Registered Tenant repossession on tresspass

[dccantona]

Hello there my uncle has had a dispute with an auction LL who purchased the property 4 years ago with him as protected sitting tenant. This year while he was away for 3 months still paying rent they broke into the property and changed the locks. Once we got him back in we then received a letter from LL claiming the tenant was dead. When queried they gave no proof; avadavit etc Then their response was that numerous letters requesting a Corgi inspect.( Never sent) Then they claimed the property was unsecured and only then did they discover the tenant was dead. They have never got a court order or a notice of abandonment . Now they have a N24 Notice \form court date in December for tresspass . Just looking for advice as to can he use a acknowledgeme3nt of service form to request an additional 2 weeks where he can file a counterclaim . or is there another form he needs to use.
kind regards

[Amethyst]

Re: Registered Tenant repossession on tresspass

Tagging [MENTION=61310]diana[/MENTION]M

But for the moment, was there anything in the original rental agreement about leaving the property unattended for a prolonged period ? As a protected sitting tenant probably not, has the landlord been trying to get your Uncle to leave for a while? and took the opportunity while he was away to take possession.

Not sure I understand - the Landlord tried to pretend to you that your uncle was dead ? or was just following through on his pretence he'd made to the court for possession ? or was there nothing done through the court and the landlord just tried to bypass any formal procedure by just changing the locks and refusing further access ?

What does the N24 say ? ( as far as I am aware an N24 is a judgment or order ) so need to know exactly what it is to know how to respond. If theres a court date then it sounds like it might be a hearing off the back of an application - injunction maybe? - anyway the standard acknowledgment/defence wouldn't apply - it would be more a case of submitting witness statements to the court & claimant before the hearing ( 14 days before usually )

[dccantona]

Re: Registered Tenant repossession on tresspass

Hi The court date is in December . He has asked for it to be struck out as they entered the property with no court order.They claim they heard fm neighbours that he died but coincidentally this was at the same time the property was found unsecured. Either way Shelter were appalled. Told him not to even dignify a response. Submitted correspondence which clearly indicates the above; asking for documentation from court ; LL etc -nothing. Also indicated that he will counter sue in due course, but for now hoping that the judge will throw case out or adjourn until new year.