Crucial Changes To Legislation That Affects The Service Of Notices
The Civil Procedure Rules (CPRs) dictate the delivery times for the service of notices. To address the disparity between various methods of service, In January 09 the government executed a harmonisation initiative which sought to create a more uniform set of rules for calculating dates of deemed service with the application of “business days”.
But how does this affect you as a landlord or letting agent? Many practitioners have failed to appreciate that this change affects all notices, not just those within the realm of Housing Law. The validity of notices issued under Housing legislation is centred around the accuracy of the ‘expiry’ date; if this is wrong any action you bring for money or possession in the County Court usually results in the rejection of your claim and, ultimately, more time and money being wasted.
The most dangerous place to make such an error is the notorious Section 21 Notice to Quit, which Courts seem to reject on a regular basis. Other affected notices include the Section 8 Notice and Section 48 LTA Notice to name but a few!
Your method of service will have a bearing on the expiry of your notice: was it served personally, by first class post or by delivery it to and leaving it at the address? Also, was such delivery executed before or after 4.30pm? (previously 5.00pm). If you complete notices and calculate expiry dates using the old rules, your notice may be wrong and would be a costly error if relied on in Court.
In short, the key question to ask with any notice you issue is: Have I allowed enough time for the notice to expire? For example, if issuing a Section 21 notice have I allowed the full 2 months? The timer starts from when the notice is ‘deemed served’ not from the day you sent it!
Below is a brief summary of the old rules as compared with the new rules. The differences are highlighted in bold:
|
