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Evicting Tenants In England – A Contemporary Tale

Hello dear Readers! 

Another week has passed and another blog post is due. Today we talk about evicting tenants in England. Why? Well, because I heard a recent story about evicting tenants in England (taking place right now)… so I thought, “yeah, I can write that story!” 

Can I really though? (Well, I hope so…)

The Tenant

Once upon a time, there was a tenant. He was a professional chap (i.e. he had a job) and he lived in a house where the Rent was £500/month. He also had a flatmate, though the lease was solely in his name. He was 26 years old.

The first year, everything was fine and he paid the rent, by direct debit even. Then at one point, he had some troubles. He could not pay the rent. Some time passed, and the rent was now over 1 month overdue. And so he got a call from the landlord. When he was contacted, he was reasonable. He explained that he had lost his job, and didn’t have a new one yet. Additionally, his flat mate had moved out, so he had to come up with twice the money. Still, he didn’t want to be evil. He said he’d try to pay some money and indeed he did (half a rent). The landlord appreciated the effort.

Restricted Access

In the meantime, the Property managers needed to do a gas certificate. Initially, they had trouble agreeing a time with the tenant. Later, they had trouble getting the tenant to answer the phone. Meanwhile, this flat that we’re talking about was a first floor flat. Underneath it, there was a ground floor flat, belonging to the same owner. As it happened, the tenant in the flat below, complained of leaking water from the ceiling. The property managers knew it was from the flat above, but could not get in touch with the tenant. They needed to stop the leak. They called once, they called twice, and when there was no pick up the third time, they cut the water.

Would you know it? Once the water was cut, the tenant was quick to reach for the phone he had been hiding from. Not just this, but he went on the offensive. How could the property manager just cut off the water without informing him? Eh? That’s not very nice…

Needless to say, the property managers had the right answers, and the next day, the tenant gracefully agreed to have a plumber come and fix the leak. The property manager could not arrange the gas man to come for the certificate, but took the opportunity to do an inspection.

The Inspection

During the inspection, a door was locked!

(Queue dramatic music.)

A fan could be heard through the door (if that means anything to you), but the tenant would not open it (“nah, you don’t need to see that mate…”). The property manager did not say much, other than to book another appointment for the gas certificate. The tenant surprisingly agreed.

Soon the plumber finished the plumbing fix, and off the gentlemen went.

The Gas Man

The next week, the gas technician came, and so did the property manager (again), to take a look at the locked room (and finish his inspection). The fan could still be heard (queue more dramatic music), and the tenant again refused to unlock the door. The gas certificate was done, and both the men left. At this point though, the property manager became suspicious and notified the police. 

Now, I’ll be honest, I would not call the police because of a locked door and the sound of a fan, but then again, I don’t know *everything*… (that’s me missus). It must have been a combination of factors that aroused the suspicion of the property manager. 

At any rate, the police investigated, and found that the tenant had been growing large amounts of cannabis in the locked room (how large though, I don’t know).

It is also a little strange that this is my second cannabis story in such a short period, but there you go.

Now, as opposed to my last cannabis story, this time, they arrested the tenant, and he spent a few weeks in jail. Presumably, he was put on probation, as he was back out soon afterwards. At this point though, he was further behind in his rent, and had turned a little “harder” (because he had been in jail maybe? Who knows?).

Some people say that jail hardens a man…

He refused to pay the rent, saying that he would not leave the property either, as he had no money and nowhere to go. 

Evicting Tenants In England – (Hehehehe…!)

So the landlord finally decided to start the eviction process, in this case, using the “Section 8” route (meaning he used a Section 8 Notice as opposed to a Section 21 notice). This means that the tenant was at least 2 months behind in their rent (which he was). 

Once you send a Section 8 Notice, the tenant has 2 months from the date of the notice to empty the property, according to the law. However, that doesn’t really matter, because if they don’t leave, you CANNOT just kick them out.

I’m sorry, what’s that? You want me to repeat that? Sure. The tenant must leave the property ACCORDING TO THE LAW, but that doesn’t matter, because you CANNOT KICK THEM OUT.

Funny eh? (Maybe not if you’re a landlord…)

So What Should You Do?

You must apply to the court for a “possession order”, and this is what our landlord did. The court set a hearing date, which was about 2 months down the line (so that’s another two months’ rent lost). At the hearing, the tenant showed up, and claimed that the landlords were being naughty, having cut off his water. (Cheeeeeeeeky!)

