Success In Legal Battle Over Home Following Unpaid Rent

A legal battle which has seen a landlord finally gain possession of a south London property from a tenant who has not paid rent for almost two years demonstrates the benefits that legal advice on such issues can offer, according to a lawyer at Irwin Mitchell.

Landlord Today reports that the landlord was unable to gain possession of the property in two previous attempts due to paperwork not being completed in the correct manner.

At the time of Woolwich County Court’s eventual granting of the possession order, the tenant owed the landlord more than £13,000.

According to the London Magistrates Association, it is thought that seven out of ten eviction notices are rejected by courts as a result of paperwork problems.

Danny Revitt, a Partner and expert in landlord and tenant disputes at Irwin Mitchell, said that such cases demonstrate the need for proper advice when it comes to possession actions.

He outlined: “For most buy to let landlords, it is vital that they are able to recover possession of a property from a non-paying tenant as quickly as possible so that they can re-let the property and generate sufficient rental income to service the loans that they have secured over those properties.

“However, this kind of scenario sadly demonstrates how such cases can become unnecessarily prolonged, costing a landlord money in lost rent, if they fail to ensure that all of their paperwork has been properly completed.

“We hope that landlords are able to learn lessons from the problems seen in this case and obtain the necessary advice to ensure that possession is obtained as quickly as possible and any losses are minimised.”