Burnetts Assured Shorthold Tenant Eviction Scheme

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1 Burnetts Assured Shorthold Tenant Eviction Scheme Here at Burnetts we have a wealth of experience in dealing with the legal problems which both private and public landlords face on a daily basis. We are therefore able to deal in a businesslike and effective way with landlords problems relating to assured shorthold tenancies. The service we offer relates to assured shorthold tenancies and is based on 3 stages, for each of which there is a fixed charge. There are no hidden extras: the quoted is the price you pay. Fixed charge price list from 24 January 2013 Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Section (plus VAT) Court Fee: Burnetts Fees: VAT Court Fee: Burnetts Fees: VAT Section 8 (within Cumbria) (plus VAT) Court Fee: or Burnetts Fees: VAT Court Fee: Burnetts Fees: VAT Section 8 (outside Cumbria) (plus VAT Court Fee: or Burnetts Fees: VAT + agent s fee for attendance at hearing of VAT) Court Fee: Burnetts Fees: VAT The charges above relate to property in England and Wales let under an assured shorthold tenancy. An explanation is given overleaf concerning sections 21 and 8. Stage 1 We will take your instructions and check your tenancy agreement and tenancy deposit paperwork. We will then prepare the case against the tenant and serve the appropriate notice(s). All notices are served by first class recorded delivery. Personal service, while not required, can be arranged at an extra charge. Stage 2 We will draft and issue County Court proceedings and attend ourselves or where necessary by agents on your behalf at the first (and, in most cases, the only) court hearing.

2 Subject to the matter being undefended, at the end of Stage 2 you will obtain a possession order ordering the tenant(s) to vacate your property by a date set by the court. Stage 3 Unfortunately it is necessary in some cases to progress to Stage 3. That happens when the tenant has failed to vacate the property by the date fixed for possession by the court. We will then complete the necessary paperwork and apply to the court for a warrant to allow the bailiff to evict the tenant(s) from the property. The bailiff has, if required, the power to force entry into the property and to remove forcibly the tenant(s) and any other occupants of the property. In most cases bailiff intervention is not required. However, there are some persistent bad tenants who will not leave until the bailiff evicts them.

3 Considerations when deciding to evict tenant(s) using section 21 or section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 (as amended) An assured shorthold tenancy gives the tenant no security of tenure. In other words, it is relatively straightforward to obtain a possession order by commencing proceedings. An assured shorthold tenancy can be terminated principally by reliance on section 21 or section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 (as amended). Section 21 Under Section 21, (once the initial fixed term of the tenancy has expired) the tenancy can be terminated by giving the tenant not less than 2 months written notice. That is a formal notice, which we draft on your behalf and serve on the tenant. It does not state that there are any arrears of rent or that there has been a breach of the tenancy. Essentially it allows a landlord to evict a tenant without needing to give a reason or justify the decision to evict. It is therefore the best route if a landlord wants possession in order, say, to let the property to someone else or to sell the property. The expiry date of the notice is dependent on the date the notice is given, upon the dates of the original agreement and of any subsequent agreements and/or upon the due date for the rent to be paid. We will ensure that the dates in the notice are correct and that is why we will need at the outset to see any written tenancy agreement and the tenancy deposit details. Once a notice has been served, we must wait until it has expired. We are able then to apply to the court for a possession order, all being well by an accelerated process applicable specifically to assured shorthold tenancies. All the necessary paperwork and correspondence are dealt with by us. It is, however, not uncommon for tenants to leave without the need for a court order, once the initial notice has been served. Once the papers have been received by the County Court, copies are sent to the tenant. If the tenant has a defence, he/she should notify the court within 14 days. If the court feels that there may be an arguable defence, it will list the matter for a hearing. However, most tenants do not have a valid defence. For example, inability to pay rent because of an employment problem is not a defence. In those instances where a section 21 eviction is successfully defended it is usually because the original notice was defective or the deposit was not paid into a tenancy deposit scheme as required by law. If the section 21 route is used, you cannot make a claim for rent arrears. However, because a section 21 claim is not easily defended, it may be more cost effective to evict your tenant by that means and then to instruct our debt recovery service to recover your rent arrears.

