We are already in Court and the hearing few days away. We need some urgent direction and ideas. The Bailiff wrote that Eviction was due on 2 August. We tried to get the Eviction notice suspended but to no avail. When we got back home the landlord said the property has been handed over to them by the Bailiff. That the premises has been boarded all through and any attempt for us to try and get close will be a police case. We kindly asked to collect out belongings same day as we quickly negotiated a storage facility and got Removan Vans to the premise but was not allowed that we must only come on appointment. After series of talking we were told to come back the following day 3 August to collect the belongings. The following day we were told our belongings were no longer in our "former" home and directed us to a dirty looking store. The problem is that more than half of our belongings were not there. We asked to be allowed to collect the rest from our former home as we believe that about half of the belongings must still be in the home. We were then escorted to the former home and when they open it we all found that about half of the belongings were still there. We were then ordered to leave and asked to write officially. We accepted and left to make the official request immediately since the Removan Vans were outside. We were surprised when we were told all the belongings were already given to us. This could not be true as we weren't dreaming when we went into the home and saw about half of the items still in there. After series of plea we decided to go to court as they insisted they have given us all our belongings. The hearing is now a matter of days. Are there any laws to protect us during the hearing as the landlord appeared to have instructed a firm of Solicitors and an experienced City Advocate. Are there specific way we could comport ourselves before the judge for us to be treated equally? Thanks in lieu.

