Tenant going to prison – how do I gain possession of my property?

My tenant went to court expecting a slap on the wrist and was sent to prison. I was told I could not evict them because the tenant needed their accomodation to return to. They paid me housing benefit for 13 weeks which was the maximum time. The sentence was for 11 months but they returned home at 13 weeks. The whole episode was a mess with no one telling me what was happening. And once again showed me that landlords still have no rights even when their tenant is in prison. Good luck.

Brian - have you managed to evict your tenant(s) since his/her/their return from prison?

Reply to the comment left by "brian clement" at "19/05/2016 - 16:10":

Yes , Tenant deviates and landlord pays It is unfair but seems to be assumed that we are like wealthy feudal lords. We should not be called "lords" in this day and age. So many tenants take everything for granted when we have often poured every penny into making nice homes for them to live in.

If I stole a Bed sheet from M and S or entered a cinema without paying I'd be taken down the police station in cuffs. Yet deviant tenants can live free and burn my carpet for months before the bailiffs are permitted to act.

We are told to raise standards; how about a "tenant" watchdog? Any one can get a good reference. In fact when reference agencies check with me, they put words in my mouth regarding my tenants' rent record and length of stay. I usually agree with them so I don't get stuck with the deviant for even longer!

No-one helps a landlord who is being exploited.

Best policy for me: Huge deposit lodged with third party agent.

Reply to the comment left by "Man on Stilts" at "19/05/2016 - 12:50":

As Paul says they will not cover the missed payments but will pay you from the date you inform them (they may ask for a rent statement or letter but if you phone you can get payments to the tenant put on hold until they have checked this) as LHA is usually paid 4 weeks in arrears this will help minimise your lost rent.
They should pay while he is on remand at least until you get formal possession.

If his possessions are of any value to him maybe you can contact his legal representative and get him to sign a deed of surrender in exchange for you either letting a friend collect them or storing them for a time until he can, depending on his sentence. It would be worth it to get clear possession of the property and be able to relet quickly.

I am not a legal expert but I do know the issues of abandonment and disposing of tenants possessions are a can of worms better avoided if possible. I am sure other forum members will have more input on this.

Hi MoS. When my tenant left prison and returned to my flat she was on licence and began behaving herself. Her rent continued to be paid to me and she continued to behave herself. She stayed at the flat and left 18 months later. It was a worrying time but turned out ok in the end. Things could have been very different if she had stayed in prison longer or had returned to my flat causing trouble.

On the 12th May, 2016 the Housing and Planning Bill 2016 received Royal Ascent (Became Law).

Under the act, Abandonment is a specific process that can be carried out to evict a tenant.

As I recall, it requires the issue of 3 notices or letters, but we need clarification on the rules.

The difference is that you follow a specific procedure and at the end of it the tenancy is legally ended. it is then up to the tenant to apply to a court to have that decision reversed by a court.

What I am unsure of is

1. When does the law become enacted for this procedure?
2. What the hell is the procedure, in plain English?

Perhaps this web forum might post a bulletin on it.

In response to my own comment, it would appear that the House of Lords have inflicted so many defeats on this legislation that a new bill may be required and that ' Abandonment' was viewed as a back door illegal eviction.

So I have scoured Google for more details, with the result of going dizzy.

So would any legal 'boffins' out there care to comment, as I have, yet another, abandonment case myself to deal with.

Reply to the comment left by "Gary Dully" at "20/05/2016 - 08:24":

This is a link to the explanatory notes published by Parliament: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2015-2016/0075/en/16075en.pdf. See page 25, Part 3: Recovering Abandoned Premises in England, which clearly sets out how and when notices can be served by the landlord.
While this was published when it was still a bill, this version, the last before it received Royal Assent and became enacted, went live online on 25 April 2016.

This does, however, raise another question: the Act (rightly) provides a tenant with a means of recovering their tenancy by court order, within 6 months, if they can demonstrate a very good reason for not responding to the landlord's warning notices, so what happens if a court orders the tenancy to be re-instated, but the property has been let under an AST to a new tenant in the meanwhile?

I can't see any mention anywhere of a new provision for such a tenancy to be ended under section 8, so does this mean the landlord could be liable to pay the first tenant several months rent in compensation?

Reply to the comment left by "Gary Dully" at "20/05/2016 - 08:48":

Have a read yourself Gary. It's not a simple as you might think and requires the tenant to be in at least 2 months consecutive arrears. You've got to serve the right notices, on the right people, at the right time. For some reason the final wording of the Act isn't easily accessible but one of the final drafts is here (abandonment is section 56): http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2015-2016/0117/16117.pdft

Why have you used a Section 21 rather than a Section 8? Surely you have grounds for possession under a Section 8 if the tenant has damaged your property?