4 Section 8 Section 8 is the appropriate section to use when the tenant has broken a term (or terms) of the tenancy agreement, e.g. to pay rent. In fact, most evictions through the section 8 procedure are due to non-payment of rent. The first step is for a notice to be served on the tenant, seeking possession. The notice must be in a prescribed form and, if it is not, the ensuing court proceedings will be invalid. Although it is not the only basis for issuing a notice seeking possession, in what follows we concentrate on non-payment of rent. In the notice seeking possession we would give the tenant 2 weeks to bring the arrears up to date, after which time proceedings would be brought for both a possession order (to obtain possession of the property) and a monetary judgment in respect of the rent arrears. A drawback of the section 8 procedure is that the accelerated process referred to above is not available and therefore the court will list the matter for a short hearing, usually several weeks ahead. Often a tenant will not attend the hearing, with the result that a final possession order will be made in his/her absence, requiring possession to be given up within 28 days. A tenant who does attend will often argue that he/she cannot afford to pay much towards the arrears. If he/she is able to offer an amount towards the arrears which the court considers reasonable, on top of the usual monthly rent, the court has a discretion not to make a final possession order, but instead will probably make a suspended order for possession, i.e. an order suspended on condition that the tenant maintains regular payments towards the arrears, as well as paying the rent as it falls due. If the tenant fails to maintain those payments, an application can be made to the court for a warrant seeking possession of the property. Which route is better for me? From what is said above, you need to decide what is more important to you. Is your priority obtaining possession of the premises quickly, with your secondary concern being recovery of the outstanding rent? If so, section 21 would be the more appropriate route to follow. If your greater concern is to recover the rent arrears (or at least to obtain judgment against the tenant in respect of the arrears) while possession of the property is a secondary consideration, perhaps the section 8 route would be the better. When considering whether to try to obtain possession of your property a factor to bear in mind, is the possibility that the property may stand vacant for some time while you try to find a new tenant. If the tenant is not paying any rent whatsoever, it would probably be in your interests to obtain possession as soon as possible, so that you can then start the process of re-letting, while carrying out any necessary remedial/maintenance work.

5 We at Burnetts are always happy to discuss the section 8 and section 21 options and to advise which will be more suitable in your particular circumstances. With Burnetts Assured Shorthold Tenant Eviction Scheme, the whole process is dealt with by experienced legal professionals. Fixed Charge Step 1 What is covered by our fixed charges? We will prepare and serve (by first class recorded delivery) either a section 8 or a section 21 notice (or both) on your tenant. For that purpose we will require from you a copy of the tenancy agreement, the tenancy deposit paperwork and a fully up to date and factually correct schedule of rent arrears and of any payments made in respect of those arrears. Notices will be prepared on the basis of the information, which you provide, and we shall assume that all such information is correct. Burnetts cannot be held responsible if any notice should be invalid by reason of incorrect information provided by you. In the event that a case becomes defended, our fixed charge service will no longer apply. However, we can deal with defended matters at competitive rates. Step 2 Possession Proceedings We will prepare the necessary papers for the commencement of the appropriate possession proceedings in the County Court, strictly in accordance with your instructions. Therefore, if you instruct us to commence an action based on a section 8 notice, we shall do so. If you instruct us to commence an action based on a section 21 notice, we shall do so. We will liaise with the court and deal with all the court papers. We prepare all necessary witness statements and will make arrangements to attend the first hearing on your behalf. Our Step 2 fixed charge is limited to one court attendance. Should the court adjourn the hearing for whatever reason and require subsequent attendances, we will notify you in advance of the further charge(s), to which that will give rise for you. Defended Cases If your case is defended by the tenant or if other circumstances arise, which are not covered by our fixed charge service, our charges will be based upon the time we spend in dealing with your case. Full details of the competitive hourly rates applicable will be sent to you, when we receive your initial instructions. General The information on the pages relating to our fixed charge assured shorthold tenancy eviction scheme is intended to provide general information only. The contents of the website are not aimed at any person, individual or organisation specifically and nothing within it constitutes an offer to contract. Burnetts reserve the right to cancel, withdraw or change their services at any time. If you terminate your instructions or if we stop acting for you for good reason, you will still have to pay our charges and disbursements up to the date that we cease acting, including costs for removing our name from the court record if court proceedings are under way and transferring our file(s) to you or to another adviser.

6 As we are regulated fully by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, full client care details will be sent to you as soon as we receive your instructions. Our charges and other costs Except where stated otherwise all work described on the pages relating to our fixed charge assured shorthold tenancy eviction scheme is carried out on a fixed charge basis, which includes court fees where stated above.