My tenants haven't left, what to do?

[springlamb]

The agent issued them notice on 26 June to leave by 26 August but it became very clear last week they weren't leaving - although she says she is ready to go as soon as a suitable property is found. She says my agent is bound to rehouse her. I am selling the property and the buyers are chomping at the bit to exchange. If I lose these buyers, it will take ages to find another, I will lose the little house I am hoping to buy (in time to apply for DD's secondary school place) and I will be stuck in a very stressful situation for yet another year.
The agent and the tenant have had a great stonking row and now the agent will not engage with her, just advises that we start court proceedings asap, like tomorrow. But this is going to take at least ten weeks in this area.
How much contact do you think I can have with the tenant to try to persuade her to move on before starting court proceedings? How long can I give her before starting the court proceedings? I don't think she fully 'gets' that having an eviction on her history might adversely affect her future. I'd like to spend a few days trying to gently convince her to move on (my DH has offered to accompany her on viewings, has printed off some local suitable houses, has even mentioned giving her a lump sum to help with move). But I don't know if this will go against us if we have to move on to court proceedings. It's hard to get impartial advice because the agent now seems to hate her.

I'm not an expert in this area at all but the main thing that stood out from your post was "She says my agent is bound to rehouse her". How she gets another house is of no concern to you, she can't just stay put when you've given her sufficient notice to leave. Does she mean "if I stay here long enough they'll find me something" or "the agent is required to find me something else"? If it's the latter, you need to discuss with the agent whether her contract states that.

Otherwise, I'd guess that the agent is correct, you need to start court proceedings to get her out or you're going to lose your sale.

Oh, and why are you trying to "spoon feed" her - "I'd like to spend a few days trying to gently convince her to move on (my DH has offered to accompany her on viewings, has printed off some local suitable houses, has even mentioned giving her a lump sum to help with move)" WTF - you are her landlord, you have asked her to move out, she now needs to move. Is there any reason why you are offering her money or accompanying her to viewings e.g. she's family? Otherwise, just tell her she needs to go now or she will be evicted. Landlords just don't do this - it's a business arrangement, stop making it more personal than it needs to be.

Her mistaken understanding is that the agent has to find her an alternative. I agree - I don't really care who finds her the house. And if my own future happiness were not so dependent on her moving on, I wouldn't give a fig, I'd be down at the courthouse filing the papers. But my gut feeling is that as soon as she receives the papers, she will sit back and do nothing until the court date which won't be until the end of October (with a further period for her to leave, and then a further period if she goes the bailiff route so we'll be taking about December). My buyers will be long gone.
However, if I (or DH) can broker some sort of agreement to get her out over the next few weeks, then all my plans will be salvageable. Believe me, I'm not spoon feeding her, more offering her solutions, just trying to keep my own life on track. So my motives are selfish. I'd rather have her out on, say, 15 September, than 15 December.

No she isn't family.
I wish it were as easy as just saying 'you're out' but the laws are in place to protect tenants from nasty landlords. Unfortunately, it means that if you have abided by the law, given the necessary notices (although she knew the house was on the market from January), and been fair, your tenant can still f* up your life by deciding to just not go for one reason or another. And the landlord then has to sit back and wait 6-8 weeks for a court to say 'actually she should have left', then they give her another fortnight then say 'you really must go', then it takes another 4 weeks to get the court bailiffs to attend and deal with it.

You have my sympathy springlamb, it sounds as though you are in a tricky situation. The last thing you need is a tenant who sits it out and (potentially) damages your property in spite while you are trying to sell it. In your position I would be minded to speak candidly to your tenant - tell her you are filing eviction papers as you need to regain possession of your property, but that you are willing as a goodwill gesture to assist her to find somewhere else to live if she will move out willingly. You need to make clear that any problem she has with the agent is nothing to do with you and that you are only assisting as you need your house back so that you don't lose your buyer. Perhaps also tell her in terms how her life will be affected if she lets the possession order go through - as you say, she may have no idea. I wouldn't delay the eviction process any further though - and you may find starting things off is the impetus she needs to shift.

