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#Post#: 8343--------------------------------------------------
Help re an eviction notice while abroad
By: PeacefulWarrior Date: October 25, 2023, 9:01 am
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Hello everyone. I have received a 2 weeks notice of eviction
from the court, specifying a time and date when the bailiff will
come around with a representative of the landlord: 03.112023 at
10AM. The property should be vacated by that point, it says.
The problem I have is that I am away in Europe with my wife,
attending to some her mom's health problems. In the property at
the moment are our 2 children, 15 yo son and 18 yo daughter. Our
return flight is on the 13th of Nov and it seems that my only
option is to fill in a N244 and ask the court for a
postponement. Has anyone been confronted with a similar
situation(very unlikely) or has any helpful advice in the
matter? Any help would be much appreciated.
#Post#: 8348--------------------------------------------------
Re: Help re an eviction notice while abroad
By: DancingDad Date: October 25, 2023, 9:32 am
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My immediate thought is talk to landlord and arrange a stay with
them.
Whether or not that will work depends a lot on what has brought
this situation about.
Otherwise only the court can order a stay but I am not sure if
an N244 is the right mechanism.
Someone with more knowledge then I will have to comment on that.
#Post#: 8362--------------------------------------------------
Re: Help re an eviction notice while abroad
By: guest46 Date: October 25, 2023, 11:37 am
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Without knowing what's gone before in terms of comms with you
and/or what prompted the eviction, it's hard to say?
What's the story? There won't be an eviction notice or only 2
weeks out of the blue...at least not a valid one!
#Post#: 8403--------------------------------------------------
Re: Help re an eviction notice while abroad
By: guest111 Date: October 25, 2023, 4:37 pm
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If the eviction notice is from the court and bailiffs have
already been instructed, you must have already had a court
hearing.
Did you attend the hearing?
Are you in rent arrears and if so how much in terms of months or
weeks of rent?
What section did your landlord use to apply for the eviction?
S21 or S8 - and if S8, what grounds?
You can use the N244 form to request a stay only if your
landlord used a section 21, or a section 8 with grounds 9 to 17.
However, if your landlord used S8 with ground 8, you cannot use
the N244 form to stop the eviction, even if you clear the
arrears of rent. If your landlord had used ground 8, you could
have stopped the eviction if you had reduced the arrears to less
than two months in total by the date of the hearing. But if you
did not do so at the time, you cannot prevent it now.
Without more information it's really not possible to give you
better advice.
Be aware that if the eviction goes ahead, your 15 year old son
may come to the attention of social services who will be obliged
to house them, but your 18 year old daughter will be homeless
with nobody obliged to house them. Whilst I recognise that you
may not want to leave your wife alone in Europe, it may be that
you would be better advised to return to the UK to deal with
this.
You are still responsible for the accumulated rent (and bills,
if not included in the rent) until the day of the eviction.
#Post#: 8445--------------------------------------------------
Re: Help re an eviction notice while abroad
By: PeacefulWarrior Date: October 26, 2023, 6:10 am
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Hi and thank you for the replies and help. The notice came after
a S21 was served. There was a trial and I had to represent
myself, since the legal aid did not cover the actual trial, just
the preparation of the case preliminary to the trial. I did not
have enough time to prepare for the trial, only 6 days. I
received the skeleton argument one day before the trial and the
trial bundle from the opposing party arrived at the house after
the hearing. The judge awarded the case to the opposing party.
My legal team was pretty bad and did not identify faults with
the S21, which were:
1. No EPC was given when we signed the contract
2. The prescribed information was given to us 3 years after the
deposit had been put in the deposit scheme.
Studying the legalities and learning more about the case myself,
I discovered that, but after the trial. As I have said, our
legal aid funded paralegal was not worth her salt. I looked at
the bundles presented by both our legal team and the landlords
and found numerous mistakes that would have thrown the case out
had I known about them at the time.
We have tried to talk with the landlord, who owes me some money
for materials and refurbishments done at the property, but he
is not being very upfront. The notice of eviction came out of
the blue, 3 months after the trial.
The issue is that the notice of eviction came while we had
already gone to Europe. It's not as if we have received and
decided to go away regardless. I was hoping that it would make
sense to have it postponed with the help of the N244 until our
return, once the judge understands the situation. The landlord
had about 3 months to act, yet he decided to do it now, with no
prior communication or warning.
At the moment, there is no actual contract in place, as the last
yearly contract signed and agreed upon was back in 2021.
#Post#: 8460--------------------------------------------------
Re: Help re an eviction notice while abroad
By: guest46 Date: October 26, 2023, 8:46 am
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There was no 'trial' merely a hearing which it seems ruled in
favour of the LL. Whether an EPC was provided and its relevance
may be to do with time....but they're freely available online
anyway and have been for several years. If the deposit is
protected, it's protected - memory fades, but the requirement
for both to be provided is a fairly recent 'thing' and not 3+
years back?
As Rosywillow, it doesn't need both of you to assist overseas,
but it does need one of you to participate back here so the way
forward is clear. I'd not leave a 15 y/o supervised by an 18 y/o
for any significant period, but that's another topic altogether.
Get back here pronto.............
#Post#: 8467--------------------------------------------------
Re: Help re an eviction notice while abroad
By: DancingDad Date: October 26, 2023, 9:38 am
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I tend to agree that getting on a plane seems best (and maybe
only) option.
While two weeks notice may seem short, notice was actually given
3 months ago when the hearing ordered you to vacate.
I believe the normal time period to vacate when a possession
order is granted is 2 weeks so it would seem that either you
managed somehow to get the court to agree to far longer then
normal or the landlord applied for a warrant to be granted so
they could instruct bailiffs to evict.
