The tenant moved in two years ago and worked for an estate agents, all went well there were three people on the tenancy, however in Nov 2019 one of the tenants left, this is where the problems started. Payment was short and not paid in full, i wrote and requested the full payment and the tenant said her daughter had left (I informed the tenant that just because her daughter had moved out didn't mean her rent was reduced).
From November 2019, the rent was always short except for Feb 2020 which she paid in full, I kept asking for the arrears as by March Covid came into practice. (cleverly i now see she paid the arrears for the November 2019 to the January 2020), then paid hardly anything as she changed her job (which never came about just before covid-19 and she therefore wasn't entitled to be furloughed). Since then she has paid £0 - £600 per month.
We agreed that she would have an additional rental increase to start in September 2020, however on the date it was due she emailed to say I hadn't issued her with a Section 13 (as new landlords we were unaware of this), therefore the increase couldn't be paid till the month after we sent the section 13.
What can I do as she paid the initial arrears cleverly so that only 4 weeks notice would have been required. She moved in on the 4th May 2018 and her tenancy wasn't renewed this year as we were in Covid-19, therefore i assume she is on a periodic tenancy.
I need to know what date i should put on the Section 13 as I assume I've missed the 4th October and can I still send out an eviction notice (as a periodic tenant is it a different form from section 21) as I don't think she will pay up then, as she still doesn't have a job still.
I am very angry at all this as I feel we have been very fair and she has used her knowledge of estate agency to get out of things.
We have always kept the property in good repair, but now she states there are loose stones on the drive and that her boyfriend has done repairs (we were unaware of this as when fences fell down we sent men to do the repairs and they could see someone else was living there and they also had a dog, which was not allowed on the tenancy). We have not said anything about either as if we do she will just move the dog and say she hasn't got someone else living there.
There have been countless excuses since the non-payment i.e. her Mother was ill, she had an accident etc. all very sad however this shouldn't impact on paying her rent. Please help the arrears over covid have amounted to a four figure sum.
She says she has never been in this situation before, however seems to know exactly what she is and isn't entitled too.
