Landlords fear the scrapping of s21 – and are selling up
3 years ago | 21 comments
County court for possession claim – Section 21?
9:49 AM, 3rd May 2023, 3 years ago
27
Hello, I have a tenant who denied that she signed the tenancy receipt document at the court hearing last week. I tried to evict her using section 21.
I have her 10 signatures on different dates during her one year stay. Every signature is different when I compared them after the court hearing.
The judge told her to write a witness statement that she did not sign the receipt document. In other words, she denied receiving How to Rent, the EPC, etc.
How can I prove to the court that the signature is hers?
Thank you,
Aric
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3 years ago | 18 comments
Sec 21 issued, 1 tenant leaves, 1 stays?
3 years ago | 22 comments
Member Since November 2013 - Comments: 39
11:25 AM, 4th May 2023, About 3 years ago
When I used to do our inventories I would list at the end of the inventory all the documents supplied which I would also present in a folder. Therefore the tenant was not only agreeing to the inventory but was also confirming receipt of all the necessary documents.
Member Since May 2016 - Comments: 1575 - Articles: 16
12:46 PM, 4th May 2023, About 3 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Tom Dove at 04/05/2023 – 11:04Yes Tom, that works if ;
Your AST includes an agreement to serve documents via email, and
Tenant responds to email, thereby confirming receipt.
In absence of above, I recommend Post Recorded delivery.
Member Since February 2023 - Comments: 5
1:46 PM, 4th May 2023, About 3 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Tom Dove at 04/05/2023 – 11:04
Firstly – take copies of the passport signature and driving licence and compare with the rent document.
Also – adopt the Chinese standard of a fingerprint next to the signature because then there is no doubt about validity.
And remember….if you can show that the tenant changes signatures all the time, this will in fact go in your favour in Court
….also, as a barrister who has 30 years looking at signature issues, there are commonalities in most of the signatures and I suspect a hand-writing expert (typical cost £300) would have a field day showing the similarities….. then you have the tenant on a witness statement lying and can apply for the judge to consider contempt of court/perjury
Member Since September 2018 - Comments: 3538 - Articles: 5
9:42 AM, 5th May 2023, About 3 years ago
Reply to the comment left by ListedBuilding. org at 04/05/2023 – 13:46
fingerprint – interesting idea! Before I rush off to amazon and purchase a suitable ink stamp pad, are there any woke considerations I need to pay homage to?
Member Since September 2018 - Comments: 9
8:26 AM, 6th May 2023, About 3 years ago
On the signing page of my tenancy agreement, before the signatures, it says:
‘Tenants have received from the landlord the most up to date ‘How To Rent’ and ‘Right To Rent’ documents, current gas and electrical safety certificates, current EPC certificate and the landlord’s Privacy Statement. The tenants’ guarantors have read this agreement.’
So, they are signing to say that they have received everything. I have always assumed that this covered me. Not sure if there’s a loophole I’ve missed.
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 3248 - Articles: 81
8:33 AM, 6th May 2023, About 3 years ago
Getting worse in’t it.
This Judge will make more homeless, as we hear about these stories & sell up or take only the most perfect tenants next time. Save one current tenant, make it worse & more expensive for the next 1000 tenants.
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 3248 - Articles: 81
8:34 AM, 6th May 2023, About 3 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Chris @ Possession Friend at 03/05/2023 – 15:10
Chris, you have it covered as usual, why can’t we have u on our shoulder when we doing anything legal. Ooh hang on a minute, in Landlord & tenant world, that would mean every single phone call would be documented with a witness. That’s the way it’s ruddy going.
Member Since August 2013 - Comments: 185
6:52 AM, 8th May 2023, About 3 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Tom Dove at 04/05/2023 – 11:04
There seems to be a lot of “what to do next time” advice on here. I do feel for you as getting the s21 upheld is costly, takes ages and the judges will wriggle out of granting the possession order any way they can. The handwriting expert seems a sensible idea though. For my “What to do next time” bit though, we add a clause to the actual AST which says “signature to this document implies receipt of EPC, Gas cert, PI , etc.” so all included in the one document…
Member Since March 2015 - Comments: 124
12:04 PM, 9th May 2023, About 3 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Chris @ Possession Friend at 04/05/2023 – 12:46
It is never advisable to use Recorded Delivery.
If the tenant doesn’t sign on receipt it doesn’t get delivered
Member Since May 2016 - Comments: 1575 - Articles: 16
12:40 PM, 9th May 2023, About 3 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Nikki Palmer at 09/05/2023 – 12:04
Recorded delivery is only one of a number of means and certainly helps convince the court of ‘service’