Is tenancy agreement valid during eviction process?

[tenant01]

Hi,

Can you tell me please if tenancy agreement valid during the eviction process? After posession and warrant order was issued?

Thank you for all help,

[theartfullodger]

(Assuming this is a boring old AST in England or Wales..)

Yes: Until bailiffs actually chuck you out (they'll be more polite & merely request that you depart..) the tenancy continues...
- So you have the same rights (eg landlord can't come barging in & change locks...)
- So you have the same responsibilities (eg look after the place, pay rent..)

See (for the legislation on the matter..) Housing Act 1988 Section 5...
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/section/5

5 Security of tenure.

(1)An assured tenancy cannot be brought to an end by the landlord except by—
(a)obtaining—
(i)an order of the court for possession of the dwelling-house under section 7 or 21, and
(ii)the execution of the order,

{execution of order is bailiff chucking you out - or you leaving...}

Nothing to stop you leaving before bailiff date: Most landlords with half-a-brain would welcome that: Sadly not all landlords possess that much brain.. If you leave communicate with landlord to avoid being charged rent up to when bailiff arrives..

If you need more advice post here on 'phone Shelter's **free** helpline 0808 800 4444 - but expect a wait from this overworked charity....

Cheers!

[tenant01]

Thanks, much appreciate it for your answer!

Well as you mentioned with or without brain ehh...story of my life.

Well we will be out from the properly day before, flat will be clean, rent is paid up to 28th (eviction on 27th) so we are ok here. All bills will be paid etc. No arrers.

My landlord now wants from me to put all his furniture back from storage room - we don't have any his one due we ask him to remove it because we have our one. Storage is just across patio They saying if we don't do it before the eviction they can charge us for it. I don't have an access to the storage and only time when I can do it is 2hours before eviction. I am trying to cooperate but timing is not the best. Can they do it - charge me for it? My contract stating about putting the landlords stuff back on the position but nothing about fees in case we don't. Anyway I don't have access to storage room so I believe so they need to provide me with it due I want to do it but on the day of eviction (no space in the flat day before).

I will be again appreciate for any thoughts!

Thanks and regards,

[theartfullodger]

Was there a deposit & was it protected in a scheme?

[tenant01]

Hi,

Yes, deposit is involved and is protected under TDS.

[Lawcruncher]

The landlord cannot charge for putting his furniture back unless the tenancy agreement so provides.

[Grrr]

Does that go for other charges like removal of rubbish or cleaning or gardening? As well as stating that that these things should be done, should an AST say there will be a charge for putting them right at the end?

[tenant01]

This is the only point from my tenancy agreement regarding furniture:

"Having replaced the landlord's item in the same areas of permises (as far as is practicable) as at commencement of the tenancy, to co-operate in the checking of any Inventory and or Schedule of Condition and to pay, or be liable to pay, for any perviously agreed costs invloved in the checking of any Inventory and or Schedule of Condition"

I never made any costs agreement with landlord regarding any check out etc etc. And what do u think? I offered my help but only in certain time when I can do it. But landlord probably will nit attend during this time which I requested. Thanks and regards,

[Lawcruncher]

Grrr,

It depends on what the terms of the tenancy are. Basically, if a term requires the tenant to do something and he fails to do it the landlord is entitled to damages for any loss he incurs to make good the breach and the agreement does not need to say so.

[Grrr]

OK. So why would the LL in the OPs case not be able to charge for his loss of time putting the furniture back without specifying the charge in the AST (forgetting for the moment the obvious problem that the OP is not able to access the furniture!)?

Can a LL reasonably charge for trips to the dump etc? And if so, at what rate? And does that rate need to be specified on the AST?

[tenant01]

I believe so if landlord try to deduct any money from the deposit regarding the moving in back the old furniture - 'LL one, I will be need to dispute due I offered my help but it's no answer whatsoever from LL plus as I mentioned before I don't have any access to the storage. Thanks for all your comments, appreciate it! Regards

[Lawcruncher]

OK. So why would the LL in the OPs case not be able to charge for his loss of time putting the furniture back without specifying the charge in the AST (forgetting for the moment the obvious problem that the OP is not able to access the furniture!)?

What it looks like happened here is that the landlord was offering the property furnished and the tenant said he would take it unfurnished. The landlord agreed to let unfurnished and removed his furniture. Assuming that is the case, there are two possibilities. The first is that the furniture was removed before the tenancy began. If that is the case there can be no breach because the requirement to ensure that all furniture is left in place it was in at the beginning of the tenancy cannot apply - except to leave it where the landlord stored it! If the furniture was not moved until after the tenancy began the requirement might technically apply, but it would be unreasonable to enforce it if the deal was that the property was let unfurnished.

Can a LL reasonably charge for trips to the dump etc? And if so, at what rate? And does that rate need to be specified on the AST?

This raises the vexed question of whether, and if so to what extent, a landlord can charge for his own time spent on remedying breaches of agreement or on administrative tasks relating to breaches. The essence of a tenancy is that a landlord makes his money from the rent. Whilst a landlord is entitled to be compensated for any loss he incurs arising from a breach of agreement by a tenant, a tenancy should not be treated as a springboard for generating extra income. When someone is paid for his time he earns income. It may be that a landlord can persuade a county court judge to award him something for his trouble, but I think he will need to persuade him that a professional would have charged more. The other important point is that landlords have to accept that at the end of a tenancy some work may be desirable before the property can be relet. Where the work is minimal I think a landlord just has to take in on the chin. If a landlord lets a property over a period of years he cannot reasonably expect at the end of the period to have a property in as good a condition as when he started without himself incurring expense or carrying out routine maintenance.

As for setting out rates, whether for doing specific tasks or an hourly one, there is the risk of falling foul of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations. Since any charges will not be a core term the level of the charges may be taken into account when assessing their fairness. If the court decides the charge is excessive the whole term falls; there is no power for the court to change the rate to a reasonable one. On the whole, it is best to rely on the law - trying to improve on it can have the opposite effect.