Hi Everyone, I’ve come on here to see if I can get some help as my landlord carried out an illegal eviction 3 days ago. It’s a long story and I’ve tried to include as much detail as possible so my apologies for the length. I think this is a really serious case of harassment which has concluded with the illegal eviction but I know I’m going to be biased as I’m emotionally involved with it and so I would welcome anyone’s take on it all. Background. We’ve had problems with our landlord ever since we moved in as he failed to protect our deposit, promised it to return it to us (I sent a written request basically saying either protect it or return it) and then broke that promise. He has now eventually protected it however he has ignored all my requests in writing to provided with my prescribed information which I have never received. We was stupid enough to view the property and sign the contract when he was working on the house and he promised us so many things would be done however when we moved in we found that no of the promises had been kept. We were even told new carpets would be throughout however when we moved in we found that he had put the old carpet back down which was previously outside the property. It was saturated in animal urine from the previous occupant which meant that we had to buy new carpets for everywhere. He has persistently refused to put right what he had originally promised. In fact some of the problems were quite serious and included problems like toilet not flushing, water pouring from whole in kitchen ceiling when bath is run, lock not working on rear door and much much more. Anyway, we made several calls to him asking for them to be done but he still refused and then, in our last telephone call we had with him he told us that we should basically think twice before upsetting the landlord. It was at this point that we stopped all verbal communication and switched to written; this was back in April last year. Since then (April – Present Day) things have got really bad, and weird!!. He now drives past our house at least once a day, every day (it’s a quite side road and nowhere near his home which is in a different town). As he passes he slows down to about 2 or 3 MPH and stares in as he goes past. Luckily, since this started back in April, I have been in constant contact with shelter (updating them about the case, making sure it’s all on record) who have been giving me excellent advice.. One of these tips were to get a webcam and record everything, which is what I did and so, all of this driving past every day at a snail’s pace has been recorded and logged. Could anyone advise if the above would be considered harassment? Recently, he served a section 21 notice on me which I have challenged due to no prescribed information being supplied (We now have a court date for Nov 1st for the section 21/possession hearing). Since I have challenged this things have gotten even worse, he now has followed my wife and elderly mother in her car and we have found him parked up a side street with his engine off watching the house. Anyway, as you can imagine we are really scared about his behaviour as we were constantly having to make sure one of us was always in the property in case he tried to come in (we suspect he has done in the past but can’t prove) and so we decided enough was enough and found a beautiful new property. Our plan was to slowly move out of this property over the month and when all valuable and personal items were in the new place we could then give him our notice as the last thing we wanted was for him to know that the house would be empty at times as he may try to come in. So we had started to move some small items on the 3rd and 4th of October. On the 5th after one of the journeys between the new and old property, my wife discovered that he had been in and changed the locks, preventing us from getting entry to our other items. I have managed to get in touch with his solicitor who was dealing with his section 21, and the landlord is now trying to claim that he had a right to do this as the property had been abandoned and is now refusing me entry. His solicitor is saying that we can arrange an appointment at his client’s convenience to collect our items but we will be supervised. His solicitor is also saying that the state of the property was uninhabitable.. Its true, it was. But that's what we’ve had to live in because he never did anything to fix any of the things. I can prove this as I have been constantly sending letters to him and his solicitor listing all the problems the house had. I obviously have copies of all of these. I also have letters back off the solicitor acknowledging these letters I sent and saying that “they will pass on the contents to their client”. Can anyone help with how i can prove the damage was not done by me as it seems that what hes going to try and do.. Are my previous letters enough proof? Back to present day So now im having to argue against abandonment although shelter have already told me that there is no way he can claim abandonment, heres why. He or his solicitor never contacted us in any way even though they both have my tel No, postal address and email address. Rent is still being paid No warning was ever given saying he suspected the property of being abandoned and asking me to contact them Neighbours were not asked; in fact I have spoken to our neighbours who are all happy to give statements saying that we were still living there. Actually, the night before we had the neighbour’s 8year old round as I was spray painting his skateboard for him in our garden. Property was lived in with food in cupboards, watered plants, no build up of post or newspapers (we have papers delivered) Also, while my wife was there on the 5th, she actually noticed him parked up in the side street watching the house, by now she knows the drill so she grabbed her phone and started to walk towards him in his car. As she did this he drove off passing her in our street, she then managed to take a picture of him, in his car passing our house. This same picture also clearly shows our house with the windows wide open, bin bags outside waiting for collection and a kitchen fitters van at our neighbours help, which was only there on that day and so it dates the photograph. I think that this can clearly prove the landlord had absolutely no reason to believe this was abandoned and so would have had no right to enter the property however I can’t find any sold law on this and would welcome anyone’s opinion here. Just a bit more info Since this has happened we now have our own solicitors on the case but they can’t get us in till the 12th October so no movement their yet. I have also been communicating with the councils Tenancy Relations Officer, as advised by Shelter (Apparently these council officers have the power to prosecute a landlord for illegal eviction) but she is absolutely useless!! I know that sounds ungrateful but when she started off by telling me that illegal eviction is not a criminal offence my heart just sank. Apparently she has negotiated with the landlord and is meeting him at MY HOUSE on Monday and im not allowed to attend. She says that she is going to try and the keys for a couple of hours so that she can supervise us removing the rest of our things. After this she will then return the keys to him. I also asked her about prosecution to which she replied.. “Oh Noo, I don’t do that mate”! I've told shelter about this and they say that they have no right to stop me attending and that I need to complain about her... Again, any advice here as I don’t know what to do. So, welcome to our nightmare.. Ive read so much great advice here in the past and im hoping that there may be someone who can help, I know it sounds daft but at the moment my wife is in hysterics and I feel completely powerless so, if anyone has any ideas at all I really really welcome some input. Thanks everyone, Have a good day

Hello and thanks for reading my post. Im in a situation where my mother had to go back to spain for another medical treatment and she has been gone for the last 4 months and since we do not live together I do not normally go to her house. Now it turned out that the house has not been paid for since she has left and yesterday I found 2 letters posted through her letterbox. One of them is Possesion Order and the other is a Notice of Eviction which is supposed to take place on the 4th of August. Now I can clear all the arrears of £1700 this week but Im not sure if I should empty my pocket completely for another 3 months if she is to loose the house anyway. The Notice of Eviction mentiones that she could apply for a suspension of eviction but Im not sure whether I would be able to do it for her since I have not lived with her for 30 years. Any help will be much appreciated.

