Eviction notice...not good

[Smileyo]

Hi
A friend of mine who is a LP has been served an eviction notice by the council due to arrears being incurred on her rent . I promised her that i will try and seek some help where i can. The bailiffs will be round this Thursday, she has 2 children - 12 and 4 year old. She is attending court this Tuesday in hope that they will allow her to stay on reasonable grounds whereby she can pay off her arrears on a monthly basis. Can the council just evict you without the care of where the tennent and her children stay in the future?

[DooinMeCleanin]

Yes they can just evict her, but not at such short notice (unless the rules are different for councils?) it takes months and months to evict someone and must be done through county court.

Tell your friend to contact Shelter asap. They were very helpful to me when I got an eviction notice and go to CAB on Monday.

[Smileyo]

Thanks Dooin, i will. I am so worried for her, she has been working so hard trying to make ends meet but seems like things has deperately got on top of her. I just got back from her house and she's also dreading breaking the news to the kids.

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

Are you sure it's the bailiffs due on Thursday? Because if so, it sounds as if this is the very end of the eviction process. Has your friend ignored letters about previous court dates, and so on?

I know how easy it is to stick your head in the sands. :(

[lowrib]

I second the advice to contact Shelter.

[Smileyo]

I am not entirely sure, i had wondered if she ignored some of the letters or not acted sooner. You are right about it being easy to ignor it as i went through a similar thing with a couple of my domestic bills when i seperated from ds father, thankfully i pulled myself together i justed explained my circumstances to the company. I am just worried for her and really hope she will sort something out to avoid being made homeless...

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

Shelter will be the best people to advise; but tell your friend she must be honest with them, as hard as that is.

I wish her all the best.

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

She needs to contact Shelter. The problem she has is that as she's been evicted for non-payment of rent then the council are not legally obliged to find her accomodation. Evictions always take months as they have to issue warning letters and obtain a court date, then have a hearing, then the court issues an eviction notice. Is there any way she can find the deposit for a private rental and move ASAP? This is really her only option as the second is a B&B.

[Smileyo]

I will be seeing her tomorrow and will suggest all of your comments, if i can get more details surrounding this matter in terms of when she started receiving warning letters, it would indicate how severe and the chances of her saving her home. Thanks all! .

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

To be honest with you, if the bailiffes are due on Thursday then it's not looking good. You need to work out if they are due at her house to issue the summonds or to actually evict her. Issuing a court summonds will buy her some time as it's a letter from the court giving her a date for a hearing or a date when she is to leave the house. Evicting her won't as they will turn up and expect for her to have packed and vacated the property. If she leaves anything in the house then she will be unable to get these things back.

[lowrib]

You can ring the bailiffs direct to ask why they're coming and ask when they'll be round.

I used to squat in my younger days and we used to ring the bailiffs once we knew we were going to be evicted for sure. They certainly should be able to tell you if they're coming to serve a notice or evict.

[10poundstogo]

If an eviction date set/bailiffs coming then the hearing is a "stay" hearing. If its the first time that it has got as far as an eviction date then its very unlikely she will be evicted if she goes to court, holds her hands up, makes an agreement to pay and promises to contact her landlord immediatly in the event that she cannot pay as promised. She needs full welfare benefits and money management advice if she wants to not be back in court in under 6 months though. Whatever she does she should not take out expensive credit to buy anything or to clear the arrears. I have known tenants have up to 10 stay hearings before now. Its hard but she'll need to work with her housing officer and keep them in the loop - it usually goes this far when people dont stay in touch, leaving them with little choice but to force the issue. Shelter/CAB/law centre best for free/independant advice. Legal aid payable when home at risk. I have worked for social landlords for 10 years and this scenario is sadly a familiar one. Best of luck.

[Smileyo]

Cheers 10pounds, it sounds as though she has some hope, she went to her hearing yesterday but due to adverse weather she got there 15 mins late, she even allowed extra 30mins on her journey. When she got to the court they done the hearing without her , she pleaded for another hearing and they have given her another day which is this Thursday,the day of the eviction, the court assured her that bailiffs will not invade her property whilst she is in the court.

[enabledebra]

She needs to get advice before Thursday. Once a warrant for eviction has been granted (which it must have been for the baliff to be involved) she needs to convince the court that the rent arrears will be paid within a reasonable time and that she can pay her ongoing rent. She needs to show how this will happen. Other posters have suggested that she must have delayed seeking help with this and I agree. No one gets to this stage without ignoring the issue for months so she needs to understand that yes she might be on the street on Thurs and she should contact the local council asap about a homelessness application. I only mention this because it isn't helpful to attempt to be reassuring and if she is in denial she needs to be shaken out of it. Yes she has a chance of staying in the property but there is an equal chance she will be out on her ear and she needs to plan for the worst case scenario.

[10poundstogo]

Smileyo, how did it go?