Case studies on Possession Notices and Proceedings by Landlord Law.
Mr B lived in Surrey and owned a property in the north of England which was let to tenants. He wished to recover possession of the property. Tessa drafted a notice seeking possession (section 21) and arranged for this to be served on the tenant by a process server (as Mr B was unable to do this himself). Mr B then purchased our Kit 3 for accelerated possession proceedings so he was able to deal with the possession proceedings himself.
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Mrs J's tenant was in arrears of rent, as the Local Authority had failed to process the tenants application for housing benefit. Tessa drafted a section 8 notice for Mrs J to serve on the tenant. Subsequently learning from Mrs J that the notice had galvanised the Local Authority to deal with the benefit application and that the rent arrears had been cleared.
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Mr C owned a property which had been let to a tenant, Mr D, for several years. He was in serious arrears of rent. Mr C consulted a local solicitor who advised that possession proceedings would be too complex and expensive and recommended that a county court judgement be obtained. This was done but the tenant still failed to pay and the rent arrears continued to accrue. By the time Mr C consulted Tessa the rent arrears had risen to over £6,000. Tessa immediately arranged for a section 8 notice to be served and then commenced possession proceedings promptly. The possession order was obtained and the tenant vacated the property a few weeks later.
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Mr A owned a property in Portsmouth but lived in the USA. He had given power of attorney to his father who lived in Eire and the property was managed by a friend Mr C living in Kent. The tenant Mrs E was in arrears of rent and refusing to vacate. Mr A wanted vacant possession so he could sell. A possession notice was drafted by Tessa and sent Mr C for service. Possession proceedings were then issued and Mr A senior made arrangements to fly over from Eire to attend the hearing with Mr C and local solicitor agents instructed by us. The defendant initially put in a defence challenging the rent arrears figure provided by Mr C, however this was resolved during discussions at court and the possession order was made. As Mrs E wanted to be re-housed by the local authority she was advised by her solicitor not to move out voluntarily, however she was subsequently re-housed after we had applied for a bailiffs appointment.
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Mr and Mrs S owned a property in England but were living in the USA. The property was being managed by an agent, but he appeared to have let the property to a friend and was not pursuing the increasing rent arrears. Tessa arranged for a possession notice to be served by a process server and then issued proceedings for possession. These were successful and eventually the tenant was evicted by the bailiffs. A county court judgement for the rent arrears was also obtained. The property had been left in an appalling condition but the agent was refusing to hand over the damage deposit. Tessa wrote to the agent threatening legal action if the money was not paid over and eventually the payment was made. She also instructed enquiry agents to investigate the ex tenant to see if the judgement could be enforced. The tenant was traced, however it proved impossible at that stage to enforce the judgement against her, even though she appeared to be living in comfort. Hopefully the landlords will be able to enforce the judgment at a later stage when the tenant is less on her guard.
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Tessa was instructed by Ms G, an ex pat landlord in the Honduras who was concerned about the tenants of her property in England, who were in arrears with their rent. Tessa drafted a possession notice and arranged for this to be served by process servers. Subsequently Ms G became pregnant and decided to return to England. She wanted to recover possession of her property before the baby was born. Tessa drafted the court papers and emailed these to Ms G for signature and posting back to us by carrier, thereafter issued proceedings for possession under the accelerated procedure. A possession order was duly obtained. Although we were worried that the defendants would fail to vacate, they did in the end leave in time for Ms G to move in before the birth of her baby boy.
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Mr S had let a property in London on behalf of Mr M the owner, who was resident in Kuwait. Mr S had not given a written tenancy agreement to the occupier, Mr O, who had not paid any rent for many months. The rent arrears were very extensive. Tessa was initially asked to advise on how possession could be obtained. She advised that Mr O had a tenancy and that possession could be obtained both under the serious rent arrears ground and pursuant to section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, but that the accelerated possession procedure would be unavailable as no tenancy agreement had been given to Mr O. Tessa was then instructed to draft the possession notices, which she did and which were served by Mr S. Subsequently she was instructed to bring proceedings for possession. This was done, the court papers being emailed to Mr M the landlord for him to sign and send back to Tessa by carrier. A hearing date was listed where Mr S attended with Counsel instructed by Tessa. Mr O also attended and disputed the rent arrears. The claim for a money judgement was therefore adjourned to another hearing, however the order for possession was granted both under the section 21 ground and on the basis that the rent arrears were certainly more than two months worth, even if the precise figure was uncertain. At the adjourned hearing, Mr O attended again, however he was unable to disprove the rent arrears so a money judgement was made for the full sum claimed. Subsequently the bailiffs were instructed to evict Mr O but he vacated before the bailiffs appointment took place. Finally Mr O made an application to the court seeking to overturn the money judgement. However this was thrown out by the Judge (partly because Mr O failed to attend the hearing) and the defendant debarred from making similar applications in the future.
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Mr S is the owner of a letting agency. A section 21 notice had been served by him on the tenant of a property he was managing but the tenant had failed to vacate. Mr S instructed Tessa to draft proceedings for possession using the accelerated procedure, on behalf of the landlord. Tessa drafted up the paperwork and sent it to the landlord to sign, together with a letter of authority for the landlord to sign authorising Tessa to take instructions from Mr S. This was done, and the proceedings were then issued and a possession order obtained. The tenant vacated the property shortly afterwards.
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Mr S, a solicitor, had a landlord client who required possession of his rented property on the basis of rent arrears. Mr S was unfamiliar with this area of work but was reluctant to refer the client to another firm. Tessa advised him regarding procedure and drafted up the court paperwork as Mr S's agent so Mr S could then deal with the matter himself. The case was successfully concluded with a possession order being made at court.
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