Hi, the EICR, EPC and gas safety certificates are all provided through the openrent portal. What is the view as to whether or not that is sufficient to meet the legal obligation to serve these documents?
Thanks,
David
It may not be sufficient. The laws on service are complex and vary between documents. However, my understanding is that courts will generally accept service in person; by being left or posted to the rental address; or as an attachment to an email if prior written permission to use email has been granted by the tenant. All of the above with evidence of service.
I am not aware of any cases where a court has accepted service in other ways but there may be some. However there would be a risk of a challenge by the tenant, particularly if they’re getting support from a law centre, and imo it’s likely that anything other than lawful service would then be ruled out.
Well actually,
If memory serves me right you only have to make sure the date on them is prior to the commencement of the lease but they need to be served on the tenant before the s21 notice.
It’s good to do it at the beginning of the tenancy but for eviction purposes they only need to be served prior to the notice.
I’m pretty much 90% sure this is the case - but not a 100%.
There are legal requirements to serve some of these documents at the start of the tenancy that are quite separate from the s21 requirements. However, most, such as GSC and EICR are unlikely to ever be enforced by the relevant bodies, (eg HSE and local authority). The one that is most critical is the deposit PI. If not served within 30 days of receipt of the deposit, the tenant can claim a penalty.