Being evicted need help with court paperwork

[Jhawc24]

Advice please. I have received county court summons for eviction under ground 8 .... I need help with paperwork.

 

1. On the front of POC it states rent is £575 per month payable each month. Then it states any unpaid rent or charge for use and occupation should be calculated at £18.90 per day (whats this?).

 

2. They have attached a rent statement which shows no payment made in September, however I did pay by cheque and have statement to show this .... tried speaking to landlord and he just states to contact his solicitor.

 

3. The letter his solicitor sent states the are applying to court under section 8 and section 21 ... however all the attaching documents only refer to section 8.

 

4. My rent is paid two months in advance but they dont seem to allow for this on the arrears.

 

5. My landlord on two occassions turned up at the front door without giving me 24 hrs notice ... can I counterclaim for this or do I need more evidence.

 

Any help gratefully received.

 

JJ

[Jhawc24]

Also was wondering if I give my notice leaving property before court attendance .... do I still have to attend court?

[mariner51]

LL turning up at your (his) door without Notice is not illegal, entering or using threatening behaviour poss is.

 

I guess the £18.90 / day is the amount they will claim for each day you stay beyond the Notice period.

 

LL is unlikely to win repossession unless rent due exceeds at least 8 weeks before initiating Court action. Post up dates paid & amounts due/paid for each month and give start date of T and fixed period.

 

If you don't turn up at Court it will be a slam dunk for LL and you will have a CCJ against your name, if you turn up Judge may allow you to stay, at least for a couple of weeks

[xoAmyox]

If rent is payable monthly, then a minimum 2 months rent must be unpaid at the date of the hearing. This does not mean in arrears, it means simply unpaid as per the contract. Therefore, if you missed a payment that was due on say, 1st of Jan, then missed your 1st of Feb payment, 2 months is unpaid as of the 2nd of Feb.

If you have proof to show that you do not have 2 months rent unpaid, you should submit this in your defence, the papers you were sent should detail how to go about this. If you are unsure, you can ask the court, or Shelter/CAB will be happy to assist.

 

You say that the paperwork mentions a section 8 notice and a section 21, did you ever receive a section 21 notice (also known as a notice of intention to seek possession)?

It seems as though your landlord is keen to get you out, if not for rent unpaid, then through the section 21 route, which requires no reason to evict. Therefore it may be wise to seek alternative accommodation, you will still have to give your landlord the proper one months notice to expire at the end of a rental period, and probably still have to attend court so as to avoid a CCJ.

 

Just to confirm your current tenancy status, can you let me know:

 

When did you tenancy begin?

How long was the fixed term?

Did you pay a deposit, and is this protected?

Did you have any other warning of eviction before these papers arriving?

[Jhawc24]

Thanks for the replies. My tenancy began on the 9 March 2009 - 6 month AST. I paid no deposit just two months rent in advance. The landlord turned up at the door with no notice on the night of thursday 6 January 2011 stating my rent was due on the Sunday the 9th and he wanted me to include the arrears with the payment or else he was going to start eviction proceedings, he told me there was 2 months arrears making it 3 months due on the Sunday. On the Saturday the 8th I received notification (recorded delivery) from an internet based company with a covering letter saying that the landlord would be applying to court under section 8 (the notice stated 3 months rent due) and also under section 21, however no paperwork received for section 21.

 

I have now just received the court paperwork, in the LL particulars he claims that I made no rent payments in April, July, September and October .... I did miss payment in July and October. I cant find proof I paid in April because the bank statements have been shredded, however I can prove I paid in September and I am in the process of getting a copy of the cheque from the bank.

 

I have tried speaking to LL but he just states speak to my solicitor and I have tried ringing the number for the solicitor but it just goes to answer machine I left a message but got no reply.

 

At the beginning of November I asked my LL to confirm my arrears in writing and have a signed letter from them stating that July, October and Novembers had not been paid. I did pay Novembers following receipt of the letter and they have included that payment on their POC. However in the POC they have stated April and September has not been paid, like I said I can prove September has ..... can I include this letter as evidence in my defence? or do I have to prove every payment I've made?

 

I did not realise I still had to give notice I thought the LL already had with the notice to evict. And my last question is when the judge gives the order for me to leave and states I have to pay (whatever amount) in unpaid rent will he allow for the two months in advance Ive already paid?