Hello, I have an eviction date of 13/07/2011, i am £7500 in arrears with my mortgage the original repossession hearing was back in 2005/2006, since then I have had a very poorly baby, been very ill myself and still have problems with my blood pressure and liver. NRAM have issued an eviction date and i have complied with them and provided all my I&E details. I rang today to make my normal payment the gentleman stated that they have made a decision and that i need to pay £4k off the arrears and increase my offer of overpayments, they are stating that i have in excess of £500 surplus income a month.... ..i deffo cant find this surplus in my bank! I have offered to pay £200 per month on top of my normal payments. I am not able to pay the £4k and they have suggested that i contact the court to let them decide. I am petrified that i am going to lose the house, i am married and have two children age 10 and 5, we do not have any family support so there would be no were we could go to. I have admitted to NRAM that i had not been prioritising my debts and that I have since seeked advise from a financial advisor and that i am in the process of dealing with our debts with payplan. I have made arrangements to go into my local court on friday to fill in the form but im not sure what details i need to provide. Can anyone help?

Hello all. Hope someone can help me on the way forward in this case as time is running out. My mother has arrears on her mortgage with Northern Rock and went to court where Northern Rock secured a suspended repossesion order on the property. The agreement was that the arrear would be respread over the remaining 15 years of the mortgage agreement and payment would be £890.50. This was in February 2011. Payment has been maintain without a problem however my mother decided to be sure of no missed payments she would set up a standing order for the amount evry month. This was effected from April 2011. My mother subsequently had to fly to South Africa due to a family emergency at the end of April and is still there. She thought everything was in order. The problem is that I went to check the mail at the house and amongst the mail I found a Notice of eviction from Northern Rock and letters from their solicitors Wallers. The eviction notice is to be effected on 2 June 2011. After a marathon of international calls and emails I finally secured permission to access the account the the problem is that when my mother effected a standing order from April she mistakenly set it for £890.00 instead of £890.50 creating a shorfall of 50p per month. This happened for the April payment and May payment. I acknowledged the error and offered to pay the £1 but Northern Rock are refusing and have scrapped the court set agreement and are demanding 3 bank statements and 3 payslips and the total outsatnding arrear of £8811. I have explained that the mortgage holder is in South Africa and cannot provide all the information but they will not budge. My mother managed to log on and email the statements and I scanned and faxed her latest wageslip and sent it off to them. However they are just delaying now saying someone is looking into it nd will make a decision. Time is not on our side and it now appears these are just delying tactics. The worst thing is that the mortgage holder is not in the country to deal with the situation and the house will be repossessed in her absence. Northern Rock are not very helpful and seem bent on getting the house. While I accept that the mistake was my mother's, I however would have thought that a 50 pence error would not result in a repossession or a refusal to negotiate. No other payments have been missed since the court agreement. Im getting very stressed due to the delaying tactics and impending eviction date. What are my options? The notice of eviction mentions a N244 Form - can it be actioned on someones behalf as my mother has no chance of getting back her in time. Hope someone can help

Hello, My current landlord served me a Section 21 notice that expires in two months time. However, my deposit is not currently protected so from what I have read, his section 21 notice is invalid. What I need to know is this: If he continues with action and makes a court date for the Section 21 notice, am I able to counter-claim for 3x deposit and return (or protection), as well as making the S21 void at a hearing? I need to know if there is any kind of monetary counterclaim ability in a Section 21 hearing as there is in a Section 8 hearing, because I am eager to counterclaim for the deposit penalty (or at the very least, its protection or return) but I cannot really afford to start the proceedings myself as I am on income support/housing benefit + I don't want to tip off the landlord early that he can't evict me with Section 21 until he finds out the hard way because my deposit isn't protected. Thx for your help everyone

