Removing Squatters - Part Two (For Part One see Monday May 14th Blog)
In this blog, we contimue our look at what to do about squatters........
If a trespasser is in occupation you ARE able to rely on self help measures (i.e. not involving the court) to get the property back.
Clearly, what you will have to do is somehow get into the property and change the locks and secure it. But herein is the problem.
Although you can do legally do this yourself - and you would be wise to have the police there when the squatters come back – what you cannot do is use violent entry if one of the squatter is actually in the property at the time and opposes you.
Clued up Squatters
Of course, all clued up squatters know this, so they change the locks so you cannot get in easily and they will always make sure that someone is in the property at all times.
Since many won’t have jobs, this is often not a problem for them to be in all the time!
In these cases, if you try to get them out they will probably quote the relevant law – which is section 6 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 - and no doubt call the police and friendly lawyers to stop you from trying to evict them.
To counter this you will need to use the special court process for trespassers. Usually these can be issued quickly – often in less than four weeks. If you do this you are strongly advised to use the services of a solicitor to help you.
For most people this will be the most attractive option and is usually easier than waiting in vain for them to go out before you can go in and change the locks. It is also much better from the point of view of your own physical safety too.
Court Processes
The good thing about going to court is that you will only have to wait about a month and the occupiers will almost certainly go just before the bailiffs arrive, taking their stuff (or at least the stuff they want to take!) with them.
MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO
LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
Hello, I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
At LettingFocus.com, we help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one to one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
Unfortunately, in the UK today, property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “good advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show you how to manage tenants properly.
At a corporate level, we also provide consultancy for banks, local authorities and social housing providers – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies. We also write for property websites and are regularly quoted by the media.
We have written articles for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and quality landlord websites.
AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:
THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk
To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!
IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?
IF YOU SELL SERVICES TO LANDLORDS, YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!
See our Twitter page: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus
Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.
TO VIEW RELATED POSTS select a “Category” at the bottom of this page.
WANT TO ADD A COMMENT OR VIEW OLD COMMENTS?
To add a comment or view other people's comments on this post, simply click on “link to this post.”
Related article at our site: Getting Rid of Squatters
If a trespasser is in occupation you ARE able to rely on self help measures (i.e. not involving the court) to get the property back.
Clearly, what you will have to do is somehow get into the property and change the locks and secure it. But herein is the problem.
Although you can do legally do this yourself - and you would be wise to have the police there when the squatters come back – what you cannot do is use violent entry if one of the squatter is actually in the property at the time and opposes you.
Clued up Squatters
Of course, all clued up squatters know this, so they change the locks so you cannot get in easily and they will always make sure that someone is in the property at all times.
Since many won’t have jobs, this is often not a problem for them to be in all the time!
In these cases, if you try to get them out they will probably quote the relevant law – which is section 6 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 - and no doubt call the police and friendly lawyers to stop you from trying to evict them.
To counter this you will need to use the special court process for trespassers. Usually these can be issued quickly – often in less than four weeks. If you do this you are strongly advised to use the services of a solicitor to help you.
For most people this will be the most attractive option and is usually easier than waiting in vain for them to go out before you can go in and change the locks. It is also much better from the point of view of your own physical safety too.
Court Processes
The good thing about going to court is that you will only have to wait about a month and the occupiers will almost certainly go just before the bailiffs arrive, taking their stuff (or at least the stuff they want to take!) with them.
MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO
LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
Hello, I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
At LettingFocus.com, we help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one to one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
Unfortunately, in the UK today, property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “good advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show you how to manage tenants properly.
At a corporate level, we also provide consultancy for banks, local authorities and social housing providers – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies. We also write for property websites and are regularly quoted by the media.
We have written articles for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and quality landlord websites.
AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:
THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk
To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!
IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?
IF YOU SELL SERVICES TO LANDLORDS, YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!
See our Twitter page: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus
Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2009. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.
TO VIEW RELATED POSTS select a “Category” at the bottom of this page.
WANT TO ADD A COMMENT OR VIEW OLD COMMENTS?
To add a comment or view other people's comments on this post, simply click on “link to this post.”
Related article at our site: Getting Rid of Squatters
Labels: property investing, squatters, unfair landlord evictions, unfair tenant evictions
This entry was posted by lettingfocus, on
Tuesday, May 22, 2007.
