letting agency has forged my signature

[radice69]

i have a property agency looking after my
property they put in a tenant and all was well however after a couple of months he lost his job and didnt pay rent the agency issued him with a section 21 in the mean time we got a court date for 13 May however the agency decided to change the locks on the house thinking it was unoccupied the tenant was in jail whilst he never told the agency he was in jail they removed his property and re let the property out

I asked the agency about the 21 and have we got a court date last week I went to court the tenants solicitor is calling it an illegal eviction

as the landlord where do I stand I never signed any documents for them to act on
my behalf I have not had any correspondence from the tenants solicitor btw the agency never put the deposit in the dps scheme am I liable for their mistakes
I'm not happy and need a good solicitor can anyone recommend

[JK0]

i have a property agency looking after my
property they put in a tenant and all was well however after a couple of months he lost his job and didnt pay rent the agency issued him with a section 21 in the mean time we got a court date for 13 May however the agency decided to change the locks on the house thinking it was unoccupied the tenant was in jail whilst he never told the agency he was in jail they removed his property and re let the property out

I asked the agency about the 21 and have we got a court date last week I went to court the tenants solicitor is calling it an illegal eviction

as the landlord where do I stand I never signed any documents for them to act on
my behalf I have not had any correspondence from the tenants solicitor btw the agency never put the deposit in the dps scheme am I liable for their mistakes
I'm not happy and need a good solicitor can anyone recommend

Try editing the above with full stops & capital letters.

What was the result of the court hearing?

[Wannadonnadoodah]

i have a property agency looking after my
property.........I never signed any documents for them to act on
my behalf

Really? I find that hard to beleive. You went into an estate agents, tossed them a set of keys and said look after my property?

You must have signed a contract with them?

On the face of it it does look like illegal eviction, the shelter website gives details of what the definition and implications of this are.

Deposit protection or lack of and the penalties imposed ultimately fall at the landlords door. Anything you suffer financially could be counter claimed in court against the agent but as you didn't sign anything to say they were acting for you then why would it be their responsibility?

[radice69]

I was told to get a solicitor but who is at fault is it the landlord or agency ?

I never signed anything for them to act on my behalf they have forged my signature isuueing section 21 on acting on my behalf with the tenants solicitors etc

where do I stand and how do I move forward

[Wannadonnadoodah]

You've actually seen documents with your forged signature on?

What was the result of the court hearing?
Did you sign a contract with the agents?
You 'have a property agency looking after your property' what service did you sign up to with them? A fully managed hands off service?

[Ericthelobster]

I never signed anything for them to act on my behalf

Do you mean (a) you've never signed anything authorising them to commence eviction proceedings, or (b) that you've never signed anything authorising them to manage the tenancy on your behalf?

If it's (b), what EXACTLY does your contract with the agent say about what their duties are?

You really need to answer all the questions (and from all other members) clearly and accurately if you want a meaningful and useful answer.

[mariner]

IMO it is illegal eviction & LL is ultimately resp.
radice, answer the questions posed if this relates to actual case. I/we do not normally advise posters on hypothetical or Law exam Qs.

[jpkeates]

From the sound of it, it is an illegal eviction, but the agent committed the offence not the OP.
As long as the agent can't prove that the OP told them to do it, their being an agent of the OP won't really help them.

If they forged the OP's signature on the s21 it's not valid either, so they're in some serious trouble.
It doesn't have any practical effect as the unprotected deposit means the s21 can't be used anyway.

Not protecting the deposit (or ensuring the agent did it) is a common mistake and the agent should be instructed (by the OP in writing) to return it to the tenant immediately.

Just as an aside, if the tenant is able to pay a solicitor to act on their behalf, they're going to be very tough to evict.

[jjlandlord]

There is no need to have a signature on a s.21 notice, so I think that this is a moot point.

[theartfullodger]

... however the agency decided to change the locks on the house thinking it was unoccupied the tenant was in jail whilst he never told the agency he was in jail they removed his property ....

However PfE 1977 S1 etc says..

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1977/43/part/I

1 Unlawful eviction and harassment of occupier.

(1) In this section “residential occupier”, in relation to any premises, means a person occupying the premises as a residence, whether under a contract or by virtue of any enactment or rule of law giving him the right to remain in occupation or restricting the right of any other person to recover possession of the premises.
(2) If any person unlawfully deprives the residential occupier of any premises of his occupation of the premises or any part thereof, or attempts to do so, he shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves that he believed, and had reasonable cause to believe, that the residential occupier had ceased to reside in the premises.

- so perhaps the agent may have a defence... but as we know just being in jail does not mean you have "ceased to reside" at your home, your property...

Were I the owner (note: NOT landlord of occupant) and the subject of any eviction came up I would point out it was not me but the agent & that the agent had no instructions from me to evict./..

What a mess: Another example of the dangers of company lets...

Best route may be to persuade the company to get the occupant to depart... (ie owner & agent stays out of that argument) and then surrender/return property to owner... I'd be prepared to pay money to get out of this one...

[45002]

Damages

IMHO, Sounds like it would be easier for tenant to sue for damages under 1988 Housing act

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/...t/I/chapter/IV

Section 27 (1) (2) (a)