Needing some advice after some first-time LL bloopers. Served s8 on tenant by hand due to arrears of more than 2 months. I took photos of service, which were later lost.
I did not serve by email as Openrent doesn’t support this but the tenancy agreement does state I can do this (only realised afterwards!). Gave tenant 2 weeks, and tenant obviously didn’t vacate, so I lodged court papers.
My worry is I don’t have enough evidence of service, even though the rent statement speaks for itself. I’m wondering can I serve another s8 notice on tenant (by hand, email and recorded delivery) apply to amend my claim and use that at court instead? Court date is still 6 weeks away from now.
Any advice helpful but please be kind - already feeling the harsh consequences of a poor choice of tenant hitting my pocket massively. Thanks in advance.
You may not be aware that if the tenant pays you enough of the arrears to bring it under 2 months oustanding by your court date, your S8 will fail?
Why did you not consider S21? Not sure you can do that now with RRA having already had royal assent.
I think it would be wise to cut your losses and employ a specialist solicitor because this could get very messy if tenant decides to be even more uncooperative. Things are very tough for even good tenants out there at the moment, let alone ones leaving with a reputation. It’s likely they’ll dig their heels in to stay as long as they can.
Yes I’m aware of that 2 month rule. I did serve the s21 also but I want the arrears back as its currently sitting around 4-5 months worth. I doubt very much that tenant can clear their arrears in that time.
I suspect they’re trying to stay as long as possible but I am trying to avoid having to relodge a claim due to lack of proof of service - which would give tenant more time to rack up arrears, putting me further into debt.
If you’ve served a s21 and are confident its a valid notice, you could just go with that. On the s8, the evidence issue should only be a problem if the tenant is aware that you’ve lost it or it comes up in court. With only 6 weeks left, I’d probably stick with it, but also start a possession claim now with the s21 as a back-up.
Incidentally, you probably have little chance of ever recovering the rent unless the tenant has a good job and you can get an attachment of earnings. Even then, its usually better to get possession first and then do the money claim through MCOL. That way, you can give a final rental figure and will also know if there is any damage at the property to claim for.
Thanks David, that’s really helpful advice. I do know that they’re employed and it is permanent and regular - they’re just choosing not to pay their rent!
I’m not sure if I was clear in my first panicked question. I’ve served both s21 and s8, but lodged the court papers on the basis of the s8 due to arrears. That’s the issue. However, at this late stage we will proceed and see which way the judge goes. Hopefully the judge will see from the correspondence that I have been a reasonable landlord in giving the tenant repayment options and breathing space when needed, but I am now at the end of my tether and just need the property back.
Yes, that’s what I understood. I was suggesting you file a possession claim using the s21 now as a back-up to the original and have both running in parallel for the time being. There is a cost to this of course, but if the tenant is not currently paying rent, any delay would cost you more.
Section 21s remain unaffected for now. Only some parts of the RRB have been implemented immediately, they are yet to announce a date for the abolition of S21 (and that date will be likely some time next year), until that date landlords are still able to issue S21 notices.