Help needed with N244 to set-aside Possession order

[Malibu1]

Your Question?

You say the only viable defence is regarding the failure to provide 'Right to Rent' document. Is the fact that the S21 notice was unlawful / malicious / retaliatory, as is very clearly the case, not also a viable defence?

My Answer – No

That doesn't make any sense to me - How can somebody possibly be evicted by the courts off the back of a clearly illegal / malicious / retaliatory eviction

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housi...SAAEgJSIfD_BwE

Your Question?

Does this mean that the possession order has already been set-aside and that the court are waiting for a new hearing date to be allocated? Or does it mean that they are still waiting for a hearing date for the application to be decided / looked at?

My Answer – the latter.

Note well 1
The likelihood of hearing date in the next six months is vanishingly small.

Note well 2
The Possession Order is still valid and the landlord is still entitled to and probably has, applied for an Eviction Order, probably the day after the date when you were Ordered to quit by the Possession Order.

That Order may well have been granted by now.

The updates from the court suggest to me that my application has already been dealt with by a judge and their most recent update suggests to me that they are now waiting for allocation of a hearing date?

Yes they have already applied for eviction as I said in earlier post - They told me they had applied, following the letting agent turning up at the property to try to force me to leave herself.

As stated in the reply from the court, surely if it takes "at least 20 working days" for any application to be dealt with, surely that timescale would also apply to the claimants application for bailiffs?


The first you will know about the existence of the Eviction Order is by a written notice by the Bailiff telling you the date on which he will attend the dwelling to evict you. That date will be no earlier than 14 days after the date of the written notice.

My Question?
Has the landlord accepted any rent from you since the s.21 Notice was served on you?

I had to pay 6 months upfront rent to move into the property. They were then paid another months rent and then the final rent payment made was paid the day before they served eviction notice. Following being served with the notice, I asked for a refund of the rent payment, which I had only just paid, to enable me to move out of the property as quickly as possible. They refused to refund.

They haven't been paid any further rent since then and the illegal crop spraying etc and other harassment happened shortly after being served eviction notice. Their behaviour and actions have caused me substantive ill health and interferred with my ability to work and I have not therefore been able to pay any further rent payments, although they have repeatedly demanded payments.

So I am now in substantive rent arrears and also as it stands at the moment, have an order against me to pay their legal costs. They have made it impossible for me to vacate the property sooner and have made / are making my life hell and I have had no quiet enjoyment of the property whatsoever.

What is the reason you ask?

[efpom]

You have made a valiant effort to convince the readers of your posts on here of the justice of your cause and my hat’s off to you for that.

This matter started off as a perfectly normal process whereby you were put on notice by the landlord of it’s intention to end a fixed term shorthold assured tenancy at the end of that fixed term. You did not quit at the end of that fixed term. The landlord applied for a s.21 Possession Order via the accelerated procedure which does not require a hearing. You opposed the grant of that Order, as you were entitled to do.

The court granted you a hearing. You did well, very well, to get a hearing.

Unfortunately you did not attend the hearing.

The court, despite your absence, decided to proceed with that hearing. The court granted an Order of Possession. The court would not have granted that Order, unless the claimant – the landlord, had convinced the court, by evidence that it had complied with all of the technical requirements, which here included the one viable ground that you advanced in your defence, i.e. that it had not served you with the “Right to Rent” booklet.

In the result, the court granted an Order of Possession and awarded the respondent its costs.

You did well to get an extension of time beyond the normal 14 days, for that Order to become “live”. But you did not quit the dwelling the day after the date on the Order of Possession.

Instead, you bravely applied to the court to set aside the Order of Possession on the ground that you were not given the opportunity to properly put your defence. That Application has not yet been decided. That does not mean that the Order of Possession is suspended until that Application is adjudicated on by the court. (A costs Order against you will be inevitable, if the landlord opposes and your Application is dismissed.)

As is the case with all Court Orders, the Order of Possession remains “live” unless it is quashed by another Court Order. The fact the Order is “live”, entitles the landlord to apply for an Eviction Order. A bailiff, furnished with that Order, is commanded by the court to evict you. The bailiff must give you at least 14 days notice of the date on which you will be evicted.

You can apply to the court to suspend the eviction.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housi...on_by_bailiffs

Finally, and with the greatest of respect, there is no point going over what is now past history. I have attempted here to express to you the legal reality of your situation today.

[Malibu1]

"A valiant effort to convince the readers" ?... I apparently "did well to get a hearing" ?.... I am sorry but all sounds quite patronising to me.

I shouldn't have to fight and suffer like this at all, to have a roof over my head and have done nothing whatsoever wrong .

No it was not for a fixed 6 month tenancy - The agreement was for a long-term tenancy of several years - Evidenced via emails, recorded telephone conversations and also the advertised property particulars. I would not have otherwise agreed to rent the property at all.

You seem to be repeatedly trying to convince me of the awful reality of an impending bailiff eviction, rather than offer any useful help or support, but you seem to fail to be addressing, or able to understand the actual facts and the stark reality of life that some people are not possibly able to just simply "move out" of a property on the demand of vile landlords spitting their dummies out .

Do you actually have any idea about the reality of life ? Because you seem very out of touch with reality. I have to say, i'm afraid coming on this forum for help has caused me nothing but additional undue stress and has, quite frankly been extremely unhelpful. From so called "legal experts" .

I won't post on here again if i'm going to be patronised and insulted, which is nothing but a painful drain on what very little time and energy I have .

[efpom]

It was not my intention to either patronise you or insult you and I do, of course, recognise that legal proceedings are very stressful.

I am sorry that you found the writings of contributors to this thread to be very unhelpful to you in your predicament. a predicament that I have been in a few times, he first being when I was 15 years old.

