Should I contact the guarantor, prior to the eviction?

Section 21 you must have all your legislative and rental documents in line otherwise it will be thrown out of court.

Section 8 you just need to state that the Rent is overdue, the daily rate which is the monthly rent x12, then divided by 365 for the daily rate and that you wish for your property back, legal costs and Back rent. Court order will be awarded in the tenant will get a CCJ which will really screw them up in the future, why they let it go that far, I don’t know.

If you then want to go after them for all court costs and monies, interest owed its back to the courts but they can add an attachment order to salary or benefits so you’ll get it back little by little until paid and it will be on the tenants record until done, even if it takes years

If that doesn’t work you’ve then got to apply pofor the bailiffs. I suggest you prepare the paperwork immediately so on the last day of the CCJ if the tenant hasn’t moved, you can send it in. Quite a few of them allow you to do this online now. The bailiff will, arrive according to the schedule it could be a few days a few weeks.

On arrival with the bailiff, you have to wait for the bailiff to go in first, if you can’t get in you will need a locksmith and I suggest you change the locks immediately anyway.

When you’re going after the guarantor, remember it’s not just the back rent. It’s also any damages repairs needed and loss of rent to have those done. So it’s not just your £3.5 You need to take photographs of everything and get some independent assessments..

Photo meters, notify utilities and any fw address. If they have a car take a photo of model and reg.

Reply to the comment left by David Houghton at 15/05/2024 - 09:50
My generous offer would be take the s21 and go otherwise I WILL persue. I wonder how long it took to accrue 3 5k arrears though that might be an issue as you could consider it reasonable to not harass the guarantor until there was no feasibility of not serving a s8. But what does the TA say and GA say about being informed?

As a guarantor for my nephew several years ago , the landlord failed to inform me when my nephew fell into to arrears after 14 days .
The landlord then attempted via the county court to claim the 5 months rent plus costs from me , the judge threw it out because the landlord failed to follow the terms of the tenancy agreement which said he had to notify me within the time period.
He ended up having to pay my legal costs on top of his own .

The thing is if he had told me the moment my nephew had failed to pay the rent , his father and mother would have paid the rent and got him to leave the property.
The reason my nephew stopped paying the rent was because his partner told him he didn't have to because of some minor defect with a kitchen cupboard, and it just snowballed , the landlord just didn't communicate there was a issue until after he had evicted my nephew.

Why oh Why are you doing this yourself, use the services of a specialist company who deals with this problem on a day to day basis, one mistake on the paperwork the judge will throw it out, plus the duty solicitor will give the tennant more ammunition and point them in the direction of a no win no fee law firm, plus more hold ups and non payments of rent!

I find in situations like these, it's better to act as soon as the tenant becomes a few days late with the rent, as a build-up of arrears is harder for them to clear.
The guarantor is exactly that; they guarantee to pay the rent should the tenant default, so go after them and let them know that the consequences will affect them and their credit score. It just might jog them into doing something

Reply to the comment left by Fed-up Landlord at 15/05/2024 - 16:33
Depends on the wording of the guarantor agreement.
Basically most say you should inform the guarantor within 14 days of non payment.
The reason the landlord failed in his court action against me , was because he never told my nephew had failed to pay the rent until after gad evicted him 5 months after the first missed payment.
The judge said the landlord had failed to adhere to the contract and chucked his claim out . Even the guys solicitor said he hoped I would have settled out of court ,but I knew because my solicitor who was specialist in credit agreements had pointed out to me the landlords failure to inform me of the missed payments .

On my guarantor forms I have it written that the guarantor is liable to pay all amounts owed within seven days if the tenant does not pay them within 14 days.
You should check you forms and see what the guarantor is obliged to do, then inform them immediately and start the ball rolling. Sometimes peer pressure works, otherwise start proceeding agains the guarantor after giving them due notice and perhaps an extension to show good will.

Reply to the comment left by James Sim at 15/05/2024 - 18:48
But it is the landlord duty to inform the guarantor within 14 days of the first missed payment.
Failure to do so makes the guarantor not liable for any further costs .

I just checked the clause my solicitor used in my defence.
The guarantor was not informed of late payments and material factors between the landlord and tenant as specified.

So in my guarantor contact it said the landlord had to notify me within 14 days of late payment . He didn't do that , he only contacted me 5 months later after he had evicted my nephew asking for £7,250 in rent arrears and costs , the judge just tossed it out because it didn't abide by the contract .

Basically you need to tell the guarantor within 14 days of the late payment otherwise your guarantor can argue they are not liable.

Reply to the comment left by Tom Jenkin at 15/05/2024 - 19:04That only applies to the specifics of your case in which it appears the landlord had a very poorly drawn up guarantor's agreement which placed an onerous notice burden upon himself.
It's a particularly harsh clause as there can be good reasons for not rushing straight to the guarantor where it appears a tenant may resolve the situation. In my experience tenants seriously resent the guarantors being notified of everything and involving the guarantors too readily will damage the landlord tenant relationship.
9/10 guarantor agreements will not have that notice restriction but your comment does illustrate that the terms of each individual agreement must be closely scrutinised and followed if to be enforced.
Regarding the wider point I agree with the majority advice here that in this case involving the guarantor early on in the possession process will assert moral as well as legal pressure (and may protect a money claim later).

I would also advise that you do not assume the legal process for a possession claim will necessarily be straight forward or risk free.

Reply to the comment left by Peter KENNEDY at 15/05/2024 - 10:34
Yes, it’s a difficult one. The offer to right off the money was time bound if they offer to move out by a certain date.

It’s a shot in the dark I know.