 

Thank you JJ

[Jhawc24]

bump

[mariner51]

...have to pay (whatever amount) in unpaid rent will he allow for the two months in advance Ive already paid?

 

 

Without seeing the rent statement provided I cannot comment other than if they are seeking re-possession on grounds of 2 months min unpaid rent due then you would appear to be 4 months overdue.

 

Post up your rent statement showing dates when rent due (monthly), dates payment made and amount paid.

[xoAmyox]

It sounds as though the rent in advance as you call it, is actually a deposit. The only way it wouldn't have been a deposit is if you had paid the 2 months in advance when the tenancy began, and then not paid rent for 2 months after that, then monthly there onwards.

Therefore, as a deposit it should be protected in a government approved scheme.

 

If your landlord is applying under ground 8 of section 8, and as it seems you have more than 2 months rent unpaid, the judge will have no choice but to grant a possession order. He will have no discretion over this.

 

However, the fact that your deposit probably isn't protected (you should check with the 3 schemes), could help you avoid being evicted:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=237&st=0&p=573entry573

[Sophie-Jane]

If you have the bank statement with the cheque number, get in touch with your bank for a copy of that cheque as their is a dispute, they can copy it and send you the copy, ask for both sides of the cheque to be copied thou

 

I know with my Bank, I can search for transactions, maybe you could do that, or pop into your bank and ask them to assist, Even thou what the likes of CAG have been doing and myself included (reclaim charges) they still do help

[Jhawc24]

Went to court on the 11th March, did not oppose the repossession order and asked for 21 days to leave. This was granted which means I have to vacate by the 1st April.

 

The problem I have now is the order is to pay the full amount of CCJ within the 21 days, I did tell the court I couldnt afford it and made an offer of £100 per month to pay. However my landlord wants to make an attachment on my wages to 'ensure' he gets his money!

 

I have made my first payment via standing order direct to landlord, and to date have received no paperwork. Should I apply via a N244 or N245 in order to request that I pay this monthly directly? I know I will have to pay a fee for this but not sure which form I need to use and whether I have to wait for court paperwork however my time is running out. On the other hand I dont really object to the landlord having an attachment on my earnings as long as its around the amount I can afford should I follow this route? My only concern about that is where I would want to pay extra money off the debt to clear it quicker.

 

Please can anyone advise. Regards JJx

[Ell-enn]

Have you received the court order for the CCJ yet? you can send in an N245 form to vary the judgement i.e. ask to pay by installments instead of the full amount forthwith. If the LL wants an attachment of earnings he will have to apply to the court for it and you would receive paperwork asking for your employers details - you can oppose it and as you have already paid one installment to the LL by dd then I don't think the court would refuse payment by installment.

 

Did you ask what happened to the 2 months in advance you paid? have they taken this off the arrears?

[Jhawc24]

Thanks Ell-enn, to date I have received nothing from the court since the hearing. Will I still be able to put a N245 in?

 

On the hearing day I had a free legal advisor from derby housing aid, she negotiated to get one months rent deducted off the arrears for the 2 months rent in advance. The LL only claimed £150 in costs despite having a solicitor represent him. The LL said he wanted an attachment on my earning because he felt as I was leaving the property he's worried that I may just dissappear without paying.

 

So I have now made a 1st installment, if I give the LL a c/o address (as I'm staying with friends for now) will that go in my favour?

 

Many thanks, JJ

[Ell-enn]

I think you need to see what the court order says - can you ring the court and ask if it's been typed up yet.

[Jhawc24]

Finally got the court order, it says to pay the full amount by the 8 April. So is it a N245 I need to apply to court to pay by installments?

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, yes it is an N245 - I have affixed one to this post. If you need help filling it in please let me know.

 

You should hand it in to the court and there will be a fee of £35 to pay - it will need to be in cash, they don't usually accept cheques although they will accept postal orders.

n245_0204.pdf

[Jhawc24]

Will I be applying for a reduction in the instalment?

[Ell-enn]

You are asking for a variation in the order i.e. the court have ordered that you pay the whole sum by 8th April - you are asking the court to accept £100 per month instead.