It only remains for me to wish you every good luck for the future.

[islandgirl]

The reality is that unless an AST is drawn up with a fixed period of 2 or 3 years the LL can choose to serve notice after the fixed period is up. So if the AST was for 6 months (no matter what was said or written or advertised) the LL can change his mind and issue notice after that time. The emails and conversations mean nothing. You have appealed and we wish you well - it is indeed true that there is now protection from a revenge eviction but only in specific circumstances detailed here https://england.shelter.org.uk/housi...sk_for_repairs
If those cicumstances apply you may win your appeal. We really hope you do. We fully understand that it is extremely difficult to move at short notice and that you wish to stay where you are. Unfortunately (and seemingly very unfairly) you may not be able to, though we really hope things go your way.
I also wish you every good luck for the future and if you are minded to return and tell us what happens we would all be very grateful.

[Malibu1]

I am a bit confused.

The court advised that I do not need to serve the claimant, as this is a possession case, and that the court would serve the claimant a copy of my application when the notice of hearing is sent.

The letting / managing agent have today confirmed in an email that they are aware I have made an application to the court to "reverse the possession" and that they are currently awaiting updates.

Does this mean that a notice of hearing would have been sent to the claimant by the court?

Just so that I understand, on my application to set-aside the possession order, I ticked the 'at a hearing' option on the N244 form. Does a hearing for my N244 application happen without both parties being present at the hearing and is that a hearing to decide whether or not to set-aside the possession order? And then if it is set-aside, then a new hearing date would be allocated for both parties to submit further evidence and to attend another hearing?

Does this mean a hearing date has now been allocated? Or would the claimant have just been sent a copy of my application anyway? Is there any possibility the claimant might apply to stop my set-aside application at this stage? And if so, would I receive any copy of any further applications they make to the court, to be given any further opportunity to respond?

Also, from my understanding there is a new law being passed regarding bringing and end to no-fault evictions. Has this law actually been passed yet?

After the managing agent turned up at the property recently to try to force me herself to leave the property, I sent another formal complaint the managing agency and also sent them a DSAR.

I have today received a pathetic email response to my complaint, admitting no liability and stating that any matters raised will be dealt with internally. I would also like to maybe bring a claim for damages directly against the letting/managing agency, as a result of their malpractice, negligence, bullying, discrimination, harassment and breaches of tenancy agreement. Can I do that?

I have also been desperate for some time to write a strongly worded google review about the letting/managing agents. Would it harm my case at all if I do that now, and can I name specific members of staff in the review?

[islandgirl]

Also, from my understanding there is a new law being passed regarding bringing and end to no-fault evictions. Has this law actually been passed yet?

The removal of S21 no fault evictions has been suggested but is not yet in force. It could be a few more years before it is.

[Malibu1]

Could anyone possibly answer the other questions?

[efpom]

Of general interest to any readers of this thread is the Court of Appeal judgment; https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2011/8.html, particularly at 24 & 25. which, of course, is of general application and binding on all lower courts.

[Malibu1]

I have now received notice of hearing for my application to set-aside the possession order.


I am a bit confused -

1. Does this mean that I definitely will not receive any notice from bailiffs before the hearing?

2. Is there any possibility the claimants can make any kind of application to stop my set-aside application, or to stop the hearing taking place?

3. In my application I requested an order that the possession order be set-aside, and also an extension of time of 28 days to file and serve a properly pleaded defence and counterclaim and to file my supporting evidence.

Do I need to file and serve all of my evidence before this hearing? Or would that be a subsequent hearing? Is there a specific deadline before this hearing that I need to file and serve defence / counterclaim / evidence, as there is no mention of this on the hearing notice?

I would appreciate if anyone could answer the above, so that I can understand what steps I need to take now. Many Thanks

[Malibu1]

Do I need to submit all evidence, such as CCTV, photographs, emails and any amended defence/counterclaim before this hearing, or do I have to wait for permission / directions from the court?

[Malibu1]

Please could anybody help with the above, as am going out of my mind with stress and cannot sleep.

I am a nervous wreck worrying about receiving bailiffs notice. Please could somebody advise what I should do now in relation to the hearing?

[efpom]

Of general interest to any reader, the fact that an application to set aside a court Order has been made, does not quash (or suspend execution of) that Order or any further Order made pursuant to that Order.

In the event that the set aside application succeeds, the parties are entitled to be put back to the same position they were in before the court Order was made.

But that may be, and usually is, simply not viable.

For example, the tenant of a dwelling, lawfully evicted, would have the right to exercise his/her right to occupy restored.

But, if meantime, the owner has transferred that dwelling to a new owner, or re let it, or demolished it, the only remedy open to that tenant would be a claim for damages. That is to say that there would be no obligation on the landlord to put an equivalent roof over the tenant in whose favour the set aside Order is made.

To have it otherwise, would infringe the rights of the new owner, the new tenant, and the notion that the landlord would have to rebuild it is absurd.

[Huxie]

Of general interest to any reader, the fact that an application to set aside a court Order has been made, does not quash (or suspend execution of) that Order or any further Order made pursuant to that Order.

To buy some more time, could the order be stayed?

From Shelter:

The application to set aside a possession order does not automatically prevent the defendant being evicted, if a warrant has been issued. The defendant must ask the court to stay the execution of the warrant of possession until the application to set aside has been decided. A stay of execution puts off the eviction until a specified date, or until a specified event has occurred.

[efpom]

Not quite.

Staying a Bailiff warrant of execution issued pursuant to the grant of an Eviction Order, depends on the court's jurisdiction, which in turn depends on the type of tenancy and whether an Appeal has been made:

See under the heading "The court’s powers to suspend a warrant" in the above referenced link to Shelter

https://england.shelter.org.uk/profe..._of_possession