Please can someone help me with the current situation I'm having as a tenant. To summarise: 1) Our deposit is currently NOT protected. It was originally protected and held by Agent through MyDeposits scheme but the agent went bankrupt and the deposit disappeared and became unprotected. MyDeposits informed LL and us of this via letter AND I asked him via letter (and over phone) to please reprotect and give us information within the same month it happened (about a year and a half ago). He never reprotected (I have checked with all three schemes this month). 2) Reported quite serious repair issues to landlord on phone back in March. LL still hasn't fixed them to this day and didn't seem like he intended to from the start. 3) LL called up one Sunday and demanded to enter property that day to inspect (after accusing us of causing the repair damages!) - told him that it wasn't a good time that day but he showed up same night banging on our door, looking through our letterbox and demanding to come in. Eventually left after we didn't answer the door. LL showed up again announced two nights later banging on door again. I called the police this time due to harassment and he left quickly after that. 4) The next day he served us Section 21 notice through the door (even though deposit isn't protected). 5) After this we stopped paying rent due to unprotected deposit and disrepairs. Have still been trying to get him to do repairs - sent him a letter at the start of this month outlining all repair issues and asking to arrange a time to carry them out otherwise I will contact Environmental Health. He denied receiving the letter according to his new Agent so I sent it again the other day by first class mail with certificate of posting this time to both his address and his managing agent (who acknowledged receiving the letter and said would pass it on to him). 6) He served Section 8 as we are now 2 months in arrears (after I had sent the first letter) and I now have about a week to clear rent arrears before his solicitors said they would start proceedings. What I would like to know is this: 1) How do you put a counterclaim value on disrepairs? If he starts a claim against us, I will counterclaim for both disrepairs and unprotected deposit but how do you assign a value to the former? 2) Should I inform him again of my request for deposit reprotection or is it enough that I have asked him once via mail (and numerous times on the phone) and that he was informed by MyDeposits of unprotection, and should I just put it in my counterclaim with 3x deposit penalty with no further notice? Ideally I would like the deposit return + 3x penalty to offset the rent arrears, but do I have any obligation to request reprotection yet again? 3) If I put 3x deposit unprotection as part of counterclaim and then he protects it before the hearing date, am I still entitled to 3x amount? If he does protect it before hearing date but then I clear two months arrears, can he still proceed with eviction or will it be void? What I want to know basically is what the best way to act now to ensure that either my deposit is protected and the repairs are carried out (and then I will pay arrears) OR that we don't get evicted because the deposit return and penalty (and disrepair award) will offset the current arrears. If anyone can advise the best course of action, I would be very appreciative. Thanks

(Sorry, I posted this in the Legal Issues forum, before realising this was more appropriate). Hi, I really need some advice quick, if I'm to stave off a possession order - would appreciate anybody's input! Two years ago, due to the recession, my business collapsed, and I got into rent arrears. Eventually, things began to pick up slightly, and in addition I took a part-time job to guarantee that I could at least pay the rent. Although my income is now stable, it wasn't enough to clear the arrears, just pay the actual rent from month to month, with a little bit extra added towards the arrears. Six months ago, the landlord (a property management company) gave me notice and sought a possession order, but agreed to stay the proceedings if I agreed to a schedule to clear the arrears by six months. The deadline was 1st April 2011. The landlord set a figure they wanted me to pay back every month, which consisted of the rent for the month ongoing, plus an extra £300. I have kept to this agreement, but I find that, at the end of the six months, I am left owing exactly £2000. The landlord's solicitor has informed me that they are applying for the stay to be lifted if the full amount is not repaid by the 1st May. I can't afford to pay £2000 out in one go by the end of this month: I only bring home around £1800 a month, and that has to cover my ongoing rent as well as all other bills, food etc. I have none left over for savings. However, on re-reading through the original consent order and schedule, I see that £1740 of the £2000 I still owe is actually my landlord's legal costs (i.e. the bill of their solicitor). This means that only £260 of the amount owed is actually still rent arrears. I can pay that tomorrow, which would then bring all my rent completely up to date. It seems they (my landlord and/or their solicitor) have confused and compounded the issue by conflating the rent arrears and their legal costs. So my questions are: if (after tomorrow) I'm completely up to date with my rent, does the landlord still have legal grounds to seek possession? From my limited research, rent arrears is grounds for possession, but failure (note: failure, not refusal) to pay legal costs are not mentioned at all. Also, am I legally bound to pay my landlord's legal costs at all? As the matter never actually went to court, no order was made as to costs. It was just something they tagged onto the agreement. What I fear is that, even if I am not legally bound to pay their legal costs, if I do not do so, they will still seek possession. Do they have the right to do this? I've never had any other dispute with the landlord, and there really was no need to take the matter this far at all: they've been very heavy-handed about the whole thing. I never disputed I owed rent, and I've always done my utmost to clear the arrears, paying more on those occasions when I was able to. I have lived here for several years, and am settled here. I do not have the finances to afford a move, let alone the disruption this would cause to my personal life and work. The area where I live has become very expensive over the last few years, and I could not afford to stay in this area if I had to move out of my current home. I really would like to settle this and just live in peace with my landlord. For that reason, I am prepared to pay their legal costs if it means there is no further bad feeling between us, and they will not evict me, but I cannot do it before the 1st May. Where do I stand? After tomorrow, when I clear the actual rent arrears, can I ask for a separate agreement concerning the legal costs, on the understanding that it does not affect my tenancy? Many thanks for any advice!

