How to Evict a Tenant Legally

Here we highlight some of the legal pitfalls to the eviction process and how to evict a tenant legally.

Communicate with the tenant and check your paperwork

When a tenant falls behind with the rent, establish contact immediately to find out what the problem is. Agree on how and by what date the rent will be made good. Include the details of this understanding in your rent reminder letter.

If you are an agent you may wish to remind the tenant that you have a contractual obligation to the landlord to protect his property income. If you are a landlord you may have a obligation under your mortgage to keep the rental income above a certain level. In either case you have no choice but to start the eviction process by issuing legal notices to cover the event that the tenant does not stick to the agreed repayment plan. A valid section 21 notice must be in place. When two months of rent are outstanding a valid section 8 notice must be issued.

At this stage of the eviction process you should double check that you have a signed copy of the tenancy, are confident of the rent schedule, that the deposit has been correctly protected, and that there are no disrepair issues with the property.

Correct paperwork and how to evict a tenant legally

If the tenant has not responded positively after two weeks of receiving the section 8 notice, legal proceedings must be started without delay. Remember that it will take 8 weeks for a court order to be effective from the date proceedings are begun.

Ensure that you have all the paperwork and evidence in place before you issue a claim. Any errors will only come to light at the hearing, 6 weeks after you submit your claim to the court. Typically an error with a claim results in a second hearing (meaning a further 4 weeks of delay) or a dismissed claim (delaying the eviction process for a further 8 weeks). Given that the recovery rate for this type of debt is low (less that 30%), delays could result in additional unrecoverable rent.

Problems with evicting a tenant legally

Tenants always have the right to file a defence to a landlord's claim for possession. Within 5 days of receiving your claim the court will send a copy to the tenant strongly advising that legal help is sought. Tenants have many opportunities to obtain free help from legal aid solicitors, Shelter, local housing authorities, and the Citizens Advice Bureau. There are a number of government web sites advising tenants what to do if they are facing eviction. Remember that there is a serious shortage of social housing. To ease pressure on this resource an army of professionals assist tenants to remain in their homes.

If a defence is filed the landlord must treat it as an emergency. The quicker a reply is filed with the court, or that a settlement is reached with the tenant's legal representatives, the better. The following page outlines difficulties landlords can face when trying to obtain possession of their property.

Next - Eviction Defence