Tweet
Please can someone offer a little advice regarding eviction proceedings?
In a nutshell, we have been in our current accommodation for just under ten years and until the landlord discovered that rent values have increased at a far greater rate than maximum RPI-based rent increases, over this decade, we have always enjoyed a harmonious relationship with the landlord. Having resided here for such a long time, we have also performed improvements to his property including eradicating a serious damp issue which he was disinclined to address for us (we never laid eyes on him from one year to another, except when lease-renewal time came around). When we moved in, the property and its small garden had been neglected for years, by previous tenants. Now it is comfortably habitable and the garden beautiful and established. Once his new girlfriend pointed out to him that he is receiving less rent than the market value (due to collective price increase caps, over the years), he informed us he would not be renewing the lease and that we had until last month to vacate. We have been accepted onto the Social Housing list due to both I and my wife being on Long Term Incapacity Benefit, through illness (I am in my early sixties and she in her late fifties).
We have applied for every suitable vacancy that has arisen but have not even been invited to view a property, let alone offered one. Consequently, we are now a month past the lease termination date and the landlord has notified us of his intent to bring Eviction Proceedings, unless we leave by the end of next week.
We do not intend contesting the eviction as the house belongs to him and he should be allowed to do whatever he wishes, with his own investment. We would like the judge to give consideration to allowing us enough time to find an alternative place to live, however.
The letter we received yesterday from his lawyer is quite aggressive and makes unsubstantiated (untrue, to the best of our knowledge) claims on behalf of the landlord including that we owe the landlord money and that we have also failed to pay the rent. We know of no indebtedness to him and have been paying the rent, via Internet banking - so can easily verify this. We have never not paid the rent and never paid it late. I am worried that, if the landlord claims lack of rent payment, in addition to our not vacating by the Termination Date, such would not be viewed very favourably by the judge who might then be more inclined to favour the landlord's position above ours.
The lawyer has stated, however, (immediately following his claim that we have not paid the rent) "Payments made since the [lease] Termination Date are considered payment towards damages owed to Mr ........." so am I to assume my past month's rent payments are being assigned, by the landlord, elsewhere rather than as rent payments?
Next week, I am going to apply for legal aid to assist me but am minded to not pay any more rent until I can receive assurance that it will not be applied to anything other than its intended purpose. This is not to say I am not intending to pay the rent. I would not dream of not paying the rent. But, in the absence of an independent arbiter with whom I could lodge the rental amounts until this issue of claimed indebtedness to the landlord is resolved, I am reluctant to pay rent only for the landlord to still claim non-payment of rent, due to his having assigned the money towards repayment of what he claims to be my other indebtedness to him. At no time has the landlord ever raised an issue of alleged indebtedness to him, prior to this Notice of Eviction Proceedings letter.
Any help will be gratefully received, thank you.
In a nutshell, we have been in our current accommodation for just under ten years and until the landlord discovered that rent values have increased at a far greater rate than maximum RPI-based rent increases, over this decade, we have always enjoyed a harmonious relationship with the landlord. Having resided here for such a long time, we have also performed improvements to his property including eradicating a serious damp issue which he was disinclined to address for us (we never laid eyes on him from one year to another, except when lease-renewal time came around). When we moved in, the property and its small garden had been neglected for years, by previous tenants. Now it is comfortably habitable and the garden beautiful and established. Once his new girlfriend pointed out to him that he is receiving less rent than the market value (due to collective price increase caps, over the years), he informed us he would not be renewing the lease and that we had until last month to vacate. We have been accepted onto the Social Housing list due to both I and my wife being on Long Term Incapacity Benefit, through illness (I am in my early sixties and she in her late fifties).
We have applied for every suitable vacancy that has arisen but have not even been invited to view a property, let alone offered one. Consequently, we are now a month past the lease termination date and the landlord has notified us of his intent to bring Eviction Proceedings, unless we leave by the end of next week.
We do not intend contesting the eviction as the house belongs to him and he should be allowed to do whatever he wishes, with his own investment. We would like the judge to give consideration to allowing us enough time to find an alternative place to live, however.
The letter we received yesterday from his lawyer is quite aggressive and makes unsubstantiated (untrue, to the best of our knowledge) claims on behalf of the landlord including that we owe the landlord money and that we have also failed to pay the rent. We know of no indebtedness to him and have been paying the rent, via Internet banking - so can easily verify this. We have never not paid the rent and never paid it late. I am worried that, if the landlord claims lack of rent payment, in addition to our not vacating by the Termination Date, such would not be viewed very favourably by the judge who might then be more inclined to favour the landlord's position above ours.
The lawyer has stated, however, (immediately following his claim that we have not paid the rent) "Payments made since the [lease] Termination Date are considered payment towards damages owed to Mr ........." so am I to assume my past month's rent payments are being assigned, by the landlord, elsewhere rather than as rent payments?
Next week, I am going to apply for legal aid to assist me but am minded to not pay any more rent until I can receive assurance that it will not be applied to anything other than its intended purpose. This is not to say I am not intending to pay the rent. I would not dream of not paying the rent. But, in the absence of an independent arbiter with whom I could lodge the rental amounts until this issue of claimed indebtedness to the landlord is resolved, I am reluctant to pay rent only for the landlord to still claim non-payment of rent, due to his having assigned the money towards repayment of what he claims to be my other indebtedness to him. At no time has the landlord ever raised an issue of alleged indebtedness to him, prior to this Notice of Eviction Proceedings letter.
Any help will be gratefully received, thank you.
Comment