Hi I rent a live/work space which went into receivership earlier this year. At the landlord's request we ignored it for a couple of months, but were then visited by the receivers. They informed us that we should pay no more rent to said landlord - we asked if we could stockpile the rent and then deal with whoever at the end of the period of receivership. They agreed, and begrudgingly, so did the landlord. We have kept hold of all of the rent since then, in a savings account. On several occasions since then the landlord has told us that he is buying back the property from the bank and that we should pay the money into his account. Obviously we have not done this. I'm concerned about our legal footing, because we've been told (again) that the landlord will be closing on the property this week, and that if we refuse to pay all the back rent across then our tenancies become 'null and void' and they will occupy the premises as a right of purchase. We have been told that we should ask for the proof of sale to the individual concerned, the mortgage lender's agreement that the premises are suitable for letting, and a letter from the receivers that all back rent should be paid to the landlord. It has become contact to the point of harrassment - we have received absolutely no documentation other than emails written in poor legalese with 'without prejudice' at the top of them. should we report this to any governing bodies? because of the breakdown in relations we suspect that we will at some point have to pay the money and then we will be evicted over whatever reason springs to mind. the landlord has a history of dealing with tenants this way. we have also been told on the phone that interest on the amount of back rent of some 5 - 10% a day will be added to the charges! on top of this, we have also been told that the receivership of the building was an illegal act and that we should chase it with the receivers. the whole thing seems a mess. if anyone has any legal knowledge that they can impart, it would be very gratefully received. thanks.

Our mortgage company received an order for possesion 12 months ago, at which point i brought the arrears up to date. Since then, i have kept the mortgage up to date, albeit a little hit and miss with repayments! In June, my wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor and spent all July and August in hospital, she is currently recovering at home but unable to work. We both work in our own business, and because she has not been involved in the business, and i have been occupied with her and the kids, we have unfortunatley fallen behind again with mortgage repayments. We are currently £2700 in arrears, and have been served with an eviction notice for the 24th of November. I have an immediate £1000 i can pay, however the mortgage company have said they need "substantially more" and i just cant raise it quick enough. I estimate i should be able to raise the full £2700, plus decembers payment, before the end of december from my business..... but i cant prove this as it is reliant on multiple small payments coming in from clients. Can i stay the eviction order on this basis, asking the court for another 2 months to let me pay? Any help would be much appreciated...

