Landlords Question about a Section 21 notice

Landlords Question about a Section 21 notice

9:18 AM, 23rd January 2013, About 11 years ago 8

Text Size

Landlords Question about a Section 21 noticeI have issued a section 21 to one of my tenants because he fell behind with his rent.

He has promised to pay the arrears and keep up with the rent and asked me if I would cancel the notice. My question is this, If I dont cancel the notice but let him stay, can I hold it over him for future use or do they expire after so long?

You can use this in your excellent news letter if you wish,

Regards – Jack Craven.


Share This Article


Comments

20:56 PM, 23rd January 2013, About 11 years ago

No. Any uncertainty renders it invalid and a replacement would have to be issued. This applies even were a S21 is served and a landlord later enters in to discussion over possibly extending a tenancy after service. If in doubt, issue a new notice and leave no room for doubt. 😉

4:38 AM, 24th January 2013, About 11 years ago

Always have a valid S 21 in place; just in case!
Have you thought about spending £99 on a RGI policy; you can do it whilst he is an existing tenant.
You then advise him if he ever fails to pay rent you will have no alternative than to submit a RGI claim and he will have to leave or be evicted.
You have up to 90 days of forbearance with RGI before a claim is invalid.
You can decide within the protection of the RGI policy how much forbearance you wish to offer.
I left mine 2 months and 20 days before I finally submitted my RGI claim as the tenant advised that they would pay, of course they didn't but I thought it worthwhile to give her the chance as she was a good tenant apart from paying the rent!!!?.
RGI companies give you a 90 day claim period because they hope things can be resolved and then avoid a claim being submitted which they know will cost them a fortune.
It's cost my one over £10000 so far and the tenant still has yet to be evicted!
9 months and counting it has been going on.

Mary Latham

15:24 PM, 24th January 2013, About 11 years ago

A valid Section 21 Notice has no "shelf life". The only way to withdraw it would be to retract it in writing or sign up a new Tenancy Agreement. Do not put anything in writing that could be seen as agreement to retract the Notice. If you are prepared to give your tenant more time after the expiry date of the Notice you simply do not enforce the Notice but tell the tenant that it will remain in place just in case you need to enforce it in future. If at any time in future you need to enforce the Notice you can do so either on line or through the Court which will give you the Court Order you need if the tenant fails to move out at your request.
Follow me on Twitter@landlordtweets

17:32 PM, 24th January 2013, About 11 years ago

How can you be ",, a good tenant apart from paying the rent......!" Well eprhaps she kept the place clean and tidy, made no noise but hey this should be the norm AND the rent should be paid. Or have I missed something here?

3:02 AM, 25th January 2013, About 11 years ago

Hi, a S21 remains in place until a new tenancy is created. They are great to issue as insurance against further misdemeanours. As stated, you should not give any assurances about withdrawal - you can get into legal arguments re waivers or promissory estoppel.

If you need to issue again, you can always use the free tool on this site; https://aqs.infusionsoft.com/go/NPGs21/NPGL36/

9:38 AM, 25th January 2013, About 11 years ago

Keep your options open at all times is my advice. Therefore do not create a paper/email/text trail about rent arrears as you do not want the reason for your section 21 notice confused with other agendas. Simply allow the section 21 to remain valid by not confirming any promises or verbal agreements in the meantime. Monitor the tenant for rent and keep requesting payment for the arrears but at no point agree to terminating the section 21 notice. If once the S21 has completed the 2 month notice period you decide you want to exercise the accelerated possession order then you can. Do make sure you stick to the story that you have served the s21 on the basis that you simply want your property back or you wish to live in it or sell it. This will avoid any confusion and fast track the eviction without complications (as long as you have served the S21 notice correctly or the judge will send you away to start the process again if the case does end up in court that is. I would also recommend collating evidence that a S21 has been served as it is VERY common for tenants to tell a judge that they've never received it even if they have. The judge may ask you to prove it and if you can't well its a long journey back to where you started I'm afraid. My company is currently offering a FREE tenant eviction service!!! http://www.embarq.co.uk/free-tenant-eviction-service/

15:57 PM, 25th January 2013, About 11 years ago

I do this all the time and my solicitors says that you can issue section 21 and it lasts 12 months. You can issue it as a warning and then halt proceedings if the arrears are brought up to date. If the arrears are sorted fine but you are covered for the rest of the year in case of future problems. Also if problems do occur in the future he has already served the 8 weeks notice so you can move forward immediately with the next stage of the eviction. Explain all this to the tenant and it should help to get him back in line

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

16:58 PM, 25th January 2013, About 11 years ago

As others readers have explained a Section 21 notice does not expire unless a new tenancy is created. Also heed the advice given in terms of what you put into writing

Leave Comments

In order to post comments you will need to Sign In or Sign Up for a FREE Membership

or

Don't have an account? Sign Up

Landlord Tax Planning Book Now