Appeal and setting aside a possession order +

The Tenant and Landlord are notified that a possession order has been made in favour of the Landlord and that they must vacate the property by a specified date, this is usually 14, 28 or 42 days from the date of the possession award.

The Tenant has 14 days to appeal this Judgement.

The objective of the appeal is to have a Judgement set aside. For example:

  • An order was made against them in their absence
  • In certain circumstances; there may be an error in the judgment
  • The Tenant wants to put in a defence and did not have the opportunity to do this
  • Proceedings did not follow the court rules

  • If the Tenant did not deal with the papers or go to a hearing because they were ill, in hospital or away and have a defence then this may be a good reason to set aside a judgment.

Default judgment

The Tenant may have a default judgment made against them and where there was no hearing they had not sent back the ‘acknowledgment of service’ form to say they intend to put in a defence. They may also have a default judgment made against them if they had not sent in the reply form asking for time to pay within the time limits.

When must the court set aside the judgment?

 
The court must set aside the default judgment if :
  • The Tenant have paid the whole amount owed (including any interest and costs) before the date the creditor entered judgment
  • They sent back the acknowledgment of service form within the time limit
  • They put in a defence within the time limit
  • Sent in the reply form within the time limit asking for more time to pay
  • The court must set aside the judgment in these circumstances

There is no time limit for making an application on these grounds.

When is it up to the court to decide?

The court may agree to set aside the default judgment even if you did not send in a reply form within the time limit if:

  • The court thinks you have a real chance of a successful defence to the claim
  • The court thinks there is some other good reason why the judgment should be set aside
  • There is no time limit for making an application on these grounds but the court will look at whether you made the application ‘promptly’