Hi All, I signed a tenancy for my new flat at the start of August. Being worried about [problematic] i googled the 'landlords' name and found his facebook and myspace pages, i signed the contracts in his office on oxford street, i even got ownership details from land registry. I had asked him for proof of ownership but when i saw that the owners on the tenancy matched the land registry info i relaxed my guard and thought everything was above board!!! How wrong could i be!!! I get a knock on the door today, answer it and a guy in a suit asks me who am I and am I squatting the place. I showed him the tenancy and basically the geezer who rented the place to me had started a tenancy with the owners in march or april, he has added £200 to the rent & unlawfully subletted the property to me!!! Whats more he didnt pay the real landlord for the last month and had given notice asking the real landlord not to come round till a few days after my rent was due to be transfered into his account. Luckilly i have now stopped all payments to his account!! The owners first said they would think about having me as a tenant, he even said they may pay me my deposit back if i move out. I went to the police who were not interested in the slightest, wouldnt even take my statement, said it was a civil matter between the owners and previous teanant to be taken to small claims court!! Then the owners call me and say theyve thought about the situation and want me out by the weekend!!!!!!!! I think they are hoping i dont know anything about housing law and are trying to get me out fast so i dont have any time to find out. Unfortunately for them i squatted for 12 years & know a thing or 2 about my rights!! SO am i correct in saying that I am now a sub tenant and to evict me the owners have to give notice and follow normal eviction procedures to evict the previous tenant. I have a tenancy agrement between me and the legal last tenant, dodgy [EDIT] that he is! Also have receipts for rent paid and most has been by bank transfer!! I cant believe the nerve of the guy to do this in his real name from his place of work!! & the police, dont give a stuff!! I know im an idiot, i should have demanded to see proof of ownership but i honestly thought i was being so careful!! Any help or advice is much appreciated Thank you all!!! pat

Hi Can anyone please help me i am at my wits end and don't know where to turn for help, but was told you people on here are amazing. Last October I managed to get a suspension of eviction order from the courts agreeing to pay my mortgage payment plus £75 off arrears. We had stuck to this arrangement but in the last three months life has been very difficult. We had our own busness which due to a nasty landlord we had to give up, he wanted to increase our rent to such a level that we could not sustain the business. We both then had to find new jobs which as a lot of people can agree has been very difficult. For the last three months my husband has worked for an agency part time, very low wage and I have worked part time as a cleaner. My husband has now managed to find a decent full time job but after starting (on 9th August) was told that they are monthly paid so wont get paid until 10th September. I have also now managed to find full time employment which will start on 20th September ( due to CRB checks), but I also will be monthly paid so wont get paid until the end of October. I asked the mortgage company for help as we literally had enough for food and nothing else, we haven't even received any money off the government for un-employment pay!! The mortgage company said no, I asked for - not sure if these terms are correct - recapitalisation or putting us onto interest only for 6 months again they have said no. I now have got a new date for eviction and re-possession of the property and wanted to know if I could fight this action again as once we are both being paid we can resume the payments. By the way they say they will stop the eviction if we pay 75% of the arrears which are at a substantial level!! We said if we had it do you not think we would pay it. We have unsecured debt which we keep saying we will get sorted but in the true English fashion we hope that things will be allright without doing anything. But my main priority is getting this re-possession stopped can anyone here help us please Thank you in advance for all your help and I do hope I have posted this in the right place Jules

My son was evicted on Wednesday 25th Aug. It came as as surprise. He hadn't been aware of any proceedings against him. He works too hard, is often away, and admits doesn't always read his mail properly. He'd been overpaying regularly from the start of the mortgage in June 05 until May 08. Then he'd not pay anything for months and then the odd thousand. So he did know he was in arrears. In May 2010 he negotiated with the bank's solicitors to pay £1,000/mnth. He paid £2,000 in May, £1,000 end of May and end July with another £1,000 going out 27th Aug. On the 26th he managed to speak to HSBC, who said their records say they were expecting £1,000 in addition to the mortgage repayment of £460/mnth (i.e. £1460 ), considered he had broken the terms of the agreement so got an eviction order. We got some paperwork from the court which shows they got a possession order in Sept 2008. They say he had arrears of £5,605. He was unaware of tall of thiis, can't remember getting letters & so wasn't at the hearing. (He was back and forth to the States a lot that year & it may well have all got buried in pile of mail.) There have been numerous errors and corrections by HSBC on his mortgage account. The solicitor's statement submitted for the possession order says his last payment was March 08, when in fact it was May 08 but the bank 'reversed' the payments made in April and May and so these have not been credited to his account. We put in a N244 on Friday 27th requesting access to the property, and that the possession order be set aside. We'd like help in how to put our case to the judge at this hearing so he can get the house back. He now has his parents on board. We'll help financially and help him organise his finances. He works freelance in the Motorsport industry, often forgets to invoice for work done, has a fluctuating income, but should be able to make £2,5000/mnth if he puts in the invoices properly and gets paid. His expenses are around £614/mnth. How can we persuade the judge that things are different now and he won't default again? So far our plan is- -I ( his mother) am prepared to act as his secretary to raise invoices. -His parents will pay for a book-keeper for him. -I've suggest he & I open a joint bank account for the mortgage repayments, so the money is ring fenced. He + parents put money in, and I have oversight of that account. -All bank correspondence, and letters from their solicitor, come to me. Should we make an offer to the bank at the hearing? Or do we just give the judge information about income and expenditure ( which we did send with the n244) and leave it to them to decide? We're awaiting a date of the hearing. No-one has told us about what happens to the debt, does he still have to pay the bank money regardless of all this? Thanks for help. Zaq

