Repossession

[MrWoof]

54 views and no replies so I'll rephrase the question. I have served a section 21 notice on a tenant and I fully expect it to go to court. If the S21 says possession required after the 21st March (for example) and the tenant is still there on the 22nd with no apparent intention of leaving, am I in order to take the papers to court on the 22nd? Let's say it then goes to court on the 23rd April (four weeks being about right in this area), what date would you say the court will give for the tenant to be out?

[P.Pilcher]

Post your court papers a day or two before the 22nd. but date them the 22nd March. The court will then send copies to your tenant and after service has been deemed to be effected will give him 14 days to lodge a defence. If no defence is lodged, a judge will hopefully scrutinise the paper work in the follwing week - but it depends on the pressure of work at your county court. Should everything be in order, the judge will grant your possession order, but will give the tenant a further two weeks or so to vacate your property until said order becomes final. THEN you can call in the bailiffs if necessary.
If a defence is filed, then the judge may be obliged to call a court hearing to consider the facts - even more delay I'm afraid, so the real answer contains the words "string" and "length"

P.P.

[Andy Parker]

String length about 3 months if no serious problems.

[MrWoof]

As far as I am aware, the forms are correct, filled in properly and the correct fee deposited, what problems should I look out for? I can show a history of late and short payments and nothing paid since the S21 was served. By the same token, the sort of property they are looking for, available to benefit claimants is as rare as hens teeth around here. They have school age children as well.

[P.Pilcher]

They are probably hanging on for either the possession order to be granted or both the possession order to be granted and the court bailiff's eviction notifcation date letter as one or both of these is required to oblige the local council to rehouse them. If they are just playing for time they will make some excuse to defend your action (probably pleading hardship). In which case, the judge may delay the granting of the order, but he can only delay for so long as the grant is mandatory.

P.P.

[lawstudent]

sadly, as far as your S21 is concerned, the rent payment history is irrelevant ... the only thing the court will take into account when considering whether to delay your possession date is how much hardship will be caused to the tenant

[MrWoof]

The tenants know that the local council's only real option is a B&B and they do need a possession order to get even that. How long can the judge delay granting the order?

[Paul_f]

Of course the vital factor you didn't tell us is that your tenants are on Housing Benefit. This alters matters completely.

If you are unaware of the procedures then you could be in for a lengthy wait for possession which unfortunately might extend to some months.

Firstly you are correct in the service of your court papers the day after expiry of the S.21 Notice. You then wait for a hearing date and the tenant who has children of school age [yes?] will almost certainly be granted extended possession of at least four to six weeks. You see - the poor darlings could be made homeless and will not be rehoused by the council until then, BUT.............they still won't go because the council will tell them to wait for the bailiffs to come and evict them after about another 2-3 weeks [that's another £90 it will cost you, not to mention the time factor!]. However just before the possession date the tenants are miraculously found accommodation by the council just before the bailiffs arrive and you have needlessly stumped up £90! It happens all the time in all of the places in all of England & Wales. Unless you really can't find alternative tenants leave the HB system to fester at arms length!

If you read all the archive stuff it will tell you this in a roundabout sort of way time and time again. If you must take on housing benefit claimants you are in for a difficult ride when you want possession. None of my landlords have considered them upon receiving my advice as to the possible difficulties and consequences. It's not the tenant's fault but that of the system which is definitely unfriendly to all sides. :(

[P.Pilcher]

And if you want any confirmation of what PaulF has to say on housing benefit tenants and the councils that sometimes pay their rent, log onto http://homes4wreck.co.uk - You don't by any chance live in Poole do you?

P.P.

[MrWoof]

:eek: Ouch, thanks for that Paul, not only school age but one taking GCSEs this year! PP, no I'm nowhere near Poole but had a similar problem with Haringey council, I don't rent furnished anymore. Where I am now, most agents recommend HB tenants and apart from this one, I have had only good experiences from them. I do, however, set the rent so that the tenant has to pay a top up and I insist on a deposit (NOT a council 'rent deposit guarantee'). Gives the tenant a financial interest in the house.

[Mrs Dingle]

Hi,I have succesfully removed a tenant this way.As a previous reply said papers are sent to the tenant giving them 14 days to reply with any objections.If no objections then the judge will look at the papers and make a decision.This can be 1 too 4 weeks before he looks at them and then they are given 2 weeks to leave.The seeking of a court order also includes the claim to court costs from your tenant.The way coucils work is to only provide shelter when your tenant is made homeless.In my case the coucil considered them homeless the moment that the court proceedings were commenced and dutifully provided them with emergency housing prior to the court order being officially obtained.This is emergency housing and so could be in shared housing anywhere in that area.If you think that you may have rent arrears you should consider section 8 repossesion which includes claim for rent arrears.I say consider because I,m not sure whether the money to be gained outweighs the time ,cost and trouble.This is only a personnal opinion and I am not qualifyed to direct you.Hope this helps.

[caroline7758]

If it's any help, this was my recent experience:

Tenants were young couple, baby due in May, low income but not on HB, though they have now been told they may be eligible. Stopped paying rent so served S.21 to expire 31st Jan. Since they wanted a council house they were advised not to leave, so:

Posted court claim 2nd Feb.
Possession order "Deemed served" on 11th Feb, so given until 25th to file defence.
No defence, court order served on 2nd March, so had to be out by 16th. Tenants were expecting to need to ask for extension to 42 days. Don't know if they would have got it, but, in meantime tenant got the help of a local councillor to push their case with the council and got a council house. So hopefully will be out by 16th.

Just hoping they successfully claim some backdated HB so we can get some money back!

(This was in Hull BTW)