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Original poster

Tenants requesting a court order!

411 replies

Emily2586 · 29/10/2022 21:49

Hi everyone,

I would really be grateful for some advice. I have a property in England which I would like to move back to. I have given the notice on time and gave my tenants 3 months to find alternative accommodation. The three months have now passed and the tenants have come back to me saying they can not find any place to rent because of their low income and is saying they would like me to start a court order so they could give a letter to the council so that they could assist them.

I wasn't expecting them to do this as I had given three months notice and I had some to them if this wasn't enough time they could let me know and it could be extended slightly to give them time to find something. I was under the impression they were finding a place to rent all this time.

The tenants have been in the property for 10 years and I have no experience of about the legal proceedings in this case. I myself have kids and need to move into this property as I am currently staying with my parents until the tenants move out and I am worried that court proceedings could cost a lot.

Could someone please kindly give any advice of what I could do.

OP posts:
HiveBee · 31/10/2022 20:31

What a pair of cheeky fuckers these people are they are your tenants not your children, they need to get out of your house.

Hmm1234 · 31/10/2022 20:34

Oh poor you landlord with assets in a recession! You’ve come to the wrong place looking for sympathy Citizens Advice Bureau have a website.. do you know how hard it is to find private rented accommodation?! In three months on a low income!? The council will expect her to be homeless before they help now as there is hardly any social housing stock left. Surely you know this..

PeachyPeachTrees · 31/10/2022 20:41

These tenants are real people and they are facing homelessness. Yes it's your property but it's been their home for 10 years and the section 21 was probably a devastating blow.

Parasolparaiso · 31/10/2022 20:41

“My tenant is now asking me that he would leave the court case but now he wants me to be a guarantor if I find him a property to rent”

please don’t agree to this OP, it is not your responsibility to find your tenants a new property to rent and the only persons that normally agree to be a guarantor are usually a trusting close family member for example - a parent for their adult child. I have never heard of the previous Landlord acting as a guarantor for a tenants new landlord before! Madness that the tenant would even suggest this!

PritiPatelsMaker · 31/10/2022 20:48

To be fair Sparkling one of the first posts asked if she was a member of Landlord Association and so many posters have tried to unravel the very complicated situation that the OP has and suggested she seeks legal advice.

3ShotsOfEspresso · 31/10/2022 20:53

Do not be a guarantor.

Get a solicitor.

Bekstar · 31/10/2022 20:55

I'm afraid that's just how it is in the UK, they may well have already tried registering for housing but will not be a priority without that court order. So if you want them out you have to legally evict. You also need to.emsure the notice to.leave was an official section 21 because otherwise you may have to serve that again and wait another 14 days before any court order can even be applied for. Your best bet is a solicitor honestly.

bewarethetides · 31/10/2022 20:56

Of course you shouldn't volunteer to be these random's guarantor ... unless you want to pay their rent for the rest of their lives!

FFS. You should not be in the property business if you don't know what a guarantor is!

BenCoopersSupportWren · 31/10/2022 21:05

I appreciate I’m surrounded by people who operate in a very different sphere of cheeky fuckery to 90% of Mumsnet (as in I know very very few CFs at all) but I can hardly believe an outgoing - eventually - tenant would ask their soon(ish)-to-be ex-landlord to stand as guarantor. It’s just so…random and unlikely??

ExHProblem · 31/10/2022 21:05

To echo everyone else:

DO NOT BE A GUARANTOR

SEE A SOLICTOR AND SORT THIS THROUGH THE CORRECT CHANNELS.

It will cost you in the short term, but not in the long term.

Your tenants are completely taking advantage now op.

canfor · 31/10/2022 21:10

Do not be a guarantor. Consider offering the tenant some money to leave which will save you on court costs and draw this to a close more quickly.

Notanevillamdlord · 31/10/2022 21:29

If you don't work you won't be accepted as a guarantor anyway.

tenant/guarantor affordability criteria

As I said in my previous post. Landlord Zone and NRLA are your friend. Not MN Confused

snakeitoff · 31/10/2022 21:42

You do have the
Deposit secured in a Gov
Approved scheme dont you?
Dont you OP?

DaenerysTarragon · 31/10/2022 21:53

snakeitoff · 31/10/2022 21:42

You do have the
Deposit secured in a Gov
Approved scheme dont you?
Dont you OP?

You could RTFT

Crimeismymiddlename · 31/10/2022 21:57

You need legal advice and probably need to accept you have to legally evict them via court proceedings.
Unfortunately you backing down when raising the rent so they would not leave has put them in a position of power over you, they are fully confident you will let them stay as every other time you have folded. It’s not going to be easy.
Also, the check of them asking you to be a guaranteer, in a property you find for them.

pollymere · 31/10/2022 23:23

A guarantor is someone who pays the rent if they stop. You would end up paying their rent. I suspect they want a Court Order to Evict them so they can say to the Council you are making them homeless. It is costly and they can live there whilst you sort it out. I'm not sure what's in their old lease but you can most likely put the rent up, or triple it. If they fail to pay the new rent you can then get them on non-payment of rent. I suspect they are paying you much lower than the going rate.

Bakersdelight · 31/10/2022 23:59

Are they asking you to be a guarantor or are you yet again mixing up your words and you mean they are asking you for a reference??
yoi are wasting your time here on MN. You need legal advice.

THEDEACON · 01/11/2022 00:03

The law is in the tenants favour and rightly so None of your additional info changes the facts in law

Original poster
Emily2586 · 01/11/2022 00:12

They definitely want me to be a guarantor and its not a reference as they said if I was a guarantor for them to rent somewhere else thats only when they would move otherwise will go through the process of court order.

OP posts:
Bakersdelight · 01/11/2022 00:17

They are taking you for a ride! The fact you can’t see that rings huge alarm bells. You need legal advice asap.

RavenofEngland · 01/11/2022 00:19

Emily2586 · 01/11/2022 00:12

They definitely want me to be a guarantor and its not a reference as they said if I was a guarantor for them to rent somewhere else thats only when they would move otherwise will go through the process of court order.

Do NOT do this. Being a guarantor means u would be liable for their rent if they do not pay. I need to get rid of them as soon as legally possible.

RavenofEngland · 01/11/2022 00:20

*you need to be rid

TheTeenageYears · 01/11/2022 01:14

They are trying to blackmail you @Emily2586. You won't be accepted as a guarantor so it's a very easy no. If it were an option you might as well just set up a DD and pay their rent from the start, cutting out all the bits in the middle where they move in, refuse to pay rent after the first month, new LL or agent comes after you for the rent, a court order is required to get them out etc etc.

Disengage from the tenants and get the legal help needed to legally get them out the house. You can be too good to some people who then take the piss - that seems to be very much the case here.

bigdecisionstomake · 01/11/2022 05:29

As PP have said DO NOT BE THEIR GUARANTOR - you could potentially end up paying their rent indefinitely. You've been given some great advice on this thread already so you just need to tell them you will be proceeding down the court ordered eviction route immediately and engage a professional to help you with this. It will end up being the best money you've ever spent. Don't engage with any more of their cheeky and frankly ridiculous requests.

Parentsofaprincess · 01/11/2022 07:17

Blackmail, threats damage to property, get a solicitor asap.

I hope others on here sympathising with tenants take their words back!!