Tenant refuses to leave from property I was sold as vacant possession!

Reply to the comment left by Smiffy at 02/02/2023 - 07:22
IF YOU FOLLOW iNGRID'S ADVICE, THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW MAY BE AFTER YOU!!!

In addition to my earlier comment, your seller is in breach of contract and is liable to you for all your costs and losses incurred as a direct result of their breach.
It is worth asking if the seller's solicitor can make a claim to the bank to return the funds transferred as they were sent under false pretences. You should obtain & supply proof of the failure to provide vacant possession. In this instance, the bank will freeze the amount in the persons account (if any of it is still available), while they investigate and give the account holder a chance to respond.
I've had tenants do this to me after paying their rent, so it is doable when using BACS at least, so worth asking.
If you end up having to deal with all of this yourself, you need to be sure that any s21 served was valid. If you can't establish that, then you should ensure the tenant's deposit has been returned and that you serve all legal documents necessary to the tenant. Have proof of service, (make sure the How to Rent guide was the one valid at the commencement of the tenancy). Only then can you issue a valid section 21 notice and follow the legal requirements to the letter.
You should keep a detailed record of all the costs and loss of rent etc that you incur as a result and make a money claim against the seller. If your seller fails to pay what's owed you can apply to the court for an order for funds to be taken from the debtors wages (if they are employed, not self-employed); or for a third party debt order which allows you to claim the debt straight from their bank account (funds allowing of course), or you could put a charge against their property (they probably own another house if they were a landlord), so that they can't sell it without your consent, which will only be granted once your debt is settled.
If it comes to this, one piece of advice I'd offer is to always use private process servers/bailiffs and not the court ones, or you'll likely be very old before they ever successfully serve your debtor with anything!
Best of luck.

Reply to the comment left by Ingrid Bacsa at 01/02/2023 - 18:14
Sorry, but that's just not correct. The purchase cannot override the tenancy.

These days there are so many dodgy online Solicitors out there, they just don't know what they are doing. Suggestion is never buy property where tenant lives. Atleast you got tenant who pays rent. With increasing rent getting property back is tougher. The law is so ridiculous in UK which supports these kind of loop holes. Not sure how the lender provided mortgage without signature from tenants agreeing to vacate.

Reply to the comment left by Frank Jennings at 01/02/2023 - 14:44
After an initial consultation with a solicitor it would be about establishing was level of misrepresentation it would be
There are 3 types

Auctioneers basically said your fault you should've checked the property before completing

So the documentation was all issued but just not ok day 1 of the tennacy , some came a month or so after as far as I'm aware.

The issue is, if it invalidates a section 21. I can't go back in time to correct those errors , so it makes any notice invalid and therefore I can't ever evict ?

Would a section 8 allow for major works ?? I wasn't aware that was a valid reason ?

Reply to the comment left by Frank Jennings at 01/02/2023 - 14:44
Yes after a consultation with a solicitor it would be down to establishing what level of misrepresentation it would be.

The documentation for the tenancy was given just not on day one , some came a week or two and maybe even a month into the tenancy, the problem is if this invalidates the s21, I can't go back in time to correct that, so i have no way of evicting ??

I wasn't aware major works was a valid reason for a section 8 ?

The same happened to me. The tenants were a family of 4. Two young children. Turned out to be lovely people so I let them stay. My tenant was advised by a solicitor not to pay rent when I first found him at our property, but he is a good man and wanted to pay and did. The previous landlord didn't provide heating and there were insects in the carpets. We sorted it all out. He was one of those dodgy landlords that are getting away with everything and we're being penalised left right and centre. This is not going to be easy and may be costly going through solicitors and could take 6 months, and if contested, more money. If she's on benefits and isn't paying the rent, ring universal credit and ask them for the rent to go directly into your account. You can't chuck her out! I done it two days ago against another tenant cos he's not paying. You can serve section 8 if they owe 2 months rent and if she doesn't budge, you'll have to serve another two notices through the courts and like I said, could take 6 months. You need to find out about her cos she's in your property. If you can't, go back to your solicitors or ring the law society and ask for advice cos it's not right and get in touch with sellers solicitors and badger them. I hope all works out for you.

Reply to the comment left by David at 01/02/2023 - 16:06
Yes understood on the s21

So this was the word of the seller , the sellers solicitors were unaware if the tenancy also , as we emailed them saying they've breached the contract and they got very defensive basically saying we'll who are you accusing of breaching as we have just done with what we've been given. This is the continuation of the issue as neither the sellers solicitors nor mine were ever informed during the sale that there was still a Tennant. To set the timeline slightly better I visited the flat about 3 months prior to making an offer and then completed 2 months after that. So the fact the tenant never was raised/mentioned/documented during the sale made it seem to everyone as though there wasn't one there.

All documents in regard to the sale state as being sold as vacant possession

Reply to the comment left by Christine Davies at 01/02/2023 - 18:37
I have a hearing because the tenant made a defence (possibly because of errors previously mentioned also, but I don't know )
The tenant withdrew their defence and was given 3 months to confirm (it was a court typo - should've been 3 days ) as she sent the withdrawal via an email.
No , again , the whole issue came about because the seller didn't divulge to his solicitors or mine that there was still I tenant in the property. It was only after completion that I couldn't get the keys and the seller even took days after to just send the tenancy documents and contact info for the tenant

Reply to the comment left by DSR at 01/02/2023 - 21:31
In your point 3 I believe it was that the seller never divulged even to his own solicitors a Tennant was still present , there for in never came up during the conveyancing process hence why it went completely under the radar
All the requisitions on title / completion statement etc stated vacant possession