Landlord and Tenants Act

[arfarfa]

Hello
Is there anybody out there who has legal experience and knowledge in relation to the above act, and specifically a guarantors obligations, and even more specifically relating to the intricacies of the formalities re the serving of a S.17 notice?

Here's hoping.......

Thanks

I might be able to help ......

What's the specific query ?

Hi Tilly
Long ago, I (stupidly!) agreed to act as guarantor to a commercial property lease. It has a year remaining to run, out of an original 10 years. The tenant is currently 12 months behind with the rent, and I have received a letter and a couple of emails from the landlord making vague "help me to sort it out or I'll get my solicitor onto you" type noises. The tenant has assured me that they will catch up with the outstanding rent, and I believe that their intentions are to do so.
I've had a google, and it appears that the landlord has to serve something called a Section 17 notice in order to enforce against a guarantor, and he also has to do so within 6 months of the rent falling due.
Does a Section 17 notice have to be served in an explicit and prescribed format, or can service be deemed to have been done with just a letter from the landlord?
Thank you.

Is commercial property treated different from Domestic Property? Maybe Landlord and Tenant Act makes a distinction between Domestic premises and commercial premises.

Google can be a dangerous thing where the law is concerned.

The Landlord & Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 (which is what a s.17 notice relates to) deals with the liabilities of a former tenant and any guarantor of the former tenant following assignment of a lease, which is not the situation here.

It sounds to me like the landlord is being quite generous to you here, asking you to sort it out with the minimum of fuss and expense.

...but does a s.17 notice has to take a particular form, or will any old "you owe me some cash" type of letter do?

arfara - a s17 does have to be in a prescribed form but as mranchovy said, its not relevant in this instance (its to do with Authorised Guarantee Agreements, not Guarantors to existing tenants)

What sort of business is it ? Can the LLD's get rent arrears though distraint of goods ?

Residential L&T Lawyer here, no experience with commercial property but plenty with guarantors.
I agree with the PP who states that the LL seems to be being quite generous.
If it were a residential tenancy and the tenant was in arrears I would be sending a standard LBA and then commencing proceedings in the county court.
As I am sure you know a guarantor usually has the same responsibility for the performance of the obligations arising under the contract - the payment of rent being just one of them.
My LL's tend to go for guarantors rather than the tenants as often have more of a chance of recovering the money.
Sorry to be bearing bad news - however as I say I don't deal with commercial property.
If I were you I would get some legal advice, maybe from the CAB and keep putting the pressure on the tenant to pay the arrears and to leave the tenancy if they genuinely cannot afford to remain in it.