Friday, 25 May 2012

Notice via text message

Posted in: Need to Know | Ask the Experts

20/10/2010 12:29 pm

Alexandra Wright

Alexandra Wright

Posts: 1

I'm currently helping an individual who handed his notice into his private landlord via text message. Now he wants to stay in the property. He's approached the housing department at the council to find out whether text message is a valid method of handing in his notice. The landlord wants him out at the end of his notice period - but can he argue that his text message was inadequate? I can't find any information about this online. Please can you help?

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Anonymous

Anonymous

23/10/2010 11:07 pm

Always refer to the tenancy agreement. It will probably say 4 weeks notice in writing.

I assume your friend is causing trouble, so they want him out? Otherwise why would they create more work for themselves in re-letting the house???

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Junior

Junior

Posts: 649

24/10/2010 2:42 pm

I suggest you go and speak to Shelter on  freephone number and please remember may take a little time to answer but will give excellent advise and help

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Cinnamon

Cinnamon

Posts: 24

25/10/2010 11:04 am

A tenant can only be removed from the property by a)them giving the appropriate notice, or b) the landlord obtains a court order.

If the tenant does not return the keys at the end of the notice period the landlord will have to apply to the courts to obtain a possession order.

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Mike Wilkins

Mike Wilkins

Posts: 39

02/11/2010 5:23 pm

Hi Alexandra,

I suspect this is one for the lawyers. Typically notice from the tenant to end the tenancy must be in writing and posted to the offices of the landlord. But only the lawyers can say if an email, or less likely, a text message, qualifies as something in writing. Probably there is case law here. Also has the landlord subsequently served notice to end the tenancy? If so is that notice in the correct form?   If the landlord has served notice, under what grounds for possession, are they mandatory etc?

Assuming the landlord has not served notice, I would have thought the text message might not be deemed as proper notice but this depends on the wording of the tenancy agreement. If it can be shown that the intent of both parties was to end the tenancy, then the landlord might have the right to expect to be able to determine the tenancy.

This all depends on relevant case law which my require a quick call to the lawyers. Alternatively if there is some doubt about the validity of the text message, it might be worth speaking to the landlord and suggesting he serve a proper notice so he avoids running the risk of prosecution in respect of illegal eviction of his tenant.

Good luck.

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Abimbola Badejo

Abimbola Badejo

Posts: 101

03/11/2010 12:12 pm

The simple answer first. The landlord cannot have the tenant out at the end of the notice period because the landlord requires a possession order to regain possession of premises let as a dwelling.
The more difficult question is whether the notice by text is a valid notice. The Protection from Eviction Act  1977 provides that a notice to quit will not be valid unless it is in writing  and it is given not less than 4 weeks before the date that it is due to take effect. If we assume that 4 weeks notice has been given the crucial question is whether the notice by text is notice in writing to comply with the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. I think that a useful guide to answering that question will be to consider the tenancy agreement. This will usually require notice to be in writing and sent by post or delivered to the landlord's address for service. The mobile phone number will not comply with either of those requirements. Therefore it is highly likely in my view that the notice sent by text will not be a valid notice to quit unless the landlord has specified in the tenancy agreement that written notice can be demeed to be given by the tenant if sent by text. I have not seen such a clause in any tenancy agreement and I suspect that courts will be reluctant to accept that this form of terminating a tenancy is not valid on the basis that this method of service is open to abuse and possible mischief. I believe therefore that the tenant can argue that this purported of termination is inadequate in law.
The landlord may argue that even if the notice was invalid, the text message was an unequivocal offer by the tenant to give up the tenancy after the 4 week period of notice which the landlord accepted. That in law amounts to a surrender of the tenancy. For a surrender to operate to terminate the tenancy there must  in effect be an offer to surrender and an acceptance of that offer by the landlord. If the landlord has not acted in a manner consistent with the continuation of the tenancy, I suspect the landlord may have strong grounds for arguing that there has been an acceptance of the surrender of the tenancy thereby bringing the tenancy to an end. Without a full knowledge of the background  it is difficult to say much more than this. But the starting point is that the tenant should maintain that the notice to quit was simply not a valid notice and there has been no agreement by the parties to waive the invalidity.

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tags Accountability, advice, affordable housing, Allocations, antisocial tenant, arrears, Best Practice, care and support, careers, comment, complaint, council, councils, discrimination, discussion, eviction, HA renting, help, homelessness prevention, Housing, housing association, housing associations, housing policy, rent, urgent

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