Name on AST and DPS Certificate Spelt Incorrectly?

Name on AST and DPS Certificate Spelt Incorrectly?

11:45 AM, 7th June 2022, About 3 years ago 14

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I have a tenant who is subletting his room and is refusing to quit his tenancy and return keys. He pays his rent on time and in full every month. Its a single room with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities.

We have tried since 2020 to work with him on this and get him to either leave or move back into the room. He keeps making promises of leaving and then doesn’t and refuses entry. The person who he is subletting to is an extreme hoarder and you can barely open the room door. She has also taken over most of the storage in the communal areas.

Its clear now that the only way forward is to evict.

I took over this case in March 2022.

We issued a section 21 notice which has now expired, he hasn’t left, so we will be going to court.

I am about to do the court application (N5B form) and have realized that the tenant’s name on the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement has been misspelt by a colleague who is no longer at the company. The tenancy start date which was typed onto the tenancy agreement has also been crossed out in pen and a new date of a month later has been added, it has not been initialled by either party. The new date written in pen is the correct date and the date rent has since been charged from which we can prove.

The tenancy agreement has been signed by the tenant and the previous colleague.

In addition, his name on the Deposit Certificate has also been spelt incorrectly(set up by the same colleague).

I suspect the colleague who completed the tenancy had dyslexia as most of their letters were littered with spelling and grammar mistakes.

We do not have any photo ID for the tenant (Tenancy was set up in 2013, a time when the company did not request this at the start of the tenancy)

Aside from the spelling mistakes, the Section 21 Form 6a has been served correctly, with the correct name spelling (When I say correct, the spelling matches the name of which he signs off all his emails and the name of the bank details he gave us).

Example of spelling mistake(not real name)

Tenants Name:
John Surendram

Tenancy Agreement Misspelling:
Mr J Surednrm

Deposit Misspelling:
Mr J Suredrm

My question is, will this cause an issue when I send the N5B application to court? If so, how can I mitigate this? Should I include a covering letter acknowledging the spelling mistakes? If so, should I include anything specific in the letter?

Any other suggestions of how to reduce the risk of this being thrown out due to the spelling mistake?

Many thanks

Meks


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CMS

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12:11 PM, 8th June 2022, About 3 years ago

You should complete the defendant details correctly in the relevant box on the form. You could add 'erroneously referred to in the AST as [ ]' if you want to but I don't think it is necessary.

The court's main concern is whether the section 21 has actually been received which is why they are so tight on whether the spelling is correct. If you had followed the AST incorrect spelling it would have been worse as the tenant may have argued the notice was wrong. All the tenant can argue now is that the name on the AST is incorrect but it is a matter of fact if he has been occupying the property all that time.

The incorrect name on the deposit isn't ideal and if i were you i would try and contact the Scheme and get this amended to the correct spelling. Once it is changed then reserve the section 21.

It could still be argued that the deposit wasn't registered within the correct time scales as it had the wrong name but that's for the court to decide. At least if you have the right name on the deposit when you serve the new section 21 you have done all you can.

Simon F

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12:31 PM, 8th June 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by CMS at 08/06/2022 - 12:11
On deposit name misspelling: So long as the prescribed info was given to the tenant at the right time in the right way then the tenant had adequate opportunity to review the details and highlight such an error at the beginning of the tenancy; so that's their omission too. I wouldn't worry too much on that part.

Simon F

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12:37 PM, 8th June 2022, About 3 years ago

Surely, notice of some sort needs to be served to the sub-letting occupant. What's the right way to do that?

CMS

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12:40 PM, 8th June 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Simon F at 08/06/2022 - 12:31
I guess the only worry is that we are both thinking logically which is not always the thought process of those making the decision...clearly the DPS wouldn't withhold repaying the deposit to the tenant for a clear spelling mistake which is the question i would put to myself when deciding if its a problem but one of the Schemes (from memory) does say that a deposit is not considered registered if name is spelt wrong - how wrong it does not say!

CMS

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12:44 PM, 8th June 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Simon F at 08/06/2022 - 12:37
This depends on whether the tenant is permitted to sublet. If the tenant is permitted to sub-let then, if the sub-letting is not terminated, the landlord would take back the property subject to that let.

The landlord really should get a copy of the agreement between the tenant and the sub-tenant to check. Without seeing any documents it looks to me though as if this sub-tenant would have a licence to occupy so it would just be a notice to quit with reasonable notice unless the licence gives different timescales.

Mick Roberts

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8:13 AM, 9th June 2022, About 3 years ago

Chris at PossessionFriend may save u fortune in the ling run

enquiries@possessionfriend.uk

Mek Kah

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10:12 AM, 9th June 2022, About 3 years ago

Thank you all for your replies - very helpful.

Just to answer the sub-letting point;The tenant is not permitted to sublet.

We highly doubt there is any sub-letting agreement in place between the tenant and the person staying. We aren't sure the relationship between them. She has in the past said the tenant is her boyfriend, he always refers to her as his friend.

In any case he is not living there and she is.

CMS

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12:00 PM, 9th June 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Mek Kah at 09/06/2022 - 10:12
Sorry now i am a little bit confused. Are you saying that the person who has the AST no longer lives there and has allowed someone else to live there (apparently his girlfirend)?

If that is the case and your tenant is not allowed to sublet then unless you have acted in a way, that has accepted the subletting, you should take free of the subtenancy once the tenancy that you granted is terminated. Thats as i think the legal position is (from memory) but the practical position might not be quite as simple

Mek Kah

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12:06 PM, 9th June 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by CMS at 09/06/2022 - 12:00
'Sorry now i am a little bit confused. Are you saying that the person who has the AST no longer lives there and has allowed someone else to live there (apparently his girlfirend)?'

Yes, that is correct.

CMS

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14:05 PM, 9th June 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Mek Kah at 09/06/2022 - 12:06
Here's my brief summary of how i see your position:

1. check the original AST with your tenant. Does it say 'not to sublet/underlet etc? if so thats great as he has breached his tenancy and the sublet is likely unlawful.
2. if your tenant has moved out then the property is no longer his main residence so his tenancy is not an AST and you dont need to serve a section 21 you just need to deal with a notice to quit. If the subtenancy is unlawful when you take possessoin proceedings you will take free of that tenancy as well.
3. if they do not leave (which they wont) you can make an application for possession.

Hope this all helps, charles

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