Story of an Eviction

Hi Ian

Wow - that's a lot of questions!

I sincerely hope that the question about removing your tenants door was a tongue in cheek rhetorical question and that you were not being serious! Just in case, DON'T DO IT - you will get yourself into lots of trouble.

If this is your first eviction then I suggest you pay a professional to organise it for you as it will save you a load of potential grief and there's a good chance the fees you will pay will be more than offset by the reduction in lost rent due to everything being done right first time. You will learn a lot from instructing a professional too.

I did my first eviction myself but I wish I hadn't. That's another story though, but it's the reason I'm giving you this advice now.

Please have a read of this thread >>> http://www.property118.com/tenant-eviction/39099/
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Hi Ian,

While I empathise with your frustration, I am afraid that property is a people business and you will come across tenants that behave in an unpredictable/unacceptable manner - it is part and parcel of being a landlord so I do not think there is much point in wasting energy getting hot under the collar about it. 🙂

My advice would be to incentive (i.e.pay) the tenant to leave.

If he won't do that, I would employ the services of Landlord Action. They offer a fixed fee 3 stage process and the tenant very often leaves when they get the first stage letter from Landlord Action.

Whatever you do, don't let it drag on.

Either pay him to leave or get Landlord Action acting for you. Then you can stop fretting about this issue, re-let the property to a better tenant, and move on.

You may get value from my post

15 questions every landlord should ask prospective tenants

http://www.propertytribes.com/15-questions-every-landlord-should-ask-prospective-tenants-t-7902.html

to help you find a new suitable tenant. 🙂

I am thinking of removing his bedroom door, as it is my property…!!? Has this been tried before? - Similar things have a the LL has ended up in court on criminal charges.

Will the council continue to pay their part of his rent through the eviction process or will this just stop? - The council should continue to pay but if he tells them about the S21 they may decide to review his claim (during which time payments will be suspended). If he fails to cooperate with the review (why should he, he is being evicted) you may not see another payment.

Is it my bounden duty to give him free electricity,water, heating etc while the process goes on? - Yes if you currently pay these.

Perhaps he would also like some free clothes and a chauffeur service too? - Probably.

How long will all this take? - Ball park estimates from applying to court to getting PO 4 weeks, minimum PO notice 14 days, enforcement by bailiff 6 weeks. These timescales will vary from court to court and may be better or worse.

Is this “enforced charity” just part and parcel of being a landlord? - Yes but you learn to minimise the risk.

Is there any way of claiming compensation from him/his family/the council..? You will be able to take him to the small claims court for any rent and costs he owes you but even if you win getting the money from someone unemployed is another matter.

So, what would your advice be at this point? - You say you recieved no deposit, but was one paid to the previous LL? If so was it protected and the prescibed information issued? Are you 100% sure you got the dates and wording of the S21 notice correct, do you have proof of service of the S21? I suggest you get help with this, it may cost you money but getting it wrong could cost a lot more money.

Have a look at tenacyservices.co.uk, Dave who runs it is very helpful. Give him a call he will not give you the hard sell and you will learn a lot just chatting, he is an expert in LL/tenant law.

Hi Dave , Mark, Vanessa

Thanks for the comments. Door removal was tongue-in cheek, not to worry!! Funnily enough, the police destroyed his door last year looking for someone - who wasn't there. Muggins had to pay the bill for that too!! (I sent an invoice to the local superintendant and it was summarily rejected!)
Have since had texts from his Lordship saying he has found elsewhere but needs to raise deposit. I have offered to help him with this following Vanessa's comment above - no response for past 48hrs

You have to be pragmatic about non payment of rent , if they can't or won't pay the full amount when they are in the flat they won't after you have evicted them.
I always serve a section 8 (not as soon as I should sometimes) and include a letter saying that provided the tenant leaves the flat by the date of the notice or by arrangement with me I will not pursue them for any money owed However if they do not leave and I have to go through the process of eviction I will pursue them for all rent up to their leaving and all legal costs.
I have done this for 20 odd years now and have only ever had to go to court for abondonments, but that's another story !!!
This is my view, get the bad tenant out ASAP and a new one in.

OK, so I have offered him £400 to be gone by the ends of August... Apparantly he had a room to go to last week, and couldnt raise the deposit ... That has now gone etc. etc. _ so possibly a load of cobblers, but I am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here and help the guy out.... Meanwhile the solicitor etc is ticking away in the background...

Evicting tenants is a minefield and harassment is on a par with illegal eviction - prison sentence anyone?

The first thing I noticed in your initial post was the deposit - you say no deposit was passed over by the original owner. But does that mean no deposit was paid? If it was then you could spend months going through the legal process only to discover you have to start all over again when that particular fact comes along to bite you.

So far as timescales, a relatively easy section 21 eviction should result in him going mid Jan if he holds on to the very end. The more complex and slightly less reliable section 8 should remove him early December. Both those can be brought forward by about a month - at extra cost.

Housing benefit - your eviction process does not affect his entitlement to Housing Benefit - but that is not to say tenant won't stop claiming out of spite 🙁

Utilities - that depends on the contract you have with him but if I were a betting man I would guess you are obliged to continue providing - withholding utilities would be harassment - see 1st paragraph.

Reply to the comment left by "Dave Reaney" at "18/08/2013 - 11:04":

Ran out of editing time 🙁

If you go down the section 8 route then part of the process involves you getting a court order for any money he owes for rent. Of course, if he is on benefits the chances are he has next-to-no assets so your chances of enforcing such an order are minimal. HOWEVER, if that electric guitar etc are worth something then the expense I mentioned above to remove him a month early may be worthwhile as the High Court bailiffs have the ability to seize goods to cover the judgement debt.

Suggestion, don't for one minute let him think he can get money out of you (to move) until he has vacated, both in writing and in practice (and with his next address).

OK, Just had the estimate from the solicitors : £1200 +VAT + Court fee of £275 ... Unbelievable really, and to think I have been supporting this slime through my taxes already!! Only offered the cash incentive following the comment above by Vanessa