However, after hearing the whole story, the judge could see that the tenant was the unreasonable one. He granted possession of the property, and the rent arrears to the landlord, plus additional rent for every day he stayed in the property (around £20 a day) plus legal fees (capped at £90).

Victory for the landlord! Hooray…!

…but the tenant still did not leave.

(What?! Why?!)

…because he does not have to.

(WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!)

I said… “HE DOES NOT HAVE TO!”

Yes dear Readers! Once you get your order for possession, the tenant has 14 or 28 days to leave (in this case, he had 14). However, the kicking out process is still not immediate! No… not immediate!

Only after the tenant does not leave (yet again! Meaning after the 14 days have passed), can you get a “warrant for possession”.

Whassat then? 

The warrant of possession essentially means that bailiffs will remove the tenants. Good news? Almost! They will remove the tenants, but you cannot tell them to hurry up. In this case, the bailiffs took a month to take action after the warrant of possession was granted (which itself took a few weeks). Here, the judge granted the right to take possession of valuables belonging to the tenant as well, so a chance for the landlord to recoup some funds.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay! 

(No, not quite… )

What happens is, the bailiffs inform the tenant of the day of the eviction, meaning the tenant knows they are coming and will be gone by that day. In this case, the tenant moved out the day before the bailiffs were to come… (and he took everything which was valuable to him). The landlord has to date, recouped the tidy sum of £0 in arrears and expenses. 

Funny right? (For a cheeky tenant, certainly…)

So How Does It All End?

Well… this story has not ended. The rent stopped coming in around February 2016. It is now April 2017, and the tenant has just left the property (literally a few days ago). 

The landlord must now locate the whereabouts of the tenant, and send him some debt collectors to recoup the monies owed (now over £7k including the expenses). 

What Expenses?

Well, between the lawyers fees and court fees, our landlord has coughed up more than £1,500. Additionally, the rent collectors have their own fees, so there will be even less money for the landlord in the end.  As you may have realised, the process is not particularly quick (though there some actions you can take to speed this process). The longer it takes, the more rent you’re losing out on, so it’s important to act quickly.

Is There Anyway To Avoid All This? 

If you are a “good landlord”, and you’ve been unlucky enough to get a difficult tenant who is not willing to pay, then no. There’s nothing else to be done. You’ve got to jump through all these hoops. And it’s very important that you have documentary evidence for absolutely everything that you claim.

If your naughty tenant is more organised than you, then you’re in trouble. So make sure you document everything. If you’re an organised and meticulous fella, you can probably handle the claims yourself. However, the truth is, it’s probably better to get legal support if you’re in any doubt at all.

Now, if you’ve been lucky enough not to have come across such a situation, the important thing is to vet as thoroughly as possible any new tenants that you will get. Though this is not foolproof, it does go some way to protecting you from naughty tenants. In addition to your background checks (which you must absolutely do, every single time), follow your instincts too. If the initial paperwork comes back clean, but you feel that the prospective tenant is a bit of a del-boy, at the very least, do some further checks.

Evicting Tenants In England – Conclusions

Well dear Readers, what is the conclusion here? Well, the eviction process in England is longer and more expensive than some other countries. However, the laws are generally considered neutral (i.e. not particularly one sided). Additionally, though as landlords we’re tempted to complain about how hard it may be, the truth is that there are evil landlords out there, who have been cruel to tenants who were genuinely trying their best.

Even though the story above clearly describes a cheeky, exploitative tenant (who is obviously in the wrong), we must remember that the landlords in general are more financially secure, and tenants in general are less financially secure. We must also be thankful to live in a country where documentary evidence is the most important aspect of cases like these. It means that it’s hard for anyone to take the mickey out of the rest of us. Whereas in other countries, you can pull some strings to illegally influence a “legal decision”, in the UK this is much harder. It means we live in a fairer society, and it is this aspect of the UK which has made it punch well above its weight for so long.

Let me not overdo it with the righteous lecturing though! For me, it’s time to leave you, and for you (if you agree), it’s time to comment! Let me know what you think dear Readers. Am I making sense? Let me know!  

Thank you for reading and have a great upcoming weekend,
SJ

The post Evicting Tenants In England – A Contemporary Tale appeared first on PROPERTY STORIES.



This post first appeared on Property Stories, please read the originial post: here

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