My patience is being tested – Should I evict?

Reply to the comment left by Siobhan Southern at 17/04/2018 - 11:06
I m sorry u view my response seemingly negatively. I offered to help out the tenant (n Raj) bcos I feel Raj is way overreacting (n I take issue with that) n the tenant seems worth helping.
Afraid I hv no idea what ‘Facebook style’ looks like. Perhaps u care to explain ?

I agree with everyone who says the tenant deserves a chance, but generally landlords don't come to the point of asking for advice about such issues until they have reached near breaking point - I suspect more has happened here than Raj is able to convey in a single post.
Unfortunately, many people bury their head in the sand over debt, and it's the very worst thing you can do as it conveys a message to your creditor you don't care and have no intention of paying back any realistic amount.
The tenant really MUST keep Raj and/or the agent, in the picture - if he's having trouble setting up a housing benefit claim, he needs to say this. However, neither Raj nor the agent can or should try to force the tenant into disclosing private information about his finances.
I don't think it's helpful to trot out the old mantra about running a business not a charity, without explaining what the loss of profit actually means for landlords. It's not about loss of an income surplus - it's about loss of someone's livelihood and, if it goes on for long enough, for the average landlord is also likely to mean repossession of the property, even bankruptcy.
The posters who advise serving a section 21 (provided tenancy is out of or near the end of a fixed term, gas safety certificate, EPC and the appropriate edition of "How to Rent" have been issued, deposit protected etc) are right. It might just focus the tenant on the reality of the situation.

The RLA run a very good one day course in various parts of the country called “Gaining Possession” it costs around £130ish. It will give you a good grounding in the process and is incredibly useful for all landlords. Money well spent. I’m sure the NLA also offers something similar. The course is cheaper for members and they get the added bonus of a telephone advice line which is useful if you have any questions on your legal position or which forms to use etc.

You mentioned you use an agent to manage your property but they don’t handle the eviction process as far as I know, hence why you are looking for guidance. It is important that you do train yourself up in the law and the regulations around renting property (even if you do have a full management agent) as ultimately you are legally responsible for ensuring the law is followed to the letter. If you don’t know what it is how can you check your agent is doing things as they should? I’m not criticising you at all, just making a suggestion to help you protect yourself.

As Mandy rightly said, some folk unfortunately do bury their heads in the sand when things go wrong and despite your best wishes to help and support them through it you can’t if they won’t communicate, co-operate and take good advice. All you can do is try your best to help him get onto HB/UC while he’s out of work, but if he doesn’t apply and hasn’t gotten a new job within a reasonable time frame and won’t tell you what’s going on you can’t help him. I think 2 months without rent is generous enough before serving a section 21 notice, obviously make it clear that if he gets onto UC & sorts out a payment plan you are prepared to be patient and allow him to repay the arrears over time, but if he keeps you in the dark and isn’t doing anything to help himself you’ll have to action the notice. I’ve done this a good number of times over the years and sometimes it works out well and others not. At least you know your tenant has a good payment history and he would pay you if he had it, that’s a good start.

Not entirely sure that the tenant is burying his head in the sand or refusing to Commnicate. Sounds more like he needs handling n not by the agent. See below extract from Raj.
Surely 7 yrs of good paying tenant fallen on hard time is worth some effort to help out. He wud probably b your best tenant for life if u help him out when he needs it.

‘He notified me and the agent that manages the property at the end of February that he has run into financial hardship having lost his job. He stated that he would not be able to make the March payment (due last day of Feb) and has subsequently failed to make the April payment which was due at the end of March.

He requested the agents don’t add any interest onto the debt. The agents asked for a plan and an update a few weeks later. Unfortunately the tenant has not responded to the agent however has picked up the phone on a few occasion when I called him.’