Best way to enforce judgement?

Best way to enforce judgement?

9:56 AM, 9th January 2020, About 4 years ago 1

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I was recently awarded possession and a money judgement and a warrant for possession was issued a few weeks ago for a tenant further to a Section 8 mandatory ground hearing. The tenant handed back the keys a few days before execution and asked the bailiff to stand down after calling the court to advise them of this.

The money order is for £1900, and I don’t have a forwarding address or new address for the tenant. However, I do have his next of kin’s address.

I want to issue an order to obtain information so I can do an attachment of earnings or third party debt order. Can I do that via his next of kin?

Or will I need to find his new address, presumably via tracing agent?

Many thanks

Andy


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Comments

Marie

18:42 PM, 11th January 2020, About 4 years ago

Hi Andy. I can’t believe nobody has answered this before. You need your tenant’s new address, as you can’t harass the next of Kin. A writ cannot legally be obtained to collect any money from them, or seize goods. But any decent tracing agent nowadays will be able to trace someone in hours, if not a day or two for the most devious of tenants with like 20 aliases! The fact that your tenant handed back the keys AND telephoned the court to cancel the bailiff before they moved out, is rare, so it suggests that this tenant WON’T be difficult to find, and may cooperate with any repayment arrangements you try setting up. So the best thing is to trace them, and then make contact them by letter, asking them to pay up. Give them the opportunity to enter into a repayment arrangement with you, based on what they can afford. Decide what you think is reasonable for them to repay you every month, bearing in mind that they now have a new property to pay for, and ask for that. If they won’t play ball, then you can go to court for an Attachment of Earnings out of their wages, if they are working, OR you can obtain an CCJ for the money. Then if they don’t pay up, take it to the High Court, and get high court enforcement agents to go and collect the debt. Please let the forum know what happens!

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