s21 AND s8 court proceeding correct date to fill

[aniabella77]

Hello there,

I am just about to serve s21 and s8 (ground 10 and 11) together to my tenant who is constantly in arrears and always paying her rent late (2 weeks ish).

After studying the sections online, I have decided that serving both sections together is the best option in my case.

There is one thing I am not completely sure about and it is point 5 in s8 where I need to fill a date for The court proceedings will not begin until after: ??? As I'm serving the notice on grounds 10 and 11 I should put 14 days which it would be 14th May 2012 (as she will receive the notices on 28th April 2012).

However as I am serving her the s21 with 2 months notice (it will be 31st June 2012) I am not sure if I can still put 14th May (2 weeks) on s8 and 31st June (2 months) on s21 or maybe 31st June 2012 on both of them?

Also do I need to attach a rent statement to the s8?

The contract is monthly periodic now and I would like her to pay the outstanding rent and move out.

I have paid the deposit into the deposit scheme and notified her with the Prescribe Information too.

Thank you,

Annie

[Carryon Regardless]

The S8 and S21 are independent of each other. I assume you would rely on the S21 should the S8 fail. Their dates of use would be different as you wouldn't expect to take them to court for action in the one hit, they would be separate claims for a similar result.

Your situation wouldn't be considered as urgent for me. I would just use a S21 for simplicity and lower cost. Often the service of this notice kicks the T in the butt and wakes them up to their responsibility, even if only for a while.

Remember the S21, in theory, has no shelf life so once expired can be acted on and used for action at a later date.

A T paying late by 2 weeks is something I would attempt to mange for improvement. Unless there are other detrimental activities She may be the better Devil that you know.

[Mortitia]

Also be aware with Section 8 that a tenant can pay the owed money into court before the hearing and then you will have not case.

Additionally if there is any 'disrepair' to the property that you may not even know about or have not fixed the tenant can raise this at a S 8 hearing and the judge will adjourn the case for reports.

I agree with Cor that Section 21 will do the job with least hassle. Late paying is better than non paying tenants. Only you can decide.

Mortitia

[aniabella77]

Thank you for quick reply Cor and Mortitia

Of what you are both saying I could serve the s21 only and that should do the job.

I thought to serve s21 and s8 would do the job even better. Have read a few stories about tenants who decided to not pay the rent after receiving s21 as they needed the money for a new deposit etc. So to serve s8 would not do any harm and hopefully let her understand she needs to pay back what she owes and still pay the rent for another 2 months. Also like you said Mortitia, she could pay back up to date and s8 goes to the bin. That's why I thought s8 AND s21 marriage is a good idea.

I know I am quite lucky as a landlord as she is 'only late' and 'only a few hundreds in arrears' with her rent however she is always late and always in arrears since we started the contract with her so I'm trying to avoid a situation of not receiving the rent at all one day soon like some of us already experienced. On top of that she never tell us she will be late with her rent - it is always me who checks the bank account trying to figure it out how much she owes and adding up her £200 here and there and calling/texting her to ask where is the rent this month?

We have made an agreement of how she is going to pay us back what she owes however she didn't stick to this plan for long... I have recently figured out she gets her excuses from internet for late payments too. So I am a bit fed up too.

Anyway, thank you both for your help and I should be ready tomorrow morning to pop in to the post office to post the love letters to her.

Kind regards,

Annie

[Carryon Regardless]

If you don't know this already send with proof of post no signature required.

Your cert of post is good enough as proof of service 3 days later.

Often no signature given means you get the notices back if sent signature required.

In the past when I serve a S21 I state that I do not have to follow it up, the choice is mine but I am in business.

Be careful not to state conditions as then the S21 is void, that is a statement such as "I won't use it if you pay" for example should not be made.

[Grampa]

The 14 days you refer to on the section 8 is 14 days after it is deemed legally served (received) on the tenant so if you are posting (send 2 copies 1 by recorded & 1 by proof of postage) make it 17 days and that allows 3 days for the postal system. Also attach a rent statement clearly out lining the arrears and the full wording of the grounds being used,

Do not send S21 in the same envelope and do not put conditions with the s21 such as "I wont enforce it if you pay your rent on time" as that will invalidate it.

[aniabella77]

Thank you all!

I will be the first customer at the local post office tomorrow morning and I will use another post office closer to my work too (to send her the notices in separate envelopes as Grampa wisely advised - thank you Grampa! - from two different post offices in case if my post would go 'missing' and she would never received it hehehhee).

And I do appreciate the news about the conditions re s21 not to be attached to the notice! I will make sure she doesn't get that bit!

I have prepared the rent statement earlier on but have to add the full wording of the grounds being used too.

I try to be as accurate as I only can be making sure everything is spot on and I would like to say thank you for all your help so far! xx

Kind regards,

Annie

PS. I just got an email from my tenant asking me for a new tenancy agreement as the old one (fixed for 6 months) has expired.... Well... I guess my tenant needs to pop in on this forum sometimes to learn....