UC Tenant not paid rent for last 3 months. Not replying

Landlord Discussion Legal
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Hi all, I’m renting out my home for first time.

I have given the house to my tenant who has 5 kids and recieved UC and housing allowances when started to rent 3 months ago. But She said she hasn’t been receiving the benefits properly after moving and hasn’t paid any rent for past 3 months(that’s basically all the time she is in there). Should i serve section 21 notice? Will it be valid since she is not getting UC from govt? Will I get my rent arrears back? Will it be expensive to go legally in court if she won’t evict? What are the best options?Appreciate the advises. Thank you

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@Sidharth

In england? If so no such thing as s21 any more since 1 may.

Consider doing some LL training but if delay genuinely administration delay by the authorities not tenant withholding the UC payments then eviction will fail - not her fault if there’s been a delay so she’s protected from eviction. To quote nrla

" When it comes to calculating the arrears owed, you are unable to take any arrears built due to delays in Universal Credit payments into account. "

It’s unfair for LLs but you should have known that when taking on a UC tenant.

If she’s not replying organise an inspection visit and talk to her and find out what UC claim the problem is, and try and see how you can work with her to get it resolved.

Good luck

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Head not heart. UC arrears are more than private renting arrears by a mile . I recon you are being scammed

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Get some proper legal advice before you make a catastrophic error.

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that quote by nela about arrears not being the tenants fault is another reason not to take UC tenants in the landlords mind (but not spoken)

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Thanks for the replies. We gave the house because of sympathy for her and kids situation. We just wanted her bullied kids to have a good house and area. Never thought it would turn into this. Anyway only praying she is genuine and everything will be sorted.

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Thank you @David240 learnt a lesson.

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Thank you @Colin3 never thought about this until i was trying to serve section 8 and noticed it.

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Thanks @David122 checked, but they just want to take money and serve the notice, but UC is an issue anyway. want to know if any similar cases in court and verdicts

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I never rent to people who do not have the same ideals as myself.. I have to like them and they have to like me. A decent conversation with them lets you know what their standards are. I never tell them why they are refused, I keep my thoughts to myself. Sympathy shown will not pay the rent.

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@Sidharth

Well we all keep learning- being a LL is never as boring as you’d hope…there is always something needing fixing or whatever.

Think your future action is the same either way:-

A. Do everything possible to show you are trying to work with tenant to resolve issue with UC delays but protect yourself by recording all conversations, taking a witness with you to the inspection visits, and sending tenant a written record (by email and post) afterwards

B. Explain to tenant that if they are genuine they will be willing to show you the evidence of delayed payment and correspondence with the authorities. You can apply for payment direct to you if tenant agrees.

C. Either way issue the s8 notice because this might prompt the authorities to get on with sorting out the payments or at least providing you and tenant with evidence to support the tenant’s contention that their is a delay in the processing. If they don’t do so then you proceed with the eviction. Explain to tenant that if you and they can’t sort out getting the payments from UC then you will need to sell up, because it’s not sustainable for you to pay the mortgage and have no rent coming in to pay for it, so it really is their problem as much as yours.

D. If they can’t show any evidence of delays then you may be best selling up on ground 1a - they could be claiming the UC and simply not pass it on. Check with the council. Strictly it’s benefit fraud and when you do eventually evict they could be judged to have made themselves voluntarily homeless and not eligible for council support but with the kids the tenant if scamming you could be assuming that’ll never happen..

E. Expect the eviction to take many months with no rent. Average time from grant of possession to bailliffs eviction (County court) was 6 months, before that there is 4wks notice then the time before the court grants possession. And legal costs.

Good luck

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@Colin3 i should have noticed. I had a baby recently. So only thought good for her kids. I didn’t want this situation to end badly for them and us. So will do best to sort things together. But took me 3 unpaid months to know it is financially a bad Emotional decision. Now I might need UC to get over this. Still why are LL not protected as much as tenants here.

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@David240 thank you for the guidance. This is very valuable information. educational.

When o talked to legal team, they told they can do it once it is 3 months arrears. 10 more days from now. To make the case strong.

But since i opted RentNow option I guess i could serve the notice directly from the portal. But when i cliched the reason rent arrears- it states that arrears with UC must be ignored attaching screenshots herewith

should i continue serving the notice?

IMG_2672
IMG_26721290×2796 377 KB

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@Sidharth

that’s why I suggested you talk to tenant and give them the opportunity to give you evidence that the arrears are due to UC administration delays. If they can’t provide any documentary evidence def proceed with serving the notice. Even if they do have evidence you can get legal advice on whether it’s credible or not and then decide. At the very least if there is credible evidence you then know where you stand and can then contact the council to try to get resolved and explain to council that without rent being paid, you will need to evict tenant to sell the property.

