Being evicted

[Russ]

My next door neighbour is 2 months behind on his rent. He has set his mind on leaving the place but wants to know how soon is the soonest the landlord can kick him out. We share the same landlord and he's definately not the type to give anyone time to catch up with payments, so assuming he takes a completely legal approach - and I assume he'll have to go to court to evict him - what sort of timescale are we looking at?

[Mr Angry]

Did he pay a deposit?

[Russ]

Not sure about that but I certainly did and our houses are identical so I assume he did, which would have been about a third of what he owes if it's the same as my deposit.

[Hom3r]

He should have to go to court I would have thought.

But he may even have the right (because he is behind in his rent) to change the locks and throw him out at anytime.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

But he may even have the right (because he is behind in his rent) to change the locks and throw him out at anytime.

That's what I thought but he's under the impression the landlord needs to prove to a court that there are arrears.

[TheDaddy]

You might find more information/ help here, it's difficult to say much without knowing what type of tenancy he has etc

http://cymru.shelter.org.uk/home/ind...tcountry/true/

[Russ]

He's not online so I'll have to see what I can find there, but cheers anyway

[Chrysalis]

approximate 2 months, might be more might be less.

[Mr_love_monkey]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

But he may even have the right (because he is behind in his rent) to change the locks and throw him out at anytime.

He doesn't.

Legally he can't do anything like that.

If he plays it right, he could be in there for months, perfectly legally.

We have a flat that we rent out, and 2 years ago, we had someone who stopped paying rent - we had to go to court to get them out, and until the judge said you need to be out by x date there was nothing we could have done to get them out - if we'd changed the locks, forcibly evicted them, whatever, we'd have been in court...

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Mr_love_monkey

He doesn't.

Legally he can't do anything like that.

If he plays it right, he could be in there for months, perfectly legally.

We have a flat that we rent out, and 2 years ago, we had someone who stopped paying rent - we had to go to court to get them out, and until the judge said you need to be out by x date there was nothing we could have done to get them out - if we'd changed the locks, forcibly evicted them, whatever, we'd have been in court...

Hmm, no doubt that's what you were advised, however I have got something nagging at the back of my head about paying a tradesman to secure the property, being your get out there

[Rob]

There will be specific grounds that enable a court to grant an order for eviction for non payment of rent. I think the arrears period need only be as little as 2 months. The problem would be the timescale it takes to get it to court.

---------- Post added at 22:45 ---------- Previous post was at 22:26 ----------

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/rent_a..._evictions.htm

Looks like the speed things can go at is dictated by the notices that may have been served when the tenancy started.

[greencreeper]

He can turn up with a friend or two, with blunt instruments, and have him out within the hour. It's all nice and lovely having the law, but few have the time or money to wield it. Most tenancies are assured shorthold, for a month - makes it pretty easy for the landlord to legally remove the tenant. Given the rent arrears, the tenant's position is pretty weak.

[Tinky]

If his Landlord issues a summons for possession, the occupant will have up to 3 months, give or take a couple of weeks. This might help.....

http://www.walsall.gov.uk/index/rent...rs_tenants.htm

[Aragorn]

If he's using a standard agreement, and if he sticks to the law, the landlord needs to serve a 'Section 8 notice' -

quote from RLA website -

The Section 8 Notice
The first port of call in evicting a tenant for either (a) rent arrears or (b) another breach of the tenancy is the service of a Section 8 Notice. These are relatively easy to fill up and the hope is that the tenant will remedy the breach by 2 weeks from the date of ‘deemed receipt’ (i.e. 14 days from date of service if served face to face, 15 days from date of putting it through letterbox and 16 days from posting it first class post). If the tenant does remedy the breach then you, the landlord, do not need to pursue the case. If however, the breach is not remedied then it is necessary to instigate proceedings in the County Court using Court Forms N5 and N119 together with the relevant enclosures. Remember to keep a copy of the notice you serve.

As it says, after two weeks he can apply to the court, but getting court time could take weeks/months.

Of course there may be a clause written in to the tenancy agreement that supercedes this - get him to check his copy of the agreement (or yours as they are probably very similar).

Iirc, the law changed a few years ago to swing in favour of the tenant rather than landlord.

HTH

[Vlad_Dracul]

Originally Posted by Russ B

My next door neighbour is 2 months behind on his rent. He has set his mind on leaving the place but wants to know how soon is the soonest the landlord can kick him out. We share the same landlord and he's definately not the type to give anyone time to catch up with payments, so assuming he takes a completely legal approach - and I assume he'll have to go to court to evict him - what sort of timescale are we looking at?

There should be plenty of resources on the internet-try the shelter website. Hopefully the landlord will be able to go to court asap and boot him out. There is no such thing as a free lunch. I think there are two processes he can follow,a fast track and a slightly slower track-cant remember what its all about though.

Do we know why he can't/won't pay ? Perhaps he is one of the legion of private tenants who flit from house to house ripping off landlords/catalogue companies and everything else?