Potentially serious mistakes have been made by civil servants on documents that must be served by letting agents.
The two errors are serious – and each could invalidate a claim for possession.
In the first example, the official form for serving a Section 21 notice leaves agents with nowhere to put the landlord’s name and address – even though this is a legal requirement.
In the second, the How to Rent Guide which must be served on all tenants states that the leaflet can be provided by a link to the website.
However, ARLA managing director David Cox – a lawyer by background – says he believes that service of a document via a link to a website is unlawful.
Cox said of the error on Form 6A: “If you look at Section 4 on page 3 “Name and Address of Landlord”, there is no box underneath for the landlord’s name and address.
“Whilst this is OK for landlords serving the Section 21 Notice themselves, (as they fill in their name and address in the signatory’s box further down the page), where agents are completing the form on their landlord’s behalf, it will be the agent’s details in the signatory box rather than the landlord’s.
“This leaves nowhere for the landlord’s name and address to be entered on the form which our advice says is required for the valid service of a Section 21 Notice.
“Therefore, we are recommending agents use the second signatory box to insert the landlord’s name and address, which is not what the box is designed for.”
He said he has drawn the matter to the attention of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Cox said he has also queried the possible error in the How to Rent Guid.
He told EYE: “On page 5 under the “The landlord must provide you with:” section it states “A copy of this guide How to rent: The checklist for renting in England either via a link or as a printed copy”.
“It is our understanding that service of a document via a link to a website is unlawful.
“When serving by email, a link is not sufficient as it does not provide the recipient with an indefinite copy of the document (should the webpage be taken down or its address change the recipient will no longer be able to access the document).
“We are advised service by email must include an electronic copy of the document (such as a pdf).
“Further, service by email is only acceptable if the other party (the tenant in our case) specifically agrees to allow such service. This is not included in the wording at all.
“I am therefore somewhat concerned the current wording does not provide sufficient clarity and could result in landlords and agents inadvertently failing to correctly serve documents which may result in a Section 21 Notice being thrown out of court.”
While this may be correct technically in the S21, I can’t see any court finding against an agent who has correctly completed the official DCLG Form as it is currently laid out.
That would be totally unjust.
I would also ask how such a glaring error got through bearing in mind that ARLA and various lawyers were supposed to be ‘all over’ this new form and in almost constant contact with DCLG about the various changes that came in last autumn.
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Try and check just one box under section 4 using the online version, all get checked.
It is also a pain as you cannot complete the form using bookmarks via software; you cannot create bookmarks using capitals, as required in some sections of the form.
All done to frustrate!
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Competence is lacking nowadays as Government rush everything.
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Of far greater concern to me is the wording relating to the exit date on Section 21 Notice. Which states:
“You are required to leave the below address after (insert date).”
Where tenants are concerned, this is an open invitation not to leave or to leave at their leisure. The wording needs to be changed to something like: “on or before (insert date)”. No room there for misinterpretation by anyone.
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A s.21 notice is served by the landlord on the tenant (that’s the law). Why would you have the name and address of the agent?
The part on the prescribed notice about the How to Rent guide has no legal value. This is just for information, and frankly it should not be on the notice.
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