Over six out of ten legal notices served by agents and landlords on tenants are incorrect.
The claim comes from eviction specialists Landlord Action which looked at the last 200 instructions received from agents and landlords that had served their own legal notices on tenants (Section 8 and Section 21).
The findings reveal that 62% of these notices were incorrect, which meant they were invalid or posed a greater risk of being thrown out at court – resulting in the need for new notices to be served.
The study found the top five reasons for notices being invalidated are:
- Incorrect expiry dates
- Failure to comply with deposit legislation
- Inaccurate schedules on rent arrears
- The method of how the notice was served
- Typing errors on the notice
Paul Shamplina, managing director of Landlord Action, said mistakes in eviction notices are among the most common reasons for delays and increased costs in trying to recover possession from a tenant who has an Assured Shorthold Tenancy.
Shamplina said he understood that some landlords serve their own notices to save expense.
He said: “I understand the need for landlords to consider every cost, but I can’t stress enough that the notice is the most important part of a possession court case and the slightest mistake can end up costing a landlord significantly more than the cost savings – in extra legal fees, delays and lost rent.
“Over the last year, we have encountered an increasing number of problems with notices served by landlords and agents.
“Unfortunately, some landlords and even agents are making classic errors when drafting and serving notices.
“The worst-case scenario for a landlord desperate to regain possession of a property is to be three months down the line and find they have to start the whole process all over again, costing them a small fortune in legal fees and lost rent.”
Good story and all too true. It's beyond me though that there is so much unnecessary technicality within these notices. As with tenancy deposit protection, it's so easy to make the most harmless of errors, yet the penalties will be high.
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Very true MF, as they say the law is an……
Time and time again, there have been unnecessary delays and failed evictions because of some administrative error. The tenants / solicitors use these loopholes to delay the inevitable, but in the meantime rack up more costs and in rent arrears cases, more debt to the LL.
But getting to grips with the correct notices and dates is only the beginning, as has been shown in recent high profile cases, when you get to court and the judge has his or her own take on things, that sends everything into meltdown!
The whole act needs an overhaul. For evictions, one simple form stating the reason for wanting possession.
If the tenant can prove a valid reason for the notice being unfair, then fine, prove it. But using typo's etc is not valid reason.
A tenant enters a contract to pay the rent and leave when asked to. That's it.
If LL doesn't fulfil their obligations, happy for tenants to have a suitable speedy vehicle to bring them to task as well. It's not about being unfair to tenants, its about everyone upholding their end of the bargain when entering into an agreement.
Rant over!
Paul
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Yes quite agree with both. There seems to be no recognition of the spirit and intention of the law, only the finest technicality. It's all very well protecting consumers but it also fails to recognise that most landlords are actually humans and consumers too, not british land plc. And the most annoying thing – is local councils tend to encourage use of these get outs rather than telling tenants to rely on a sense of justice / fairplay ie to do the right thing
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Most landlords manage only few property, so they are unlikely to have an eviction attorney. But in order for the eviction or any property laws to be imposed they should hire professional law firms, from notifying the tenant about the lawsuit to filing the correct paperwork and forms.
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