In today’s ‘modern’ world, many landlords communicate with their tenants via email. However, this can cause issues later down the line if there is no clause in the tenancy agreement which gives the landlord authority for tenancy documents and/or a notice seeking possession to be served on the tenant by email and no separate authority has been provided by the tenant in writing to accept service by email.
The Civil Procedure Rules specifically confirm that a party being served by email must have previously indicated in writing that they accept service by email. The word ‘previously’ is key as it demonstrates that the agreement must have been provided before any document is served by email.
In a recent case dealt with by Stephensons, Landlord A served his tenant with a copy of the Government How to Rent Guide by email in August 2022. The tenant responded to the landlord’s email to acknowledge receipt and confirm that he had read the How to Rent Guide.
A notice seeking possession was subsequently served and possession proceedings were issued. Unfortunately, the court took issue with fact that this document had been served by email without the authority to do so.
Despite the tenant confirming receipt of the email, as no prior consent had been given to the landlord to serve tenancy documents by email, this document was not deemed to have been served and the claim for possession failed.
The above demonstrates how important email authority is and having a history of communicating with the tenant by email is not enough to satisfy that tenancy documents and/or a notice seeking possession can be served by email.
It is always important to check the clauses of your tenancy agreement to ensure there is a clause to confirm that service can be affected by email. If the tenancy agreement does not contain such clause, any tenancy documents being served on the tenant should be served in hard copy via first class post or hand delivery.
If you need assistance with the service of tenancy documents or service of a notice seeking possession, please do contact our residential landlord team on 0161 696 6170.
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