Issue
We were contacted by an elderly landlord living in Spain who owned a property in London. The landlord relied on the rental payments as a top-up for his pension.
The landlord notified his Managing Agent in London that he wished to sell the property, and asked the Agent to arrange for the relevant Notice to be issued to terminate the contract and for the tenant to leave the property.
How we helped
We issued a Section 8 notice (Stage One). The tenant did not respond to the Application until the 11th hour, at which point he said that a deposit had been given towards the tenancy.
However, the landlord said he was unaware of any deposit being taken and that the tenancy contract, provided to the landlord by his Agents, specifically stated that no deposit had been received.
The Managing Agent refused to speak with us about the alleged deposit or to provide any verification.
After more investigations, we established that the local Council had been involved at the outset in assisting the tenant with the accommodation, and eventually verified that a deposit had been paid.
As a result, the landlord had to concede to the claim and agreement was reached for the withdrawal of those proceedings. The deposit was paid back to the tenant.
A further Notice was issued followed by Court Possession proceedings, and a possession order was granted.
The result
The landlord was able to take back possession of the property, and complete a successful sale.
For more information or advice on recovering possession of a residential property, please contact tenant eviction specialist Yvonne Thomas on 0115 9 100 235 or click here to send her an email.
Posted on August 24, 2017