Tenant will not leave

[Chingle]

I rented out a property in 2017 for 12 months to a lady who had sold her house.

Due to a poor credit rating she paid 12 month upfront.

It quickly became apparent that she had sold her house to then expect housing benefit to cover the rental at the end of the contract.

 

I served her all the correct paperwork telling her she would have to vacate at the end of the tenancy.

She refuses to leave, she is not eligible to the amount of housing benefit to cover the rental.

The housing benefit she is receiving she is keeping it herself so is in arrears.

 

Last week we were in Court for a possession order.

She was given notice in September 2018 but simply doesn't want to leave.

I ticked the box requesting that the hearing be heard in my absence but was given a hearing date.

The Judge on the day said she didn't know why this was and was clearly annoyed.

 

It all went downhill from there.

The tenant just stated that she wanted to stay, was told that it was not an option and must vacate.

With the minimum 14 days to the maximum 42 days, the Judge gave her 42 something I thought was for extreme cases of illness.

 

Clearly there was an error somewhere along the line and if the decision had been made when the possession order was looked at, the week prior, I would be 35 days into this period instead of 42.

 

She has had over 3 months to find alternative accommodation but with a worse credit rating than when she started, housing benefit, no reference and only trying private landlords she won't be vacating anytime soon.

 

I feel I have been unfairly treated by the Judge.

I would have expected 28 days for her to vacate and the Judge to see through the obvious lies the tenant was telling in Court.

Have I got a valid complaint about the Judgement, I understand it won't change but I feel my position hasn't been taken into account.

Edited January 22, 2019 by dx100uk
spacing

[AndyOrch]

Hi and Welcome to CAG

 

I have moved your thread to a more appropriate forum ...you should get a better response.

 

Please continue to post here to your thread.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Ethel Street]

Housing law isn't my field so I can't suggest what you do next.

 

But just to comment generally on your question "Have I got a valid complaint about the Judgement...?". It is not possible to complain about a judgement, any judgement of any court. The court system doesn't allow for complaints to be made about judgements. You can complain about judges but only if they have acted unprofessionally, for example, fallen asleep during the case, or used racist language. You cannot complain about how the judge has conducted the case or the decision that the judge has made.

 

What you can do is appeal against a judgement, if you have legal grounds for an appeal. The experts here may be able to tell you whether you have grounds for appeal. I don't know. Although I suspect that by the time any appeal is heard the 42 days will be up anyway.

[Chingle]

In all my years of doing this I have never come across anyone like her. There is no logic to what she is doing. I found out yesterday evening that she isn't getting housing benefit anymore so her only income is whatever social security she is getting. She cannot afford to stay.

I see now why the Judge gave her the maximum, it's the end of the line for her. It will come down to bailiffs getting her out. She took a chance with selling her house, privately renting and hoping someone else would pick up the cost.

What annoyed me about the Judge was she shouted at me before I even spoke. Said if I wanted a ruck to take it out in the street. I turned around thinking someone else was in Court. Maybe a bad day for her too. Thank you for the reply.

[ericsbrother]

so if she has been given an order to vacate by a date then stop thinking obout why the judge did this and be ready to get a bailiff lined up to gain possession of your property as soon as you can. this will of course cost you money but at least you will have your house back Any other action will just drag things out even longer and as she isnt going to pay you then will cost you more in the long run.

 

judges make very srange decisions with possession orders. A freind of mine was told he couldnt boot out a miscreant tenant after the usual notice period because the bloke wanted to go on holiday to Nigeria for an unspecified time and therefore he ahd to wait until he decided to come back from there before he could gain possession. It was a number of months before that happened.If possession had been granted after the usual 28 days it woul have been before he went so cant see the logic for the delay

Edited January 24, 2019 by honeybee13
Paras

[Chingle]

Thanks Ericsbrother, you are right. I think I've just been lucky with my tenants and never come across this before. I've taken it too personally, live and learn. It's countdown anyway and I have already filled in the form and in contact with the bailiffs.