Pursuing rent arrears after tenant leaves the property

Pursuing rent arrears after tenant leaves the property

19:22 PM, 7th April 2013, About 11 years ago 6

Text Size

Pursuing rent arrears after tenant leaves the propertyI have a property (on a buy-to-let mortgage) which has been let to a couple for the last six years. Both names appear on the tenancy agreement.

Over the years there have been a couple of instances of minor arrears however during the last two years these arrears have increased and despite several agreements, payment plans and promises the arrears reached the unacceptable high of nearly £6,000!

I was about to issue eviction notice when last August the couple split up and the male partner vacated the property leaving the young woman with two young children still resident in the house. Since the male partner left the now single mother has managed to continue to pay the agreed rent on time with no further arrears occurring.

Just before the guy left he inherited £120,000 which he is apparently now living off as he does not seem to be working. He is renting a local flat and has not invested in a house or anything apart from buying a new car and seemingly “living the life” and enjoying himself.

I understand that he is not currently giving his ex-partner any money towards the rent or to help support his two children.

I have asked him if he will pay the arrears and so far he has refused, it is pointless to pursue the other remaining tenant as she is struggling financially and I am very reluctant at this stage to issue eviction notice especially as she is making regular payments as agreed.

My question is this, as he is now sitting on quite a lot of money, can I now legally pursue this guy for the £6,000 arrears which accrued up until the time he vacated the property?

If so what is my best course of action?

Peter


Share This Article


Comments

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

19:25 PM, 7th April 2013, About 11 years ago

Hi Peter

A friend of mine is in a similar position and has decided to instruct FCC Paragon to chase the debt for him. I had a quick look into what they do and it looks good. They certainly understand the landlord market and only charge 20% of what they recover, i.e. no win no fee so it would appear that he has very little to lose other than time by instructing them.

20:51 PM, 7th April 2013, About 11 years ago

Hi Peter,
We here it all the time and most of the time landlords will just right the debt off. we can help you with this and trace the tenant and collect your money owed. we do this on a no win no fee you dont pay us if we dont collect.

we only charge a small percentage. We will even do all the court paperwork to gain a ccj then we will transfer to the high court for you.

We will also do checks on the debtor to make sure we have all the information you need. We are fed up of tenants abusing the landlords and getting away from it.
J S enforcement will assist you in this all the way.

If you are interested please contact us we did have a Peter email us today but hasnt replied was that you, we also are proactive and we only charge 10%

Thanks
simon

3:48 AM, 8th April 2013, About 11 years ago

I have today met with jc enforcement and can only state that they are nothing if not positive!
Just on that basis alone they now have business form me totalling £22000.00
I have given up any hope of recovery.
They beg to differ with my assessment of ANY hopeful; recovery.
As there is NO cost to me whatsoever to pursue what I consider hopeless cases what have I got to lose!?
If this company manages recovery I consider it will be a seminal moment in the battle of LL against wrongun tenants.
I watch with interest what the outcome may be.
I am NOT optimistic; however it will be worth the FREE ride to see what JC might come up with.
Here's wishing them the best of luck with their endeavours and here's to the £19200.00 that I might receive if they are successful.
I would recommend any LL with outstanding CJ's to give this firm a go; after all it ain't gonna cost you a penny to instruct.
To me it seems cases are looked at by solicitors and they determine whether there is any possibility of recovery and if so so they start spending money.
Personally I wouldn't be that bothered if they kept ALL the recovery monies.
Just so long as the wrongun tenants were made to pay for all the theft; damage and rent losses they caused.
In my own mind I have written the debt off as unrecoverable!
Any change to that situation can only be a bonus.
So perhaps guys tou start looking out those useless CCJ's and give this operation a go.
It seems you have everything to gain and certainly NOTHING to lose!!

7:34 AM, 10th April 2013, About 11 years ago

How timely this post was for me.

I am at present seeking to recover rent arrears from a guarantor. The circumstances are that a six monthsAST agreement was entered into with a guarantor and rent was paid properly during this period.

At the end of the agreement a further agreement was entered into with the same guarantor. A short time into the renewed agreement the tenant was put into prison for some offence or other and the rent stopped. On seeking rent from the guarantor she paid for a couple of months then stopped payment. After seeking rent throught the agent the guarantor said she would seek legal advice and would respond in a couple of weeks.

After that period the guarantor responded to say the signature on the renewal agreement was not her signature and she was prepared to offer £500 in settlement of the debt. Previous to that she had not denied her signature so why bring this point up at a later stage.

£500 is better than nothing so of course there is a temptation to accept. However there would be a loss on the account for that property and why should this be accepted through no fault of the landlord. We sent a reply saying the full debt would be sought, through the courts in necessary. If court action was required an order for full costs would be sought. That would include court, solicitor, my expenses, and any other costs met, also a handwriting expert would be needed. This would surely greatly increase the debt. Also if the signature was not hers the tenant must have forged her signature. Do we want to go down that road.

We gave the lady 14 days to respond so the cat and mouse game continious and we are waitiong with interest to see her response.

As landlords we have to pay mortgage interest, agents fees, repair and redecorating, service charges, insurance and many other costs. I have never met any tenant who says, I understand you have had had a lot of expense so I am going to give you extra rent this month. I would not expect it but we do need the full rent.

It does seem hard to enforce a guarantee in these circumstances but why should a landlord have to be put in this position.

All we are asking can be summed up in the powerfull legal phrase
"Let right be done"

OK it is after 7.00 am now so I can take a cup of tea up to bed to see the news of out great, late Prime Minister

John

8:24 AM, 10th April 2013, About 11 years ago

Dear John,
This is a simply and easy case for us as you have a guarantor.
We have had several cases like this.

We can assist you don't give her any more time. You need to enforce the action
As mentioned it is a cat and mouse game and with tenants it's a stand off to see if the landlord will do what they say in your case enforce the debt and take the action.
We can assist you in this and it is a no win no fee and no upfront costs except court fee if needed.

We have a good team of solicitors to assist you in this matter at no cost to you.

If you need our help please get in touch

Andrew Steer

17:15 PM, 3rd July 2017, About 7 years ago

JS Enforcement - I'm a landlord looking to chase up rent arrears and I'd like your assistance. Please can you send me your contact details so I can get in touch?

Many thanks

Leave Comments

In order to post comments you will need to Sign In or Sign Up for a FREE Membership

or

Don't have an account? Sign Up

Landlord Tax Planning Book Now