Aibu about landlord notice/eviction

[Scared2BeHomeless]

Hi, I am single mum of 2DCs. My landlord hs notified me that he is selling the flat we are currently residing in and has given me a written notice to be out in 30 days.

I have spoken to Shelter and they advise that this is not legal and he needs to give me a Section 21 notice to evict me. I am also aware that my deposit has not been protected. I am a good tenant and there has been no arrears or dispute in the time I have been here (almost 2 years).

How do I go about telling the landlord that this notice is not valid? Council have advised that I must stay put through everything until landlord gets possesion from the court if I am to recieve help from them with housing.

Tbh, I am petrified. I have kept a cool calm demeanour throughout all contact with the LL so far, but I have a feeling he could get quite intimidating if rubbed up the wrong way. It seems he has done everything illegally.

Any advice and experiences of those who have been through similar will be gratefully recieved.

Take Stellar's advice on this.

Sit tight & have some friends for support on "move out day". If he tries to force you out, call the police.

The notice he has served you with is invalid. You are under no obligation to say anything it is for him to get right not you.

What may happen is that if after 30 days you don't move out out he applies for a possession order. However as he hasn't followed the correct procedure the court won't grant it.

He will probably then serve the S21 giving the correct two months notice. He will of course get possession eventually but playing it like this would give you more time if that was helpful for you?

Yes the council housing department will not actually help until you are being evicted and as far as I can remember.

And, if he does issue a court claim, do not ignore it, see a solicitor immediately. You will likely get legal aid for this. Ask shelter to refer you to a solicitor if a claim is issued, don’t just go to your local high street firm. There are a lot of fabulous housing solicitors but also some terrible ones, I’m afraid.

Thank you all, this has been very helpful. I really appreciate it.

You should take a copy of the S21 notice as soon as you have it though.

There are penalties for not protecting your deposit Can't remember what these are bit expect someone else will know!

This kind of thing is really scary but you have absolutely every agency on your side here....the police, the council, the courts, everyone.

The penalties as regards the deposit are, as we mentioned earlier:

1. Inability to serve a section 21 notice
2. Automatic return of the deposit
3. An award of money of no less than 1 x the deposit and no more than 3 x the deposit

Thanks @Stellarbella. Does that mean he must return my deposit in full before he can serve me a valid Sect 21?

If you do have to involve the police make it VERY clear that its an illegal eviction.

www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jun/09/police-fail-to-act-private-rent-tenants-illegally-evicted-landlords-harassment-threats

I would speak to a local solicitors that does housing stuff. If they take the case on they can do the negotiating with him which will be less stress for you.

Yes, he does have to return the deposit before he serves the section 21 notice. And, at the moment it is arguable that he can never serve you with a section 21 notice because he didn’t serve the gas safety certificate and EPC at the start of the tenancy. I say “at the moment” because the link I posted earlier is only a county court decision, and it may be that a higher court overturns it, or the law is changed.

If your landlord hasn’t got a gas safety certificate he can’t serve a section 21

You don’t have to go anywhere and he’s not going to be able to sell the property for now

My other advice would be to visit your district council and introduce yourself, get as much support from them as possible along with advice for staying put. That’s what they are there for

Stellarbella My reading of it is that ll will probably have to grant a new tenancy, after the gsc and epc served and deposit protected, before he can serve a valid s21 notice, so op should have some time! It's v interesting to see what happens. As Jan Luba was the judge, I suspect his interpretation is correct.

joe that’s probably right, but OP doesn’t have to enter into a new tenancy and has no obligation to do so. Not sure about whether Luba is right, but it’s the most persuasive decision there is at the moment

Thank you OP, sorry for your situation too, it's nerve shredding. I think Notice is down to recent Council crackdown checking fire alarms/fire doors in private Lets. He was livid he had to fit them or be prosecuted.

Absolutely, she has lots of time

I wouldn’t stay longer or make him get bailiffs round to remove you, that is fruitless and you need a reference for the next place

Tbf, the OP wouldn't be doing it out of spite to piss off the landlord. They have no choice.

You do need a S21 asap so you can give it to the relevant people. Councils make it clear that if you leave before a bailiff has physically removed you from the property then you will be considered 'intentionally homeless' and therefore they will have no duty to house you. Do not leave unless he has a court order to get you out and the bailiffs are at the door. If he attempts to get the locks changed or anything before then it is illegal and they can, and will, change them back to make sure you still have access.

Obviously this is very stressful and not a road that anyone wants to go down but it is unfortunately necessary if you need help from the council. If you manage to find somewhere before that happens then that's the best case scenario.

Good luck

See a solicitor and get some compensation for him not protecting your deposit. I have recently helped a family member with this.
He needs to issue a section 21 (then you still don’t move so he follows with the eviction process).
Also has he issued you an EPC for the property as that can invalidate a section 21 too.
I am a landlord but arseholes like this give us all a bad name.
If I can help further, just ask.

Once your landlord has served a VALID s21, he will then be able to give you two months notice. You don't have to go anywhere imminently, but make sure you get advice and ideally get someone to deal with your landlord on your behalf.

Is the letter new? What date would the 30 days take you to?

You don’t even have to leave at the end of your notice period. It is just notice that they will have to start legal proceedings at the end of the 2 months - they need a possession order from the courts before you actually need to leave. This can take an extra 2-6 months after the end of the notice period (and the council will expect you to wait it out). Continue paying rent during this time.

There are plenty of no win, no fee lawyers who will take on your claim for the deposit.

The landlord can, and should, sell your property with you as a “sitting tenant”. They just don’t like to do this because it narrows the pool of potential buyers. It’s really gross that landlords make people homeless for a faster sale.

You say he's a bit dodgy op?

Does he have keys? I'd invest in some bolts. You can't change the locks but you can add some extra security

Can i not change the barrel and then change it back to the original when it is time to leave? I wouldn’t put it past him to try and gain access to the property.

30 days takes me to the 17th Aug.