Why possession notices fail

Most of the possession cases that need rescuing were lost at the notice, not at the hearing. Five things that go wrong before anyone gets near a court.

By the time a possession claim reaches a hearing, the outcome has usually already been decided by a document served weeks or months earlier. A notice that is wrong on its face cannot be argued into shape at the door of the court.

The wrong ground

A ground has to be supported by the facts as they stand at service, and, for some grounds, as they still stand at the hearing. Arrears that dip below the threshold between the two dates are a common way for a mandatory ground to become a discretionary argument.

An arrears schedule that does not reconcile

The schedule is the case. It has to agree with the bank statements, account for every part payment, and be dated to the same day as the notice. A figure that cannot be traced is a figure that will be challenged.

Dates calculated from the wrong day

Notice periods are counted in a particular way, and a notice that is short by two days is as defective as one that is short by two months. This is the most avoidable failure on the list and still one of the most common.

Compliance that cannot be evidenced

Deposit protection and prescribed information, gas safety, the energy performance certificate, and in Wales the written statement and the fitness of the dwelling. It is not enough for these to have been done, it has to be possible to prove they were done, twelve months later, to someone who was not there.

Service that cannot be proved

A notice that was properly drafted, properly dated and properly grounded is worth nothing if there is no evidence it arrived. Method of service, and the record of it, deserve as much attention as the document itself.

The cheapest hour

A notice reviewed before it is served costs a fraction of a claim that has to be discontinued and started again. Where there is any doubt, having it checked first is almost always the better economics.