Illegal Tenants & Eviction

Illgeal tenants

An illegal tenant are those unqualified people occupying accommodation on 'equal terms' with the landlord and may well be chosen by the owner rather than landlord and pay rent to the owner not the landlord.

This of course assumes that the owner and landlord are not one and the same.

This makes illegal putting a qualified person in accommodation as a figurehead.

The property owner must lease to a tenant who may take in lodgers or may not, the taking of a specific lodger must not be a condition of tenancy.

Eviction

Eviction is a legal process by which someone can be forced to leave a property. There are several stages to it and lawyers and courts are involved. It takes sometime to complete.

There can be an eviction:

• At the end of a lease
• When the period of a lease reaches its end, the leaseholder(s) has/have no right to remain in the property. If s/he does not leave, the landlord may seek eviction
• At the end of a tenancy when the landlord has given the tenant(s) a suitable period of notice but s/he has failed to vacate the property, the landlord may seek eviction.
• When terms or conditions of a lease or tenancy have been broken if the tenant fails to pay rent due, or frequently pays late, or breaks any other terms or conditions, eg failing to maintain the property in good order, then the landlord may seek eviction.
• When property has been bought or inherited with 'sitting tenant(s)' a landlord may choose to evict sitting tenant(s) after a suitable period of notice.

If there is a current lease in force, notice must be given in accordance with the terms of the lease. If anyone thinks they are or may be evicted they should contact the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB).

CAB is located at St Paul's Centre in St Helier. You can drop in or make an appointment Monday - Friday between 10am - 3pm. Alternatively you can call them on (01534) 724942 or free phone advice line 0800 735 0249.