My son was evicted on Wednesday 25th Aug. It came as as surprise. He hadn't been aware of any proceedings against him. He works too hard, is often away, and admits doesn't always read his mail properly. He'd been overpaying regularly from the start of the mortgage in June 05 until May 08. Then he'd not pay anything for months and then the odd thousand. So he did know he was in arrears. In May 2010 he negotiated with the bank's solicitors to pay £1,000/mnth. He paid £2,000 in May, £1,000 end of May and end July with another £1,000 going out 27th Aug. On the 26th he managed to speak to HSBC, who said their records say they were expecting £1,000 in addition to the mortgage repayment of £460/mnth (i.e. £1460 ), considered he had broken the terms of the agreement so got an eviction order. We got some paperwork from the court which shows they got a possession order in Sept 2008. They say he had arrears of £5,605. He was unaware of tall of thiis, can't remember getting letters & so wasn't at the hearing. (He was back and forth to the States a lot that year & it may well have all got buried in pile of mail.) There have been numerous errors and corrections by HSBC on his mortgage account. The solicitor's statement submitted for the possession order says his last payment was March 08, when in fact it was May 08 but the bank 'reversed' the payments made in April and May and so these have not been credited to his account. We put in a N244 on Friday 27th requesting access to the property, and that the possession order be set aside. We'd like help in how to put our case to the judge at this hearing so he can get the house back. He now has his parents on board. We'll help financially and help him organise his finances. He works freelance in the Motorsport industry, often forgets to invoice for work done, has a fluctuating income, but should be able to make £2,5000/mnth if he puts in the invoices properly and gets paid. His expenses are around £614/mnth. How can we persuade the judge that things are different now and he won't default again? So far our plan is- -I ( his mother) am prepared to act as his secretary to raise invoices. -His parents will pay for a book-keeper for him. -I've suggest he & I open a joint bank account for the mortgage repayments, so the money is ring fenced. He + parents put money in, and I have oversight of that account. -All bank correspondence, and letters from their solicitor, come to me. Should we make an offer to the bank at the hearing? Or do we just give the judge information about income and expenditure ( which we did send with the n244) and leave it to them to decide? We're awaiting a date of the hearing. No-one has told us about what happens to the debt, does he still have to pay the bank money regardless of all this? Thanks for help. Zaq

