend of each month. the LHA was paid directly to me from the begining of january 2010 however i got a letter end of april from the council informing me that the claim was suspended and i was no longer getting paid.

1) AST 6 months - begining 30/08/08 for 6 months, now tenancy is periodic.

2) rent arrears £3000, deposit paid was £600

3) rent is paid monthly -

need help in getting the dates right for the section 21

thanks

[islandgirl]

Council can suspend the claim and not pay the tenants BUT if they are more than 8 weeks in arrears and HB is due, they MUST pay it to you - you need to get back to them.

[adamsmith]

the tenant stopped paying rent in october 2009, november and december, that is 3 months, i did contact the council and provided them with the rent arrears statement etc so the assesment team made the decision and starting paying me the LHA directly from january 2010, i got a letter end of april, stating it was suspended and that i need to provide a break down of the rent arrears. surely they have this information as i provided it to them in december before they started paying me directly..??? it just doesnt make sense, were is the common sense from the council. they are telling me that i need to serve a valid section 21 notice and then they will carry on paying me directly???

[adamsmith]

another question i got was, what would happen if a landlord registered the deposit late, ie after the prescribed 14 days?

[islandgirl]

I don't think I would be accepting the council's stance - I suggest you request a meeting and quote the rules to them - it may not work but it is worth a try! usually they suspend benefit because they think the claimant is no longer entitled to it - you need to ensure they do not start paying the tenant again!
Does anyone have the urge to use the {Mod - name removed} group of companies I wonder?

[Snorkerz]

A six month term commencing 31st August 2008 would end on 27th February 2009.

Westminster: why 27th, not 28th? Surely, 28th Aug - 27th Feb. 29/30/31 Aug - 28 Feb?

Adamsmith: Section 8 ground 8 would seem to apply - it would save any confusion over tenancy period dates, is cheaper, gets you an order for the missing £, and only requires 14 days notice instead of 2 months.

At present, late protection isn't a problem so long as the deposit is protected before the s21 is served. This will possibly change depending on the outcome of 2 current high-court cases.

[westminster]

Westminster: why 27th, not 28th? Surely, 28th Aug - 27th Feb. 29/30/31 Aug - 28 Feb?

I was working on the basis of the periods being last-day-of-month to second-last-day-of-month.

...then the periods in your tenancy run last-day-of-the-month to second-last-day-of-the-month, e.g. 28th Feb - 30th March, 31st March - 29th April, 30th April - 30th May, 31st May - 29th June, 30th June - 30th July, 31st July - 30th August, 31st August - 29th September, etc.

Could well be wrong. Works with the other months (I think) but February messes everything up!

Not surprised OP is confused, especially if he's not sure about when the term began, and the end date is specified as 30th Feb.

Time for a saving clause, methinks.

After: [insert expiry date] or,
if this notice would otherwise be ineffective, after the date being the earliest date not earlier than two months after the date of service of this notice when shall expire a period of the assured shorthold tenancy.

Quoted from http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2010/0...ate-of-notice/

[thesaint]

the tenant stopped paying rent in october 2009, november and december, that is 3 months, i did contact the council and provided them with the rent arrears statement etc so the assesment team made the decision and starting paying me the LHA directly from january 2010, i got a letter end of april, stating it was suspended and that i need to provide a break down of the rent arrears. surely they have this information as i provided it to them in december before they started paying me directly..??? it just doesnt make sense, were is the common sense from the council.

Why don't you provide a rent statement?

Simply list the rental periods whether it be monthly or 4 weekly.
Then provide the amounts and dates that money was paid.

If the claim has been suspended, then you will receive payments if the tenants are entitled to it.

they are telling me that i need to serve a valid section 21 notice and then they will carry on paying me directly???

That's a crock. Do you have a letter stating this?