how long for baliffs?

[kevfallon]

Hi everyone,

I have tenants, who have out stayed their welcome, the formal agreement run out in Decmeber of last year. After discussions with my letting agent ( she is not involved yet with this property ) I decided to give them two months extra, all in writing new section 21 etc. time up end of Jan, they have been let down over another property, so I gave them another two weeks, at an extra cost per week. No payments made, thats it, I want them out. They have been informed by letter and phonecall. What if the stay? How can get them out asap, it not about money anymore, its playing fair, any help appreicated.

Kev

[andyask]

I'm not an expert on evictions, but I would suggest you have been far too generous with these tenants. After they failed to pay rent from December 06, you rewarded them with two months and two weeks extra time rather than request Notice to Leave. Failure to find another property was a good excuse to make you more sympathetic to their cause. Unless you know them well and you are sure to be paid, now is the time to serve "Notice to Leave". If they are still there on the Leave date (usually 2 months after you serve it) then you will have to seek a Possession Order and it will cost you around £200 for the pleasure. Big men in large leather jackets will visit the property and do the "work" once approved. You can then hope you can recover the costs in Court. This process wil be trickier if you don't have a contract.

This website shows things from the tenant's viewpoint but has useful information on what you could do next.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-4007.cfm

Apologies if I am wrong, all this is based on web research - I hope I never have to do this! Talking to your solicitor for advice might be the best option.

Hope this helps

Andy

[philipjm]

Hi everyone,

I have tenants, who have out stayed their welcome, the formal agreement run out in Decmeber of last year. After discussions with my letting agent ( she is not involved yet with this property ) I decided to give them two months extra, all in writing new section 21 etc. time up end of Jan, they have been let down over another property, so I gave them another two weeks, at an extra cost per week. No payments made, thats it, I want them out. They have been informed by letter and phonecall. What if the stay? How can get them out asap, it not about money anymore, its playing fair, any help appreicated.

Kev

OK, there are a number of things to consider here. If your tenants are going to try and trick you on a technicality I suggest you serve another S21 Notice (with a certificate of postage - dont send it recorded delivery). The reason being that if the S21 has expired and you have not been seen to attempt to gain possession, i.e. rocked up at the door and made your intentions clear, then you might not be able to rely on the notice. Thats the absolute worst case scenario.

Another vital point is that after the S21 expires do NOT accept any further RENT from the tenants. If they transfer money to your account you should write to them / issue a receipt stating that you are accepting the money as mesne profits. By stating the word "rent" you are effectively creating another contract and revoking the notice you served.

You should seek to obtain an "accelerated possession order". You can do so by going on http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/ and downloading forms N5b and N215 and submitting them to the courts.

Unless the tenant files a defence the court will grant the possession order without a hearing.

To give you an idea of timescale I had a S21 expire on 19th December 2006 and immediately submitted it to the court. On 15/01/07 the papers were served upon the tenant. The court possession order was sent to the tenants and arrived on 21st Feb...the possession date was 23rd Feb - yes 2 days away. The tenant has not left. I now have to involve the bailiffs which will probably take another 4-6 weeks!!! BEAR IN MIND THAT NO RENT SHOULD BE FORMALLY DEMANDED AND DEFINATELY NO MONEY ACCEPTED WHATSOEVER AFTER 23rd FEB. ANY MONEY PAID TO BE REFUNDED TO TENANT!!

The whole reason for this fiasco is because my tenant is on Housing Benefit and the council will not re-house her unless she is evicted!!! Its ludicrous, she and her husband are in a 1 bed flat with their young toddler son and baby daughter and the council wont house them unless I evict!!

Fortunately we will definately get possession on the bailiff date because the council will re-house her BUT if a tenant were, for example, to chain themselves to a radiator then the bailiff cannot take possession of the house. The bailiff cannot call the police for assistance (unless you have already paid a fortune for a high-court sheriff to act as a bailiff) as it is a civil matter. The bailiff could only call the police if the tenant became violent or broke criminal law. If the bailiff failed to get possession it would be necessary to get a commit order where the bailiff returns with the police (but probably another 4-6 weeks away!!). It never usually goes that far.

And contrary to popular bailiff the bailiffs arent always big dudes in leather jackets. On one eviction I attended the bloke who turned up would have lost a fight against my mum.

Good luck!!!

PS Dont try anything funny like cutting the gas / power. The local authority will prosecute under the protection from eviction act 1977.