First steps in recovery of outstanding tenant debt

First steps in recovery of outstanding tenant debt

12:55 PM, 6th June 2013, About 11 years ago

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debtWhen a tenant leaves a landlords property with outstanding debt there is a process to follow which will help with the recovery. 

The first thing that is crucial in the recovery process is the location of the current address if the ex tenant has not left a forwarding address.

This will be required for any court action or third party debt collection as it is required by law that either action is communicated at the debtors current address or the action can be set aside.

Using a professional tracing agent for tracing an address is the preferred method for locating a new address as this will be in a compliant manner avoiding any data protection issues.

Professional tracing is much cheaper than you might think. Most good firms these days offer a “no trace no fee” service too. However, there are things which you can do to find absconded tenants yourself without having to pay anybody. More about that later.

The other thing you need to bear in mind, before legal or recovery action, is that you need to find out where the debtor currently works. This will help any third party debt collection agent to combat the non payment excuse of “I an not working so I have no money”. This service is also available on a “no trace no fee basis”

If/when court action is taken, knowledge of where the creditor is working will allow for enforcement via attachment of earnings order. The court will not tell you where the debtor currently works and you will be required to submit this information to the court to obtain the order.

James Gordon-Johnson, the author of this article, has a host of useful tips to trace people and find out where they are working. To find out more simply complete the form below.

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