Good luck

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@David240 sure, they were sharing some messages informing us about the appointments she is having at job centre and updating her UC journal. Stuff like that.

Is it ok to ask for the bank statements? What proofs can i ask?

Also she get almost 60% from housing benefits and she tops the rest.

Importantly, On the second month, she gave one month’s top up. She was understanding and cooperating and told she will keep topping up every week small amounts as she gets. when we asked she said she can’t, not responding now after. And she told she is having an appointment next Wednesday, then sort out. But it’s been many Wednesdays like this.

So with that partial top up, even in 3 months - it is not completely 3 months full rent arrears as open rent needs 3 full rents in arrears.

(but legal team told any arrears is fine) openrent let me serve the notice for free i believe as the service comes with the RentNow package.

Any clarification on section 8 is appreciated in this situation.

Thank you so much

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@Sidharth

. How much is the arrears excluding the amount due from UC ? If total rent amount is X pcm then due so far is 3 X for 3 months? , and top up is 40% of X so for 3 months the top ups total 1.2 X. if she has paid the 40% top up for only month 2, she is behind on the top ups and you need an explanation why as that’s nothing to do with the UC. If she can’t afford it she has misled you hasn’t she, to get the tenancy, and even if the UC comes through you are going to need to evict her arent you?

  1. if she is actually behind on the top ups you can serve notice for any rent arrears and persistent arrears using s8 ground 10 and 11 plus ground 17 false statement (if you can show she misled you on her ability to pay the topup) but it’s discretionary. A judge might give her some time to get back up to date with the arrears, or if the arrears are persistent and she can’t provide a credible solution for how she can pay those back and pay the top up amounts in future, a judge might decide your application for possession is reasonable. You could wait till the top ups arrears reach 3 months worth of rent and use mandatory ground 8 instead. Ask an eviction specialist/lawyer what evidence you’ll need for each ground
  2. Details of the grounds below
  3. She should have some sort of correspondence from UC saying they have received her application for UC and a timescale for assessing what she is eligible for, and when that will be decided and paid. It’s up to her to provide evidence of delays isn’t it? Get legal advice but I’d think if she can’t provide evidence then the non payment is her problem not yours, and meanwhile you treat the whole amount as arrears, just the same as if she’d been paid and hadn’t passed it on. But serve notice and apply for possession after 4wks on the other grounds too if behind on the non - UC part.

Good luck

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Ground 8 - rent arrears

You can use this ground to evict your tenant if they owe you at least 3 months’ rent, if they pay rent monthly or at least 13 weeks’ rent, if the rent is paid weekly or fortnightly.

Your tenant will need to owe you 3 months or 13 weeks rent on the day you give them the notice and at the date of the hearing.

Your tenant cannot be evicted under this ground if they pay off what they owe or owe less than the amounts above by the time you get to court.

If your tenant owes 3 months or 13 weeks rent because they have not received their Universal Credit, you will not be able to evict them. Benefits are not counted when a tenant owes rent.

Ground 8 notice period

You must give 4 weeks’ notice before you can apply to the court for a possession order to evict your tenant.

Ground 10 - any rent arrears

If your tenant owes you rent, you can try and evict them before they owe you 3 months’ rent. However, you will only get a possession order to evict them if the court believes it is reasonable.

Ground 10 notice period

You must give 4 weeks’ notice before you can apply to the court for a possession order to evict your tenant.

Ground 11 - persistent arrears

You can try to evict your tenant if they have repeatedly delayed paying rent.

Ground 11 notice period

You must give 4 weeks’ notice before you can apply to the court for a possession order to evict your tenant.

Ground 17 - false statement

If your tenant or someone acting on their behalf gave false information to get the property, you can try and evict your tenant.

Ground 17 notice period

You must give 2 weeks’ notice before you can apply to the court for a possession order to evict your tenant.

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Honestly if it were me I wouldn’t bother with all of this faffing around. You have no way of knowing the truth of any claims the tenant makes about universal credit. You have to show the tenants you’re not a pushover or they will push you over. This is what I would do

  1. Serve s8 g 10 straight way
  2. Serve s8 g 11 straight way
  3. Serve s8 g 8 as soon as there’s three month’s arrears
  4. Make a money claim online for the arrears straight away

If there are any issues because of UC or anything else, the courts will sort it out. That’s the judge’s job.

If it all fails serve s8 g 1a. Look carefully at when you can relet if you decide not to sell. In fact it may be not a bad idea to serve s8 g1a immediately – someone else will advise about that.

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