#Post#: 8483--------------------------------------------------
Re: Help re an eviction notice while abroad
By: guest111 Date: October 26, 2023, 2:09 pm
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Once your fixed term expired you were on a periodic (month to
month) tenancy.
Your landlord does not need a reason to give you a S21, and as
long as you eventually got the EPC and the prescribed
information about the deposit protection, that wouldn't have
been enough to defeat the S21. But you can't revisit that now,
it's a done deal.
Once the S21 was granted at the hearing (not a trial), you knew
you had to leave so it didn't come out of the blue. You were
ordered to leave three months ago. As you did not leave, your
landlord is entitled to return to court to get a warrant of
possession and instruct bailiffs to gain possession of the
property.
You could use a N244 to apply to set the warrant of possession
aside but it's not guaranteed that you will prevail. If you do
use a N244 you will need to attend the hearing (or send
representation), but there's a time limit which from memory is a
minimum of three days before the bailiffs are due to arrive.
The issue of leaving your children alone for an extended period
of time is a matter for you and/or social services, but my
advice for one of you to get back to the UK immediately still
stands.
What do you think you can say on the N244 that would lead a
judge to agree to suspend the warrant of possession?
#Post#: 8790--------------------------------------------------
Re: Help re an eviction notice while abroad
By: guest111 Date: October 30, 2023, 4:24 pm
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PeacefulWarrior, if you intend to apply for a stay using an N244
(though it isn't guaranteed that you would succeed in this
application), you will need to submit the N244 and pay the
fee/apply for fee remission before close of business on
31/10/2023 - tomorrow as I type this.
I hope you are already back in the UK; I am concerned that your
children will be made homeless on Friday.
#Post#: 8829--------------------------------------------------
Re: Help re an eviction notice while abroad
By: PeacefulWarrior Date: October 31, 2023, 11:50 am
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Hi again. Sorry about not replying earlier, I was pretty busy
dealing with things. Thank you for the input and concern.
I have submitted the N244 today, 31.10.2023, explaining to the
judge that the notice has arrived whilst we were away and we
need a few more days to return and deal with it in person. I
explained that my wife is suffering from and has been diagnosed
with clinical mental depression and anxiety and can't deal with
things without my supervision. I would have returned on my own,
but she can't cope with things on her own, let alone dealing
with 2 elderly relatives, hospital visits 60km away to the
capital, etc.
I have researched the law online and according to gov.uk,
bailiffs cannot force entry to a private property, nor are they
allowed to enter when only a minor under 16 is present:
HTML https://www.gov.uk/your-rights-bailiffs
I also emailed the person who is supposed to come, namely
Jonathan Chatfield, asking him kindly to consider postponing the
visit until we return to London, on the 11.11.2023. He replied
saying that the reference sent to him does not apply to high
court enforcement officers, only to bailiffs. Yet the reference
does not make a distinction between bailiffs, only between
county court and high court officers, calling them both
'bailiffs'. And is is quite specific about neither being allowed
to force entry, unless we are talking about squatters or
commercial premises, criminal fines or HMRC taxes. And even
those as a last resort. None of those apply in our case.
What's even more concerning, a search for Jonathan Chatfield on
High Court Enforcement Officers Association (HCEOA) came up
empty. The guy claims to be an HCEO, yet he is not registered
with them? An impersonator, a fraud? Digging a bit deeper and
found him here: Marston (Holdings) Limited. Jon headed the
London office until October 2020. He then went Equivo LTD, where
he is now managing director of the enforcement division. He
claims both on Linkedin and Equivo that he is a student member
of the HCEO's association. Again, he is not on their database.
I emailed him back, asking him to tell me where exactly I can
find evidence for his claim: 'We must point out though that the
article you quoted relates to bailiffs who are collecting civil
debts and not when enforcing a High Court Writ of Possession.
As High Court Enforcement Officers we may force an entry and
have any occupiers removed.'
His statement is both incriminating and problematic for him, as
he seems to have tried to intimidate us by misrepresentation of
his powers as a HCEO. While he is not even one!?
According to my research and the UK Law, nobody is allowed to
enter a premise where a minor under 16 is living. Be they who
they may. NOBODY. I would like to see him try, as I have
instructed 2 friends to position themselves in front of the
property and take video evidence of the proceedings. I also
instructed my son to lock the door and not open to anyone, under
any circumstances, as advised by a lawyer. He is a strong lad
and I would pity anyone trying to break in and try to touch him,
as in forcible entry and removal. I hope it won't come down to
self defense, we are in the UK aftercall. At the first sign of
forced entry, he is to call 999 immediately, while recording the
whole time.
Another site that backs my research:
HTML https://www.realbusinessrescue.co.uk/company-insolvency/what-is-a-high-court-enforcement-officer-and-what-rights-do-they-have
What rights do High Court Enforcement Officers have?
Although HCEOs cannot force entry into your home unless you have
granted access on a previous occasion, they do have right of
entry to your business premises as long as there is no
residential element to the building.
You should receive prior warning of an HCEO visit, and they must
ensure the premises are properly secured before they leave. High
Court Enforcement Officers operate under strict legislation,
however, and the national standards for Taking Control of Goods
state,
“Enforcement agents must not be deceitful by misrepresenting
their powers, qualifications, capacities, experience or
abilities …”
This is an important point when enforcement action is being
taken. You also need to know your own rights in the situation,
and it’s helpful to obtain professional advice in this respect.
So which goods and possessions can be taken from your business
premises by High Court Enforcement Officers under the Taking
Control of Goods Regulations, 2013?
As I have said, I have emailed Jonathan Chatfield and asked the
so called HCEO that does not appear to be one to tell me what
kind of force is he planning to use when reaching the house.
Also, what plan he has in mind when it comes to making good on
his 'we will remove anyone living there'. I am eagerly waiting
for his reply and will let you know what he has to say.
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