Illegal Eviction 6 weeks into 12 month Tenancy

[Neptune]

Hi,

I recently moved home and have been having various issues with the letting agency and managing agents. I have just received s8 eviction notice from a solicitor, as I was unavailable for property inspection at the time and date they wanted.

The notice claims grounds 12 for alleged breach of contract regarding access to property and also ground 17 for alleged false information provided during application process.

I have paid 6 months rent in advance.

I am thinking I should send a letter asking what compensation they are offering to enable me to move home again.

I would appreciate if anybody would be able to help with what I should write and how to respond to this. Thank you in advance for any ideas.

[efpom]

Forget compensation! If the landlord succeeds in getting a possession Order, you would be entitled to reimbursed for rent paid in advance, calculated from the date of possession.

It would be worthwhile posting up the exact grounds as stated in the S8 notice of possession.

[islandgirl]

Did you provide any false information? Provided you did not I very much doubt this will succeed - s8 eviction is normally only granted for substantial arrears. However there is clearly a lot more to this than one missed inspection...

[Neptune]

Many thanks for the reply.

The exact grounds are:

Ground 12 - Any obligation of the tenancy has been broken, other than payment of rent.

Ground 17 - The Landlord granted the tenancy as a result of a statement made by the tenant which is later found to be false.

As I understand it, they are threatening possession through the courts if I do not move out within 2 weeks?

If this goes through the courts can I file a defence and counterclaim?

If the Landlord wants to break contract early, I would like to send a letter offering to resolve this amicably, by the LL agreeing to refund all of my rent paid, security deposit, removal costs and other expenses for the loss of income, stress and inconvenience of having to moving home again.

[PallasAthena]

What does the LL claim is the false information?

[atticus]

What is the alleged breach relied on in ground 12?

[Neptune]

Thank you for the replies.

The alleged breach in ground 12 is that I am in breach of the clause in tenancy agreement relating to access for inspections, as I was unable to accommodate inspection on the date and time they wanted to inspect. They also argue that it does not specify in the tenancy agreement what the frequency of inspections will be.

The alleged breach in ground 17 is that I failed to declare previous rent arrears and failed to provide previous landlord details. They have somehow obtained a very defamatory, false and misleading statement from previous landlord.

The solicitor who has sent the s8 notice and acting for current landlord is the same solicitors firm who acted for previous landlord. I am not sure if it is just coincidence that the current LL instructed the same solicitors, who then disclosed this information to them - (If so, would that be a possible breach of data protection, or a conflict of interest?) Or possibly that the previous LL has somehow traced my current LL and provided this malicious and defamatory information.

How can I find out? Should I make a subject access request to the solicitor?

[atticus]

Failure to declare is not the same as giving false information. Did you give an incorrect answer to a question?

[efpom]

Please post up a redacted copy of your Tenancy Agreement.

Please post up a redacted copy of the S.8 Notice of Possession itself.
Notices of Possession are highly technical documents, and must comply with https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/section/8

On 12
Q1? What was the purpose of the inspection?
Q2? Did you receive a written notice at least 24 hours before the proposed inspection?
Q3 Did you offer an alternative date?

[atticus]

To add to my previous post, no 8, this is the full text of ground 17. It requires a false statement to have been made by the tenant.

The tenant is the person, or one of the persons, to whom the tenancy was granted and the landlord was induced to grant the tenancy by a false statement made knowingly or recklessly by:

(a) the tenant, or

(b) a person acting at the tenant's instigation

The question is whether the OP or someone acting at his instigation made a false statement. At present the OP has been ambiguous.

[Neptune]

I would like to send a response letter to them - Something along the lines of:

Thank you for your unlawful s8 threat of eviction notice, including wholly malicious, inaccurate and defamatory claims from my previous LL, who you were also acting for.

Please confirm how exactly my current LL was provided with these allegations?

Previous LL allegations amount to harassment, amongst other things and are wholly misleading and defamatory, clearly to harass and in an attempt to sabotage my current tenancy.

Also your claims of alleged breach of tenancy agreement would not stand up to any detailed scrutiny though the courts and your clients are in breach of my quiet enjoyment.

I also refer to other matters relating to the current tenancy, including: various and repeated bullying, discrimination, threats and harassment from the current LL agents, including misleading and false information relating to the reasons and circumstances the previous tenant vacated, which had I been aware of previously, I would not have entered into the tenancy, assault committed against me by agent at the time of handing over the keys, threatened to sign an unlawful document under duress, failure to acknowledge a significant error in property inventory, various harassment, threats, failure to provide LL direct contact details in breach of Landlord and Tenant Act, breach of Protection from Eviction Act and breach of my quiet enjoyment of the property.

If the LL wishes to end the tenancy agreement early, after only 6 weeks into 12 month contract, please confirm what compensation is being offered in order to enable me to vacate the property?

I would expect full refund of 6 months rent paid of £11,000, return of security deposit, removal costs, and various other expenses, including adequate compensation for loss of income, stress and inconvenience caused.

Please confirm what is being offered for your clients breach of contract.




Could anybody please help with exactly how to word and present the above. Should it be written as a without prejudice letter, or more informally?

[atticus]

There does appear to be more to this situation than has been said.

[islandgirl]

A lot more! However on the face of what we have heard LL would be unlikely to get an eviction on S8 grounds which (other than for rent arrears) is notroiously difficult to obtain. However there may be many other factors at play

[Neptune]

Thank you for the replies.

Epfom, It would take me a long time to try and figure out how to redact and not very good with technical things. Is there any particular clause in the tenancy agreement you wanted to see and I could type it out for you?

Would anybody be able to help draft a more professionally worded letter, based on the info I have provided above? Is there any benefit or risk to sending them a letter?

Thank you in advance.

[atticus]

You remain coy about what exactly you are accused of, the full terms of the letter or other documents that you have received, how you answer these things, and what actually has happened.

When I prepare a letter for a client, I do so on the basis of full information which has enabled me to assess the situation, advise, and devise a suitable course of action.