claireizz Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Hello, For a considerable time period I have had a problem with my tenant not paying rent. The Council pay about 60% now, but this has been sporadic depending on how good the tenant has been at providing them with information, but she rarely pays her top up and this stopped all together about 4 months ago. We are now looking at about £6000 in total owing. The tenant will not answer letters, has blocked my number from calling her, and does not respond to emails or texts. When she did respond to texts she would say that my messages were stressing her out and she would contact the council about harrassment. I was honestly only contacting her once a month to ask if the rent would be paid so that I could manage my finances or to say to her that the council needed x or y from her. She knows all the "key" words to use and is obviously being advised by someone, and has now gone silent. The gas safety inspection is 2 months overdue as she will not reply to the request from myself or the engineer to set a date. She has changed the locks on the property. She says that she does not owe me the thousands in rent as she has "done loads of jobs" rather than call me out. I asked her for evidence of this and said that I want a list of what has been done as she should not be doing renovations without my permission. She has never provided either. She has made us aware that she has a large Rottweiler and cannot guarantee our safety if we attend the property. I am, like so many others I am sure, in a catch 22 situation. Some of the rent is being paid, but my family is having to go without because of her actions. I don't have the money for a lengthy court battle and I am sure that even if I got her out, which she would insist on taking right to the wire as the Council have advised her to do, then she will then trash my property on the way out and I dont have the money to put that right either. We all know that if I then took her to court for the damage, if I found out her new address, a big if, then she would only be ordered to pay at £10 or so a month. Its amazing how much anger her previous messages have shown along the lines of "its my home, its just your house" and it is clear that she considers me the big rich landlord, which I am far from and that she is the victim of the system. Am I able to change the locks back so that I have a key and leave a note asking her to give me a call so that I can pop a new set to her, hoping this will mean that she engages with me again? I would warn her in advance that the locks were being changed? I have been advised to have the gas turned off as I cannot guarantee its safety ...am I able to do this? Someone told me to inform Environmental Health and HSE, but reading the latter's website I cannot see that this is correct as they only seem to deal with work based issues. Any advice at all, as she is leaving me so upset and stressed. There are days when I cannot put petrol in my car to get to work or food in my cupboards as her rent has not been paid. I am in the middle of treatment for ovarian cancer and really struggling, and just feel that there must be something that I can do to take back the control? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 The ONLY way to GUARANTEE removal of a tenant is by Section 21 notice. That gives the tenant 2 clear months notice from a rent due date that you want possession. At the end of the notice period if they have not left then you have to apply for a court order to remove said tenant. That last bit costs £280 for the court hearing but if your tenant is on benefits there is a good chance she will be be re-housed by the council before you need the court order. Where is the tenant's deposit - is it protected and did you serve the Prescribed Information? What date did the tenancy start and what is the rent due date? No you cannot change the locks back until you have possession. Get on the the private tenancy support officer at your local council and tell her about the Gas Safe issue. No matter how ill you and your family are you have to go down the Seciton 21 route. Give us the info and we will point you in the right direction. Tip - Don't let to non working persons in the future and at first sign of non paying get tough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireizz Posted July 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Hello, There is no deposit, but a bond from the council, which has now expired. She has been in the property for 7 years and it started out with the vast majority of her rent being paid by the council and then less and less, and she never tops it up. I completely agree that if you are't tough right from the start then they simply walk all over you. I would never rent this way again. I have called and left a message for the private tenancy support officer, I wasn't even aware that there was such a thing, so thank you. That certainly isn't publicised. I know that the Council have told her that they will not rehouse her until she has bailiffs at the door so I will just have to bite the bullet and borrow the money to get her out, and then deal with the damage. I have just let her get away with things as some money was better than nothing and I am sure that the damage will run into thousands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 So you need to issue the Section 21 4 a notice immediately. No cost to doing that yourself but only when you have to apply to the courts for the possession order. Some may advise you to go down the Section 8 route as she is more than 2 months in arrears BUT than can fail if there is disrepair at the property and since she arguing she has 'done work' then hang out for guaranteed possession. Unfortunately these types know all the right words and how to work stuff in their favour - you do have my sympathy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireizz Posted July 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 What evidence will I need to provide to back up the Section 21? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireizz Posted July 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Oh and do you have any links to Section 21 Notices as I am petrified of getting it wrong and having to start the whole process again - there seems to be so many horror stories of courts throwing them out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Most case are thrown out because they get the dates wrong. There are loads of links on google to S21 - just make sure yours reads ..........possession will be required after (last day of tenancy)..........2014. Seems you have already issued S21 - so why not applied for a court order? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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