UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi-I am a landlord and I've been renting my property for four years to the same tenants while I lived abroad.  I came back to the UK in August and had already asked my letting agent in July to serve a s21 informing the tenants to move out by end of Sep. The tenants refused to sign the s21 form and refused to leave so I started eviction proceedings at the end of Oct via the so-called accelerated possession route as I had all relevants documents needed -s21 (unsigned); deposit certificate; original and current tenancy agreements.

Two weeks ago my solicitor told me the case was struck out and the court said it was because the deposit was not protected when the s21 notice was served - the deposit has been protected since the tenants moved in in Oct 2008 - the certificate I sent to the court has Oct 31 as the date on it.

Anyway my question is how do I appeal this decision without having to go through the whole process again - my solicitor says he has written the court and called for a clarification of the ruling but doesn't seem to be getting a response. I am running out of patience and funds as this is my main home and since I've been back I've been living in rooms or with friends. Any advice would be welcome-thanks

Did you go to the court yourself? if not why not?

i would write to the court yourself personally not via the solicitor as it is not "the thing to be doing" for a solicitor but as a lay person you dont know that!

write to the actual judge personally that made the decision and appeal to them on the grounds youve said and that you are suffering badly both personally and financially because you believe an incorrect decision was made. this is assuming that it is only the deposit that is the problem. 

if you had a solicitor and he has not appeared either to point out the deposit situation then he is not really helping much?

also why is there such a difference between when they moved in and when the agent deposited the money? are they at fault.

with more detail this is the best i can suggest. write to judge asap asking for clarification of the judgement as there seems to be an error in the dates etc.

you would not believe the errors these judges make. i have had to to their job for them on at least three occasions when they start their summing up bullshit.
 

Thanks so much for your help-I will write to the court asap...I didn't represent myself because everything I read about accelerated possession said it was best to get a solicitor as the court can dismiss the case over the slightest things such as spelling mistakes-I thought it was best to get a professional (seems I may have been wrong).

I did call the court myself last week to hear the actual reason for the dismissal myself and was told it is because the deposit was not secured when the s21was served-this is obviously wrong as the deposit has been secured in a govt deposit scheme since Oct 31 2008 and the s21 was served in July 2012.

I don't know why there's a gap between when they moved in on Oct 10 2008 and the deposit being protected 21days later but this doesn't seem to be the issue according to the judge which is why I'm so frustrated as he seems to have made an error and I wonder if he even looked at the dates on the deposit certificate and now there's no redress or appeals process...

Anyway thanks again and I will let you know how I get on.

The deposit does not have to be put in to the scheme for 3 weeks (21 days) so that is correct. It was done in the same year wasnt it? Maybe the solicitor put the wrong date on the s21. Or should i say the bimbo who wrote it whilst he was on the 14th hole, put 2012 by mistake. Would it be practical for you to go to the courthouse? I have been to the court in Liverpool. The staff at the window were very helpful. They told me where to go and what to do. You may even be able to get 5 mins of somebodys time. Worth a few hours wait. Get copies of the papers from the solicitor. Check the dates. He wont confess his mess up will he? He is on £180 an hour to mis spell stuff and £300 an hour to fumble thru court

I will deliver my letter by hand and see if I can get to speak to someone at the court about it as whoever it is, a mistake has been made and not by me but I'm the one that's suffering as it's costing me time, money and untold stress esp as I visited the property when I first got back and it was in a state then so who knows what it's like now...

I thought the solicitor made a mistake which is why I called the court myself because the deposit was one area I thought was quite clear with the date Oct 31st 2008 clearly written on the certificate. I thought the only problem would be the s21 which the tenant refused to sign.

Now I just hope I can sort it out quickly.