I have a story today which will warm the cockles of all landlords hearts. You know the score:
- You have obtained your order for possession
- You have waited until the date set by the court for possession – no response by the defendant but no vacating the property either
- You apply to the bailifs for an order for possession
THEN
On the morning of the bailiffs (3.00 pm) appointment, you get a call from the court – the defendant has made an application for a stay of execution and it is due to be heard in a couple of hours.
This happened to me recently
The claim was brought, not in London but in a busy court on the south coast, but my clients still had a fairly long wait for the hearing and then the bailiffs appointment. The appointment was actually a day before the six week anniversary of the court hearing – so technically the Judge COULD adjourn it.
Even if he did this just for the one day, it would give the tenant an extra week or so in the property, depending on how fast the bailiffs could re-list it.
The first problem was contacting the client. As I am in Norwich I couldn’t attend the hearing myself, so needed either the client or a local agent to attend, or at least to send a fax or email to the court from me explaining things. Finally the client rang back and confirmed she would be able to attend the hearing.
She was not pleased at the prospect of the appointment being adjourned:
- She had made arrangements for various workmen to come round, and would probably have to pay them off if their appointments were cancelled at such short notice
- The property was due to go up for sale and the agents were ready to go with this later in the week once the repair works had been done
- The tenant was in serious arrears of rent
So if the Judge did what Judge’s normally do and adjourned on the application for a stay, she would be put to enormous trouble and expense.
So I was hugely pleased and relieved to learn, when she rang me later that afternoon, that the Judge had refused the appliction and the bailiffs appointment was going ahead. Well done her!
I have seen so many cases where landlords have been frustrated by Judges agreeing to last minute applications for a stay. Its good to know that sometimes the tenants don’t succeed with this ploy.
I regularly block warrants in court sometimes several times a week but you’ll be happy to hear, only against banks trying to repossess someone’s mortgaged home when they havent followed the rules.
You fill in a form (N244) and apply for your suspension. You pay £45 and the court’s lisitings office takes it on without a murmer.
The thing is many applications are made on spurious grounds that you know wont stand up in front of a judge. Trouble being, as the eternal sign in all listings offices always says “Staff cannot provide legal advice”, so a hearing gets set that doesnt have a prayer and that must cause so much stress to landlords (I dont care about the banks)
I once had a client who filled in her N244 and for the reason she used to stop possession she said “Because the place has been so tastefully decorated it would be a crime to take it away”.
I dont know why they cant run things like that past a judge on the tea break or have a reasonably well trained member of the listings team who could spot pointless applications to avoid needless delays
I work with a number of Landlords and they pre book my services (I am a locksmith) and I often get a cancellation call, I do feel sorry for the people being evicted, but you have to also sympathize with the Landlord who’s property it is, I don’t work for the banks and like-ways I feel they often cause their own problems, but it certainly messes me around and costs me money, because I cannot charge for cancellations as the client would probably go elsewhere, just another slant on this problem.
Steve Wright