Landlord & tenant solicitors serving Oxfordshire and area
SMQ Legal Services specialist landlord & tenant solicitors can provide you with quick, straightforward advice concerning disputes involving landlord and tenants to put right the problem. We understand that disputes can often arise when the responsibility of a landlord to put something right is called into question.
We have experience dealing with allegations of regulation breaches concerning HMOs, repossession, and in defending claims of tenants.
We aim to explore dispute resolution to avoid costly and lengthy legal aid where possible. We will explain clearly the process, timescales and costs of bringing or defending any claim.
Landlord Information
Eviction proceedings
You can serve a notice seeking possession of the above property on the ground of arrears of rent. It is important to have proof of serving the notice.
In order to serve this notice the tenant has to be 8 weeks in total in arrears if the tenancy is a weekly tenancy and 2 months if it is a monthly tenancy. Provided the tenant is 8 weeks or 2 months in arrears both at the time of serving the notice and if proceedings are taken the court is obliged to grant you a possession order. It is therefore essential that your copy of the rent book is properly balanced on every date a payment is due or made and the court can see from the date of the notice and the date of the hearing that the arrears shown are more than the requisite sum.
Should your tenant not vacate at the expiry of the notice we understand you can then issue proceedings for possession. If you take proceedings following this notice you must bear in mind that the tenant can defend on the ground that some part of the property or equipment has not been maintained by the landlord or safety certificates not obtained. Whether the defence is valid or not it could still be expensive to run a trial and there is little prospect of obtaining costs from the tenant if successful. If you took a deposit you have to deposit it with a deposit company within 30 day and within 14 day give the prescribed information to the tenant which is a scheme leaflet provided by the deposit company. If you fail to do this the notice seeking possession will still be valid but the tenant could claim a penalty of up to three times the deposit.
A notice seeking possession because of default by the tenant, usually being in arrears with the rent will enable you to issue proceedings within a short time whereas the Notice to Quit must give at least 2 months notice before you can issue proceedings. If you issue proceedings on arrears of rent the claim can be defended on grounds that you have not maintained the property or there are defects in the property for which you are responsible. The tenant can obtain free legal representation and any defence filed whether true or false will result in a lengthy time before a judgment and even if successful you will usually lose substantially more rent and incurred legal fees which you will not recover.
Notice to Quit
A notice to quit has to be for a minimum of 2 months and it is important to obtain evidence of service. If you received a deposit it had to be deposited with a deposit company within 30 days of receipt or partial receipt. You must also within 14 days give the prescribed information to the tenant which is a scheme leaflet issued by the deposit company. If you fail there is no rectification and you cannot obtain possession on this notice to quit. The tenant can still claim a penalty from you of up to three times the deposit.
If you issue a 2 months’ notice to quit you will be unable to obtain a possession order if a deposit was received and not correctly deposited with a deposit company and notice of the deposit given to the tenant in the form and time required. If the tenancy commenced after October 2015 you additionally have to provide an Energy Performance Certificate and gas safety certificate and a government leaflet “How to Rent: the checklist for renting in England”.
If the deposit has not been correctly deposited and notice given you can still issue the Notice to Quit if the deposit is returned to the tenant before the notice is served. Any notice must be in the correct form.
Landlord & Tenant Solicitors here to help
Whether you are a Landlord or a tenant, if you are seeking legal advice please get in touch with our experienced team of landlord & tenant solicitors here at SMQ Legal Services.