Section 21 rejected by solicitor without full explanation?

Section 21 rejected by solicitor without full explanation?

9:17 AM, 3rd June 2024, About 7 months ago 32

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Hi, I’m hoping someone can advise me on an issue encountered with a Section 21 I have served. The tenant has instructed a solicitor, and this solicitor has stated that the S.21 is not valid because I “have demanded and received prohibited payments under the Tenant Fees Act 2019”.

After reviewing my accounts, I found that the only payments I have received from the tenant are for rent and council tax. There have been no other payments since the tenancy began, and no agent fees, deposit-related fees, or any other fees have been charged at any point.

Hence I wrote to the solicitor asking them to itemise the payment(s), stating what the payment was for, the date of payment and the amount, and they have not replied.

Do I have a right to know what the alleged payments are and if so, in what timescale does the solicitor have to respond in? Or do I have to wait to find out until I am in a possession court hearing if the tenant refuses to leave?

Thanks,

Steve


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Kath Jones

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Seething Landlord

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20:25 PM, 8th June 2024, About 7 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Steve Knell at 08/06/2024 - 11:39
You have misread the Act. The schedule lists the categories of payment that a tenant can be required to make. If you read the whole of the schedule you will realise that your interpretation makes no sense. Paragraph 8 simply means that a requirement for the tenant to pay council tax to the billing authority (not to the landlord) is permitted.

Steve Knell

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10:26 AM, 9th June 2024, About 7 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 08/06/2024 - 20:25
Thanks for the clarification. It would appear then, that a Tenancy Agreement for a tenant in an HMO should not state that the tenant is liable for Council Tax, but should instead simply state that the Landlord shall pay the Council Tax. The Council Tax amount (divided by the number of tenants) should then be simply added to each tenants rent.
Since the last post on this topic, the tenant has issued me with a Notice of Termination, so the S.21 is of no relevance! But they are reserving the right to come after me for repayment of the Prohibited Payments (but have still not told me what these payments are).

Seething Landlord

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16:22 PM, 9th June 2024, About 7 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Steve Knell at 09/06/2024 - 10:26
Sorry, I am not familiar with the nuts and bolts of HMO management and tenancy agreements but in circumstances where it is not appropriate for the tenant to pay council tax direct to the billing authority I imagine that landlords should treat it in the same way as any other overhead cost and adjust the rent accordingly.

David Houghton

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17:10 PM, 9th June 2024, About 7 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Steve Knell at 09/06/2024 - 10:26
There's only one way. Issue and let the judge sort it. I have had solicitors try it on, disability discrimination, disrepair, denial of service. No one has beaten yet

DPT

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21:41 PM, 9th June 2024, About 7 months ago

In a property let by the room, the landlord is always liable for the Council Tax, not the tenant. This is because the tenants dont have possession of the whole property. Control of the common parts is retained by the landlord and the tenants room agreement usually only grants a licence to use them. A landlord has no authority to charge such tenants Council Tax at all. They must just set the rent at a level which covers all their costs.

SteveFowkes

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21:43 PM, 9th June 2024, About 7 months ago

What about rooms let by the hour? 😬😬

Julesgflawyer

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14:16 PM, 13th June 2024, About 6 months ago

Reply to the comment left by SteveFowkes at 09/06/2024 - 21:43
In the words of Father Ted: "That would be an ecumenical question"!

Neil Liberty

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8:42 AM, 7th July 2024, About 6 months ago

I'm not as experienced as you are but am trying to learn after our agents refused to issue S21 within 4 months of a replacement tenancy.

However, according to the Tenant Fees Act 2019 - see pdf guide for Landlords and Tenants, then "What fees can I ask a tenant to pay?" It clearly states "The only payments you can charge with a tenancy are: ..." and point (f) includes council tax! Are there special requirements for HMOs or am i missing something?
See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tenant-fees-act-2019-guidance

Neil Liberty

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8:53 AM, 7th July 2024, About 6 months ago

Sorry I didn't read the whole document before and I have now discovered that there was a ban from 1 June 2020. Why on earth don't they put a caveat on the initial permitted payments area!

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