Painsmith Soilicitors have just posted a new blog entry at http://blog.painsmith.co.uk/2010/08/23/after-a-section-21-notice-expires which clarifies matters very nicely. I have found considerable confusion amongst landlords and commentators on some aspects of the uses of these notices. It reads: "We are often asked the question of what the situation is once a notice pursuant to section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 expires. Thanks to the decision of the House of Lords in Knowsley Housing Trust v White it is known that a tenancy agreement for an assured or assured shorthold tenancy does not in fact come to an end until the Court Bailiff has executed an order for possession. Therefore the service of a section 21 notice does not in itself bring a tenancy to an end. This means that the measures of only referring to rent as mesne profits after the service of section 21 notice are not necessarily required (although they may be a good idea so as not to confuse busy District Judges!). If a tenant wishes to stay after the expiry of a section 21 notice for a short period this can easily be dealt with by simply sending a letter advising the tenant that the landlord will not be enforcing the expired possession order until a specific date. Subscribers to the PainSmith helpline service will be able to obtain a suitable letter from the document vault on their website. Section 21 notices have no finite lifetime in which they can be used, they oldest reported case involves a section 21 notice which expired 6 years before the possession action began. Therefore agents should not be overly focused on the section 21 notice and tenants staying on after it has expired and more on making sure they have not offered a new tenancy which might override the notice." It seems to me that LL's now have a clear procedural route to follow: protect the deposit serve the deposit info sheet along with a Section 21 notice specifying the final day of the tenanc allow the tenancy to become a statutory one if you ever need to give notice, merely send a letter to the tenant quoting the Notice and saying that you want them gone in 30 days (or later if you wish and specify).

Hi. Need help with writing a letter to my landlord, things have gone too far now. Briefly, I am late with my rent by 2 weeks, it is a periodic tenancy; I have lived in the property for over 5 years now, it is not first time that I am late but as far as I am concerned it was not a problem as never received a single letter about it. My landlord begun to threaten me to change the locks, to 'blacklist' me, as well as making sure that I will not be able to rent again from local letting agents by giving bad ref; it all started about a month ago. At first I tried to explain to him that for the past 3 yrs I was a full time student I often had financial difficulties and that he should now by now that I am not going to run away (I have a full time job now, but have not been paid yet), he would not take a notice. He sends me lots of text messages giving me the dates stating when to leave(3 different so far), he also says I am staying in the flat illegally as there was no new contract signed, I am know that he is not right. Now he says he does not want money, he wants us out by Fri. He also said,( without seeing the flat!) that he will keep half of my deposit to cover the expenses for cleaning carpets which are surly as old as I am(I have a dog, L agreed to it about 4yrs ago, but changed his mind recently, ordering me to get rid of the poor animal). I am assuming he thinks that I have not got a clue about the legal proceedings etc Websites like this one help a lot! What do I tell him in the letter; want to keep it short, polite but clear of what I am asking for. Should I report it to any authorities, just do not want to find myself homeless after getting back from work on Fri evening. Never been stressed that much, really want it to stop.

I need help a.s.a.p !! I have a restored possesion hearing on 6th July. I am reading everywhere about entering defence but only got 1 sheet cant locate anything else. we have a 2nd charge for £37000 have arrears of £3100 my husband has gone from 2k a month job to £285. I have today spoken to the company , they have taken income and expenditure form. I have confirmed I can pay monthly payment for 3 months but no arrears as yet i payment made today, previously was March . My husband has a injury claim going through from his old employer so when this is settled would clear arrears. We are alos hoping he can get a job soon. Please help what can i do ????

Hi all, Im with Birmingham Midshires and over the last couple of years have lots of fee's added. Sent of SAR and got back account histoy for both main mortgage and secued.. Lots of fee's, late payment/returned dd etc. What i was hoping for, because im in arreas was to claim these back and pay off the arreas. Now where im confused is that I have not paid these charges like i would do with a bank account, they have been added on to my mortgage. So what will happen.. Will they just knock the charges of the account or could i get them to reduce the mortgage arreas with them ? Unsure what to do so any help will be appriciated Thanks eggy12

inspired by Tonycee success, I am planning to re claim charges back from BM. I am still with BM and paying mortgage regularly now after back on full time employment. also pay extra 200-300 every month towards arrears which i guess stands at 1500. instead of asking in other threads i decided to open a new one here. my rough estimates about charges are it will be around 2500-3000 consisting different amounts 30 35, 40, 50 and sometime 100 at various point of time cost of letters sent to me. given the scenario, could you please all guide me through. ie the steps i should follow? thanks