Best of luck.

Thanks, I think you are right. I hope my feeling that she will just sit tight is wrong. I will be happy never to see her again (although she has not been a bad tenant).
So much is dependent upon this move, I've spent the whole weekend in a shaky state. She was told in January that the house was to be sold, given notice at exactly the right time, there is a bloody great big SOLD sign outside the house, she has met the buyers. Sometimes I wonder how people how people manage to get by with this laissez faire attitude.
I shall brew more coffee.

Rent was due 26th so we shall see.
I have asked agent if I should accept the rent or not and his view is that I should. But as I've said, I think his view of her is rather skewed now, so his advice is probably not the best advice.

When you go and see her, ask if she could confirm her arrangements for moving out because, as she knows, the house has been sold and her notice period to move out has now expired. You could offer to arrange a removal van for her - what date would she like you to book it for? last bit may be a bit passive aggressive

Don't accept her rent from her - you no longer have a contract with her as you've given her notice to move. If you accept her rent, you're accepting her staying there. Work on the presumtion that she is definitely going, and just confirm the minor details with her. If you offer to help her view properties, you're accepting that she doesn't have anywhere to go to, and she should have arranged that by now.

You need to get proper legal advice right now. Tenants do have rights to stay even if they have been given notice in certain situations. It is possible to get the tenant out, but you need to have done everything right otherwise the judge will send you back to start over. Money spent on a lawyer in this situation will save you money in the end. Make sure you see someone experienced in residential property law.

Has she got children? Is so, she might be hoping for the council to rehouse her. To be rehoused by the council, she would have to be formally evicted, or she will be classed as intentionally homeless - as stupid as that sounds.

Could she be held liable for those damages to you that occur due to her not moving? I.e. loss of value on the property, costs to pay anything extra due to her being a hold out? I'm not in the UK, but here if someone does this to you they could potentially be held responsible for those damages.
Again, may not apply in your area!

speak to the national landlords association - they are very helpful.
if you are not already a member it costs less than £100 to join and you will then get free advice from their trained specialists as well as access to all the forms, notices, letter templates etc you will need.

I take it it is a section 21 since she had two months notice? I would get the papers into court as soon as possible, it is mandatory possesion and the judge has to give you the po.
The only grounds the tenant can appeal on are that the section 21 is invalid (check and double check the dates, then check again!) or that it would cause them extreme hardship to leave. Even on the hardship grounds the maximum the judge can award is I think 42 days, but with 2 months notice under her belt anyway it would be hard to prove.
Once the n5b has been issued by the court (mine took 1 day to serve) the tenant has 14 days to appeal or leave. If they don't leave by that date you ask the court to issue the possesion order which again gives them around 14 days to appeal or leave and if they don't then you can arrange the bailiffs who will physically remove her if necessary. Now the bailiffs do take a while to book depending on the area BUT if you an show your buyers that the legal process is underway with a guaranteed outcome then surely they would be more willing to wait. If you leave it as relying on the tenants good will then there are no guarantees. And if she does leave during the above process then get it in writing with a witness!

I am not sure about not accepting rent either, if you go through the courts you will be awarded rent up until the day she leaves, so personally I cannot see for a moment that she shouldn't give you rent. Regardless of the notice you have given her she still has tenants rights, hence the court procedures. She also until those rights are terminated by the courts has responsibilities, the rent being one of them.

I had a really bad experience with my tenant who I was nothing but good to, I learnt a harsh lesson about keeping it business like and avoiding sob stories. She is not your responsibility, and you do not owe her anything. You gave her the required reasonable legal notice and she chose to do nothing about it.

On saying that in your situation I can see why you would be tempted to give her money to leave. If it would be cheaper and avoid losing a buyer then grit your teeth and do it

OP, I think you can still accept rent because the tenancy does not end until the tenant has left. The s21 notice that your agent served is not a notice to quit or a notice to leave, it is a notice of the landlord's intent to seek posession. The notice is not what ends the tenancy. Having said that - I second the posters who suggest professional advice. The Landlordzone are good for some reading and have helped me out.