Issue
We were contacted by a landlord who owned a property in London but lived abroad. The tenant had failed to make rent payments for 4 months and the landlord wanted to recover possession of the property via his Managing Agents.
How we helped
We got involved and issued a Section 8 Notice (Stage One) giving the tenant 2 weeks’ notice that they must either pay the outstanding rent arrears or the landlord would look to take back possession of his London property.
The Tenant failed to respond to the Section 8 Notice, so possession proceedings were issued (Stage Two). The tenant responded with a Defence and Counterclaim alleging that the tenancy deposit had not been protected and/or no proof that the information had been provided to him with the prescribed information.
During the process to bring the matter to trial, the tenant not only refused to allow access to the property to the Managing Agents or the landlord but then caused a fire at the property which resulted in substantial damage. The tenant was charged and pleaded guilty to arson.
The result
Substantial evidence was produced to show that the landlord had complied with all the tenancy deposit requirements.
The landlord was granted possession of the property and a Judgment from the Court for the tenant to pay the outstanding rent arrears.
The tenant was also ordered to allow the Landlord’s Insurers and the Managing Agents to have access to the London property to assess the damage caused.
For more information or advice on evicting non-paying tenants, 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