Hi,
I bought btl 2 months ago with a sitting tenant.
I have not signed any new documents but have received a tenancy agreement with the previous landlord’s name.
The tenant should pay hi9s first rent at the beginning of January but has not paid anything.
How can I evict the tenant?
What are my rights?
All answers welcome and appreciated.
~Thank you,
Anna
You take over the landlords responsibilities so it’s the same as if you found tenant yourself, so if within a fixed term you would issue a section 8 notice, if its on a rolling periodic basis you can issue a section 21 notice. You need to give 2 months notice, if they dont move out at end of notice period then you need to enforce via courts which is likely to take a lot longer.
Thank you for your reply.
Ok, so their tenancy agreement is still valid?
It has expiry date on the 30/09/2022
Yes, it is still valid. You would need to issue a section 8 notice, if they are 2 months behind in rent which it sounds like they are then you are able to do this.
Thank you. I will send them a section 8 notice.
Did you or your solicitor serve the tenant with a s48/s3 notice to give your details as the new landlord? If not then no rent is legally due until you have. Once you have all the backrent is then due.
Hopefully you checked everything in this list before buying. 10 questions to ask when buying a tenanted property | Vesta Blog
Can you make sure the tenant isn’t paying rent to the previous owner? I have seen that happen before and it made it messier because the tenant was paying rent as per the contract they signed. I didn’t see the outcome just met someone in the throes of it once.
The previous owner in that case had absolutely no issues pocketing the money. I know the buyer was intending to go after the previous owner as well for it - again no idea outcome.
No, I contacted the tenants several times, asking them to pay and they were saying they are sorry and etc and that they will pay.
Thank you David for your very knowledgeable answer.
I will recheck all the paper work.