Possession date – tenant still in – what next ?

Being at the sharp end of this I fully understand your emotion.

We meet such a variety of people during evictions and it is true that probably 20% are not malicious and are just unable to deal with what is happening to them.

All of our Enforcement Agents provide the evictee with a support pack, often making the calls for them on site.

Let's hope she now makes the necessary arrangements prior to the eviction in 8 days time.

Thanks David - it truly is a sad and awful thing to have to do to someone who has a teenage daughter and who is otherwise unsupported, but, hopefully her family will rally round.

I simply cannot keep on driving 400 miles and paying for accommodation and petrol because of her inadequacies.

I have offered to pay for a van to collect her belongings, so if she does not remove them by next week, I will just get someone else to get a skip in, clear the house, and I wont go into it until its empty.

The county court bailiff has been really superb - I am lucky that he had a short list, and that he is such a caring man. Equally the judge realised that I had done everything possible, and more, to prevent this.

Like landlords, I guess bailiffs, and HCEOs have a reputation of being the devil incarnate !

I simply don't know what I could have done differently. I will report back after next week.

Reply to the comment left by "All BankersAreBarstewards Smith" at "18/11/2014 - 10:05":

I have tenants where the eviction order expired on the17th but they are still there. Cost me 1000s so far and last time I saw them they were abusive and threatening. They will prob sit it out till the day b4 the bailiffs are due and then disappear. The laws in this country are silly and we need to 'all' give the housing/ DWP minister Mark Harper a hard time. I've written to him but nothing back. PS. Take a look at 'Labour's' housing policy for rented property. I've written to them too! We need to 'all' do it!

Exactly. Anything past the expiry date should be "trespassing" AND a criminal offence, unless a judge gives max two weeks! Start a petition!!!!

I recently met with a Council's housing division and was told the reason they advise tenants to remain in property is this:

"Jan Luba QC says in his guide to Housing Allocation and homelessness

Some Acts of Parliament expressly provide that individuals who are otherwise without rights may remain in possession. The classic example is the Rent Act 1977. Statutory tenants, whose contractual tenancies have ended, enjoy a personal right under the Rent Act 1977 not to be evicted without a court order and thus fall within this category. The code specifically refer to Rent Act statutory tenants because their personal right to remain is created by statute. A statutory tenant remains under the protection of the Rent Act 1977 and the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 not just until a possession order has been obtained against him or her, but until the point of actual eviction by court bailiffs.

Other Acts of Parliament provide that tenancies cannot be ended without landlords obtaining possession orders. This is the case for introductory,demoted,secure and assured tenants. Even when former tenants remain in occupation as trespassers, they are not “homeless” because a different form of enactment, the procedural rules of court, restricts them from being ousted other than by a bailiffs warrant. They do not lose the benefit of that enactment until the bailiffs actually turn them out."

I will start a new topic on this shortly but welcome any input beforehand.

Reply to the comment left by "Jack Ass" at "19/11/2014 - 00:31":

I'd suggest you download our guide to tenant eviction.

http://www.property118.com/evicting-tenants-recovering-rent-arrears-guide/70255/

I am just setting off for the north - eviction day tomorrow.... I will report back on my return. A sad day - but actually now its here, my attitude has hardened a bit and I know that I have done absolutely everything anyone could have done.

The tenant has not responded to my texts or offer to pay for a van for her... so ... I cannot help someone who refuses to communicate.

Reply to the comment left by "All BankersAreBarstewards Smith" at "24/11/2014 - 09:41":

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best!
.

Well, I am back home, after a truly grim few days. The tenant was texting me at half past midnight the night before the bailiffs were due asking me for 3 more days because she couldn't get a van till then. I arrived at the property a couple of hours early to find out if she had gone, and she was still there. I gave her a Schedule of Torts (Interference with goods) Notice giving her 2 days to clear her stuff. She gave me her keys, took an overnight bag, and her and her 16 year old daughter left in a taxi.

I have had some rubbish left over the years, but this took the biscuit. Clearly she had done almost nothing to prepare for moving, and the house cannot have been cleaned for more than a year: vessels containing fluids and moulds abounded in almost every room, it was impossible to see the flooring in her bedroom and her daughters bedroom, all her life's possessions were there - including her daughters computer and school stuff. The Tort notice was found in the house, so we have proof that she saw it.

My new builders wife suggested that she take over communicating with the tenant, and I thought that was a great idea. She arranged an extension of time for the tenant to remove her stuff, but then the tenant started texting her late in the evening.

Today at noon is the deadline, and she texted my builders wife late last night to say she is in hospital for an unknown period of time. I don't believe this.

My solicitor advised that we ensure photographs are taken of her belongings, just in case there is a claim down the line, but to go ahead with the clearance.

The builders wife will give the decent stuff to a charity shop and we will skip the rest next Wednesday.

I think this will go on and on - but at least the tenant is now annoying someone else late at night !!

New builders have given me a great price for the refurb, they can start next Wednesday and are exceptionally communicative - and no you can't have their name !!!

I have also found a new agent who has been a landlord himself for 30 years, who has virtually no empty properties on his books, and who knows the area intimately, so, some very positive news to report.

Reply to the comment left by "All BankersAreBarstewards Smith" at "28/11/2014 - 09:55":

Glad you are making progress, out of curiosity how far north is the property?