My tenant is on a 12 month AST which commenced in Nov 2009. He was frequently late in paying rent in the early months of the tenancy, and then stopped paying! He is now 4 months rent in arrears. I have found out from his partner (verbally) that he lost his job a couple of months ago.
I have already issued a Section 8 notice, under grounds 8, 10 and 11, which has now expired. I have read a lot of online discussion regarding Section 8 disputes, and the underlying theme seems to be that the results can be unpredictable, and the judge often takes the side of the tenant.
I understand it would take around 8 weeks to get a court hearing for a section 8. After this amount of time, we would be at the end of October, and the tenancy agreement expires in mid November.
My question is, would I be better issuing a Section 21 and going down that route, or continuing with the Section 8. Assuming the tenant does not pay any more rent, the amount owed would be substantial. My understanding is I would have a better chance of recouping some or all of this money via the Section 8 route rather than Section 21 followed by a small claims route?
Also, if I continued with the Section 8 route, is this something I could do myself or do you need legal representation? Personally, I would see this as a straight forward case but am a bit nervous of proceeding given what I have read before.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thank you in advance.
I have already issued a Section 8 notice, under grounds 8, 10 and 11, which has now expired. I have read a lot of online discussion regarding Section 8 disputes, and the underlying theme seems to be that the results can be unpredictable, and the judge often takes the side of the tenant.
I understand it would take around 8 weeks to get a court hearing for a section 8. After this amount of time, we would be at the end of October, and the tenancy agreement expires in mid November.
My question is, would I be better issuing a Section 21 and going down that route, or continuing with the Section 8. Assuming the tenant does not pay any more rent, the amount owed would be substantial. My understanding is I would have a better chance of recouping some or all of this money via the Section 8 route rather than Section 21 followed by a small claims route?
Also, if I continued with the Section 8 route, is this something I could do myself or do you need legal representation? Personally, I would see this as a straight forward case but am a bit nervous of proceeding given what I have read before.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thank you in advance.
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