Assured Shorthold Tenancy and Eviction! Eek!

[adridude]

Hello,

 

At the moment I am 2 months behind on my rent.

 

I told the letting agent that Month 1 rent is being held back because there are various repairs i.e. to boilers, ovens etc... which have not been attended to in 7 months (regardless of my numerous requests)

 

Month 2 should be paid for by housing benefits as I was made unemployed before the new month started. I'm just waiting for the claim to be processed.

 

I called up the letting agent to fnid out if the City Council got hold of them, and I was told that they do not take DSS. Even though S. 8 P. 2 of the Tenancy Information Pack States:

 

"If you are in receipt of housing benefits you have an obligation to ensure that payments are made as quickly as possible. Please note that we will also be checking your application with housing benefits"

 

Looking at this, I assume that they do take Housing Benefit.

 

Regardless of this, I told the letting agent that it was a temporary measure while I am looking for work, so I envisage being unemployed max 1 month.

 

Furthermore, she said that she had enough of me complaining about the repairs not being done, had enough of me threatening court because these repairs weren't being done and spoke to the landlord who agreed that he wants to end the tenancy.

 

My questions are:

 

1) I was only informed over telephone, I asked them to inform me in writing so I can take this further. What is the next step forward?

 

2) Am I correct in saying that they cannot evict me until the County Court rules posession for the landlord?

 

3) How can I catch this all out before it even goes legal? I'd rather sort this out with a few letters, some agreements and tada, we're all happy.

 

Can someone assist me with this? My tenancy type is "Assured Shorthold Tenancy" 6 month contract, which I was told in writing automatically rolls over after the 6th month. I am not in the 7th month going on 8th.

 

Thanks and regards

 

Adridude

[MrShed]

They cannot evict you without a court order - any attempt to do so would be unlawful eviction, which is a serious criminal offence. Any notice of eviction proceedings is only valid in writing. They cannot evict you without:

 

- Serving you an eviction notice in writing(the type of notice depends on the type of eviction)

- Allowing the minimum notice term to expire(at least 14 days, usually 2 months, again depending upon the type of eviction)

- If you have still not left by this point, the landlord must go to court to receive a possession order. Note also that at this point you become liable for the fees of the landlord in evicting you, as long as the eviction is successful - up until this point you have no liability. It would usually take at least 14 days, usually considerably longer, to get a court hearing and a possession order.

- The possession order allows 14 days for you to leave, or maybe longer, and then baliffs are permitted to physically remove you from the property.

 

In your case, you could technically be evicted under either a Section 21 notice(Iassume you meant "now" in 7th month), or under a Section 8 notice using grounds 8 10 and 11. You have no defence against the S21 eviction, it can be done at any point after the initial fixed term has expired for no reason. However, you must be given at least 2 months notice, and this notice would be invalid if the dates are not absolutely correct.

The Section 8, ground 8 is "eviction for 2 months arrears at time of court hearing", ground 10 is "eviction for persistent late payment of rent" and ground 11 is "eviction for being 2 months in arrears at the time of the notice being served" - may have got 10 and 11 confused! Section 8 notices require only 14 days notice prior to applying for a hearing. Ground 8 is a mandatory ground, and possession must be granted. However, as long as you have done everything by the book when deducting rent for repairs(ie proof of required repair, obtained more than one quotation for repairs, sent copies of receipts to agent, informed in writing of your intentions prior to getting repairs done), then you can safely argue that you are not 2 months in arrears, as part of the "arrears" was to pay for neccessary repairs. The other 2 grounds, alone, are unlikely to result in your eviction in this case.

 

As a point of note, an agent has no right to refuse payment from housing benefit. If he is going to cause trouble, do not get the payment made direct to them but ask for payment to be made to you. Although landlords can prevent "DSS"(the term is very outdated, but shall use it here for sake of continuity) from initially moving in, they cannot evict purely on the basis that you have become a "DSS" tenant, other than using a Section 21 notice which requires no reason. However, they must still accept HB payments as rent.

 

Hope this helps! *pause for breath:)*

 

*EDIT* It should be noted that the law surrounding Section 21 notices in particular are quite complex, as much of the implementation of it in the courts is based primarily on case law rather than statute law, as the statute concerning this area can be read in different ways, and case law obviously changes fairly frequently. In particular, two recent case laws, earlier this year, have established that a) explicit dates may not need to be written on a notice, and b) a court hearing can be applied for prior to the expiry of the 2 months notice, AS LONG AS the hearing itself is after the expiry of the notice.

