Late service of Prescribed Information?

Late service of Prescribed Information?

9:48 AM, 9th June 2022, About 2 years ago 7

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S21 requires EPC, How to Rent Guide and CGC papers to be issued to a prospective tenant BEFORE the tenancy is agreed or started, or the S21 notice is INVALID.

I have read somewhere that LATE service is now accepted so, I wish to legally check where this change, if correct, is stated.

No use starting S21 if the court simply will throw it out.

Help and advice please.

Cyril


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Comments

Nathan

1:31 AM, 10th June 2022, About 2 years ago

OP 09.48 09June2022
Hi Cyril,

As far as I am aware as long as all the paperwork has been issued with some way of proving this, I.e.email and request receipt of/confirmation reply, prior to issuing the S21 then you should be ok.
We have found ourselves in a horrible situation now that if any tiny mistake is made in the issuing of papers/docs then a clued up/or shelter advised tenant can fight against the eviction, it’s ludicrous imho if all you want is your property back, to sell or live in.
Good luck.

David

13:17 PM, 12th June 2022, About 2 years ago

My understanding is that if the deposit was protected withjn 30 days of receipt but the PI served after this time, it won't affect the s21, but they can claim a penalty.

CMS

2:58 AM, 13th June 2022, About 2 years ago

In order for the s21 notice to be valid (amongst other things) you need to have given the tenant the prescribed information first. As you are out of time though, as others have said, the tenant could claim a penalty of up to 3 times the deposit.

Reluctant Landlord

15:43 PM, 13th June 2022, About 2 years ago

If S21 validity is your biggest concern then you can still issue.

My question comes off the back of this,. It is automatic that a tenant can claim 3 times back and the whole amount awarded by the judge if they do, or is the total amount awarded in any way discretionary?

Just wondering if there are any mitigating genuine circumstances that can be taken into consideration that you did not deposit/give the PI in time. Also - as a S21 is ONLY about possession, would that mean the tenant would have to seek a completely separate claim against you for the PI not done within time?

Anyone know?

CMS

7:42 AM, 18th June 2022, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by DSR at 13/06/2022 - 15:43
So far as I am aware from my dealings with this type of situation is that, a judge won't advise the tenant of the landlord's breach of the rules and the fact that the tenant can make a claim. It is for the tenant to bring the claim.

The amount awarded is up to 3 times but minimum of 1 times, and is at the judges discretion so my advice would be to deal with the issue as soon as you realise there is a mistake and be nice in the hearing!

The other thing to note is that the claim for the breach and possible compensation does not end when the tenant leaves and they could still come back to you and make the claim although i would think in practice it is unlikely that a tenant would wait very long to make claim for money if he knew he could!

New Member

15:31 PM, 8th November 2023, About 5 months ago

Reply to the comment left by CMS at 18/06/2022 - 07:42
Found this online.
Not sure if this helps;
The landlord has not given all the prescribed information

Where the landlord has protected the deposit within 30 days of receiving it but has failed to give the tenant the prescribed information, they must provide the correct information before serving a section 21 notice.

The full list of prescribed information must be provided. Sending a copy of the deposit protection certificate received by the scheme is not enough to comply with the requirement.

Late compliance is possible where the only failure of the landlord is not to give the full prescribed information. Once all the prescribed information has been given to the tenant and any relevant person, a section 21 notice can be served.
Credit to https://www.nhas.org.uk/news/article/when-landlords-cannot-use-section-21-notices
My question is-
If this is the case, would tenants still be able to claim?
Tia

David

12:03 PM, 9th November 2023, About 5 months ago

Would a tenant be able to claim what? If you mean a deposit penalty, then yes, as stated in several posts above, although the courts usually limit it to 1x the deposit in this circumstance.

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