Tenant Eviction
Ten tips for landlords on Tenant Eviction
- Once you have served a notice to quit and the notice period has expired you are then entitled to bring court proceedings to evict a tenant
- It is a criminal offence to evict a tenant unless you have obtained a court order for possession in the County Court. Asking the tenant to leave if you have not followed the proper procedure can be considered as harassment.
- If you have a tenant not paying rent and you are looking to repossess, ensure that you have considered all the alternatives first.
- Make sure your possession notices are drafted correctly with a valid notice period. Otherwise they could be invalid which will result in losing your possession claim at court.
- You must provide evidence in court that your notice has been served. So, it is important that you keep a copy. it may be wise to serve this notice by hand with a witness present to avoid the tenant denying they have received it.
- The quickest and most cost effective way to evict tenants is by using the ‘accelerated’ procedure, which is based on a previously served section 21 notice. With the accelerated proceedings, the Judge will make the order on the paperwork provided and there is normally no court hearing. It will normally take between 8 to 12 weeks before the order is obtained.
- The accelerated procedure can only be used for possession claims. If you are looking to evict a tenant not paying rent you must use the standard possession procedure.
- If you wish to evict a tenant due to poor behaviour, it is advisable not to use any of the discretionary grounds for possession. As the tenant can put in a defence, these cases become a long and costly process. It most cases it will be quicker and cheaper to use the accelerated procedure.
- If your tenant wants to be re-housed by the local authority, they will usually wait until a possession order has been made against the them, and in some cases they wait until a bailiffs appointment has been made.
- As evicting a tenant is a very serious matter, judges will expect landlords to follow the correct procedure. So ENSURE YOU HAVE PERFECT PAPERWORK as they are unforgiving if mistakes are made. If a landlord loses the claim he/she may be ordered to pay his tenants legal costs.
If you require further advice on tenant eviction you can speak to us about our tenant eviction service by calling 01293 525 665