 

As a tenant, the most important thing to know about Section 21 notices is that people very often get the dates wrong, which would invalidate the notice. It is worth checking whenever you receive a S21 that you do not want, that all the required information is there and that the dates are correct.

[adridude]

Ok,

Have a fixed term contract that expired on 24 Oct 06 (signed on 25 April 06, when I first moved in).

I also have a notice for posession (Section 21(1)(b)), which was given to me when I first rented the place (25 April 06). However... I asked how the tenancy agreement would work after expiry, and I was told that the tenancy agreement does not have to be renewed, it can automatically roll on.

So I let it 'roll on'...

You mentioned that the agreement is invalid if the dates are incorrect?

So meaning that I am now in my 8th Month (starts 25th Nov 06) and this makes the dates invalid (i.e. Notice of Posession expired 24-10-06) and I have not had a letter stating that my tenancy ended, and there is no notice of service from any court.

After the '6 month fixed term' is over, and I've been told that the agreement 'rolls on' does this mean that the tenancy renews on a monthly basis (rent is paid monthly)? Or altogether the whole 6 monts 'fixed term' all over again.

 

Will the Nottinghamshire County Courts send me a notice that a case is being filed against me so I can prepare to defend myself? Also, can I contact the courts to find out if anything is being served against me?

 

Furthermore, I am currently 2 months arrears in rent. (as explained earlier). I have made it clear, and I will reitterate that in my reply to the letting agents letter.

 

**I have only been told over the telephone by the letting agent. I have requested them to put everything in writing and send it to me (including reasons).**

 

Question: Whats the difference between: case law rather than statute law?

EEK! I just read this about s21.:

"b) a court hearing can be applied for prior to the expiry of the 2 months notice"

Does that mean if they have already applied that I could get a notice any day?

Finally, lol, is it lawful that I'm served an S.21 the first day I move in? I think they did it as a safeguard. But hey, its my first property and I don't know what it all meant :-\ Once again, it expired 24-10-06.

Anyway, thanks for reading and replying my message My stress levels are UBER high!

Cheers

Adridude

[MrShed]

Not the agreement dates, the NOTICE dates.

 

You will get notice of any court proceedings taken.

 

A Section 21 notice is perfectly legitimate if issued at the start of a tenancy, and puts things in a slightly different light for you, as it means that the landlord can apply for a court hearing at any time. He does not need to reissue a notice.

 

You are not 2 months in arrears, AS LONG AS the repairs you have deducted were neccessary and you have followed the correct procedures.

 

Statute law is law written in "bills" by the government(eg the Housing Act). Case law is points of law established by precedent in court. For example(very general and theoretical example!), a law passed in an act in government may state that "it is illegal to unlawfully evict a tenant". However, case law(that is, some case that has occurred in court and as such has set a precedent) may mean that preventing access to household utilities can be seen as unlawful eviction. Does that make sense?

[adridude]

The notice dates are same as on the agreement.

 

It reads as follows:

 

----------------------------------------------

HOUSING ACT 1998

Section 21(1)(b)

Assured Shorthold Tenancy : Notice Requiring Posession : Fixed Term Tenancy

 

To: adridude

 

Of

 

 

From

 

 

ADDRESS OF DWELLING

I give you notice that I require posession of the dwelling house known as:

 

 

After: 24/10/06 (or the last day of the period of the tenancy next occuring)

 

Signed: Me dated: 25/04/06

 

I your prospective landlord(s)/I your prospective landlords agent

 

Landlord(s) Agent:

 

 

 

----------------------------------------------

 

Is there anything in that which I can go on? I was kinda looking at the: (or the last day of the period of the tenancy next occuring) mentioned after the expirey date?

 

So how long is the usual 'next tenancy occuring'? I noticed that it states 'fixed term tenancy' at the top does this mean that it's a further 6 months of 'fixed term'?

 

Cheers

 

A

[adridude]

Hmm I notice that S.21 (1)(b) of the Housaing Act 1988 stated:

 

(b) the landlord or, in the case of joint landlords, at least one of them has given to the tenant not less than two months' notice stating that he requires possession of the dwelling-house.

 

I was given this notice when I first moved in. Fair enough, but I was then told that I need not renew the tenancy agreement due to roll over (and I have the e-mail still) as it automatically rolls over.

 

This really bothers me (or the last day of the period of the tenancy next occuring) from the last post I put up.

 

When does my notice oficially start and end then?