Tenant not vacating property at End of tenancy

[ALIEN1X]

Hello,

I have today been informed by the letting agent that the tenant is unable to move out due on the check day which is tommorow, as the property the tenant is moving into is not quite ready.

Not quite sure what is happening here as the tenant has failed to pay last 3months rent directly. The last months was paid by the garentuor, and the tenant claims to have no money yet is moving into a new property.

I have found out from the borough council that bailiffs have been to the property.

I have been informed that the agent cannot remove the tenant on the check out day untill a 3 days time and to obtain a court order can take some time.

They said they have started the ball rolling for legal proceedings via my rent insurance.

A section 21 was served in time by the agent but the agent told me this.....

cannot forcibly remove the tenant from the property and therefore need to obtain a Court Order. This is something the rent insurance would obtain but does take time as there are certain notices that need to be served and a date requested for the possession order from the Court. This is dealt with in the County Court. In view of the above and the fact that tenant advises will be vacating on Tuesday it should not make it to Court but will start the ball rolling with the rent insurance on Monday.


It is the certain notices which have to be served I dont understand? A section 21 was served, I thought all you need is a court order which takes 2 weeks if the tenant dose not vacate on time.

Please advise

Regards
Alien1x

[attilathelandlord]

If the S21 has been correctly dated and served, then once it expires you can then apply to the courts for a possession hearing. It will take approx 3 to 4 months for court proceedings to run their course and to get your property back.

Best to start proceedings and hope the tenant leaves sooner in any case.

[ALIEN1X]

The letting agent re-aranged another checkout for today as the tenant confirmed to vacate, but instead made more excuses refused entry into the property and refused to vacate or pay any rent.

The tenancy and section21 expired 3 days ago.

So my agent informed my rent insurance to start proceedings.

The tnt made a comment to the agent-- 'You cant throw me out as I have no money and no were to go, so I can stay'.

This now worries me that the tenant can stay as long as they like with out paying rent, and may cause damge/missuse my property.

Regards
Alien1x

[P.Pilcher]

If you are insured you need have little worry. Agent will submit court papers. If they are correct, judge will grant possession order, then bailiff will evict tenant. Takes a couple of months. Insurance co pay you rent owing and persue tenant for same. (I hope it's that simple!)

P.P.

[ALIEN1X]

I Hope its that simple, I would have thought the tenant would know better.

However, I'm dreading the courts answer, as they are always on the side off tenants, as these days they have more rights and protection.

Regards
Alien1x

[wayne1]

i have just gone through this and am going through it again. ( I now hate being a landlord).

anyway the quickest way of getting the property back at the end of the tenancy (assuming the section 21 is correct and in order) is to go for the accelerated possession order. if you go to hmcourts website you can download the n5b form, print off anf fill in.
it costs £150 (which you can claim back from the tenant) and takes about 2 weeks to get an answer which tells the tenant they have 2 weeks to leave. HOWEVER the law, the housing and the whole world is on the side of the tenant as nobody has the bottle to make some potentially homeless, never mind the landlord having to fork out for the mortgage payments.
Good luck!!!!!!!!!!

[tavollbracht]

I know that you are dealing with an agent, and therefore may not know if a tenant will be a problem leaving or not -- - - -- but, in our experience it is MUCH more cost effective to pay for the tenant to leave than to go through the whole 'court' ordeal.

We recently had a tenant who stopped paying his rent. We gave him the sec21 notice, waited almost the two months and noticed he was not intending on moving. We then offered him either his full deposit plus (this is a judgement call per tenant) another£150 or depending on deposit amount, just a nice lump sum in cash to vacate property by last day of notice. If he doesn't, he loses his deposit (through his own non-payment anyway) and the extra £150. I know that you may think this maybe a bit 'generous' on our part - but you have to ask yourself which one do you prefer:
1. - tenant refuses to leave, must claim on insurance, hire solicitor, and worry about the damage that is normally caused during this long process or
2. - pay tenant, lose a bit a money you can easily regain once you have a good paying tenant back in place

We have found that giving the tenant an incentive to leave with a promise of money ALWAYS works. Problem solved, hassle over, property re-let.

***this is just my opinion, doesn't make it right***

Hope it helps,
Amy

[ALIEN1X]

I will first see what progress the rent insurance has made,I have to give it a week to see if they think the claim is vaild for them to take it on board.

If all fails, I will have to take it to court my self,I know but I have no choice, its the only way.

I was advised by the county court to downoad form N119 AND N5 for possession of rented property under AST and claim of unpaid rent.

So what is Form N5b for?

Also on the court froms can I put the tenants name/details and the Garentour? As the tenant is always saying ..have no money so I have to try the garentour as well. I have is address and number, he has paid some money before.

Regards
Alien1x