Tenant to pay the legal cost of eviction?

Tenant to pay the legal cost of eviction?

9:24 AM, 26th March 2024, About 2 years ago 13

Text Size

Categories:

Hi, I had a court hearing where we requested the judge to add the legal cost to the money order for 15 months of unpaid rent. As per the judge, this was not possible as my rental agreement does not have a clause for the tenant to pay the legal cost of eviction.

Considering the tenant has now appealed for the case to be reheard making many false stories and is clearly planning to not move out of the property and stay rent-free, I am sure I will be spending more cost with the solicitors.

Has anyone gone through this situation and is there any notice or document I can send to the tenant so any further legal cost of eviction becomes the tenant’s liability to pay?

Thanks,

Siva


Share This Article


Comments

Avatar

Robert M

Read Full Bio

You're Missing Out!

Members can reply to discussions, connect with experienced landlords, and access full member profiles showing years of expertise. Don't stay on the sidelines - join the UK's most active landlord community today.

Not a member yet? Join In Seconds

or if your already a member

Login with

or

Member Since October 2013 - Comments: 1304 - Articles: 10

12:08 PM, 26th March 2024, About 2 years ago

You cannot unilaterally add clauses to the tenancy agreement (AST), after the date when the AST was signed by both parties. It is important to ensure that your AST contains all the clauses needed at the outset, including any clauses relating to recovery of costs incurred.

Avatar

DAMIEN RAFFERTY

You're Missing Out!

Members can reply to discussions, connect with experienced landlords, and access full member profiles showing years of expertise. Don't stay on the sidelines - join the UK's most active landlord community today.

Not a member yet? Join In Seconds

or if your already a member

Login with

or

Member Since September 2022 - Comments: 183

15:54 PM, 26th March 2024, About 2 years ago

If you try to add a new clause to an AST which makes the tenant liable to pay court costs I would guess that it would be unenforceable as it would be seen as an unfair term in the Terms and Conditions.
Speak to a solicitor

Avatar

Mary Afolabi

You're Missing Out!

Members can reply to discussions, connect with experienced landlords, and access full member profiles showing years of expertise. Don't stay on the sidelines - join the UK's most active landlord community today.

Not a member yet? Join In Seconds

or if your already a member

Login with

or

Member Since May 2023 - Comments: 6

16:33 PM, 26th March 2024, About 2 years ago

If you have landlord insurance, maybe they can help. Some insurance have legal assistance add-on.

Avatar

David Houghton

You're Missing Out!

Members can reply to discussions, connect with experienced landlords, and access full member profiles showing years of expertise. Don't stay on the sidelines - join the UK's most active landlord community today.

Not a member yet? Join In Seconds

or if your already a member

Login with

or

Member Since October 2022 - Comments: 396

17:52 PM, 26th March 2024, About 2 years ago

Am I missing something. It’s normal for the court to award costs to the losing party. It may if course be fixed costs unless it’s allocated to the multi track

Avatar

Robert Sled

You're Missing Out!

Members can reply to discussions, connect with experienced landlords, and access full member profiles showing years of expertise. Don't stay on the sidelines - join the UK's most active landlord community today.

Not a member yet? Join In Seconds

or if your already a member

Login with

or

Member Since November 2022 - Comments: 41

18:13 PM, 26th March 2024, About 2 years ago

Ultimately do you really expect you will be able to collect this money even if the court did include it in their order? All this money should be considered completely lost forever (unless you can get an attachment of earnings maybe). I could be wrong, but I don’t expect to collect one solitary bean from people who do this kinda thing

Avatar

Paddy O'Dawes

You're Missing Out!

Members can reply to discussions, connect with experienced landlords, and access full member profiles showing years of expertise. Don't stay on the sidelines - join the UK's most active landlord community today.

Not a member yet? Join In Seconds

or if your already a member

Login with

or

Member Since September 2023 - Comments: 92

19:24 PM, 26th March 2024, About 2 years ago

Wait for the appeal then ask for costs. If the appeal is deemed as time wasting and being unreasonable or there is fundamental dishonesty it will work in your favour. Add a clause to your next tenancy agreement that states any and all costs of eviction proceedings will be recovered if pursued to success.Speak to your solicitor in the first instance

Avatar

Smiffy

Read Full Bio

You're Missing Out!

Members can reply to discussions, connect with experienced landlords, and access full member profiles showing years of expertise. Don't stay on the sidelines - join the UK's most active landlord community today.

Not a member yet? Join In Seconds

or if your already a member

Login with

or

Member Since December 2021 - Comments: 159

20:36 PM, 26th March 2024, About 2 years ago

Another idiot judge.

Avatar

Fizi247

Read Full Bio

You're Missing Out!

Members can reply to discussions, connect with experienced landlords, and access full member profiles showing years of expertise. Don't stay on the sidelines - join the UK's most active landlord community today.

Not a member yet? Join In Seconds

or if your already a member

Login with

or

Member Since November 2019 - Comments: 11

10:58 AM, 27th March 2024, About 2 years ago

If your tenant is on full Universal Credit payments without additional income, it may be challenging to recover any legal costs from them. In such cases, having comprehensive landlord insurance is crucial as you may not be able to claim any expenses from the tenant.

Considering this, it is essential to explore landlord insurance options to protect yourself financially in situations where recovering costs from tenants on benefits may not be feasible.

Avatar

Heather G.

You're Missing Out!

Members can reply to discussions, connect with experienced landlords, and access full member profiles showing years of expertise. Don't stay on the sidelines - join the UK's most active landlord community today.

Not a member yet? Join In Seconds

or if your already a member

Login with

or

Member Since March 2016 - Comments: 163 - Articles: 1

12:37 PM, 27th March 2024, About 2 years ago

Could someone please provide me with the wording they use in their AST regarding recovering court/eviction proceeding costs? Our tenant asked us for a S21 and I warned her that she would have to pay the costs, but we don’t have a clause in our AST covering eviction costs!

Avatar

Ron

Read Full Bio

You're Missing Out!

Members can reply to discussions, connect with experienced landlords, and access full member profiles showing years of expertise. Don't stay on the sidelines - join the UK's most active landlord community today.

Not a member yet? Join In Seconds

or if your already a member

Login with

or

Member Since December 2022 - Comments: 27

20:01 PM, 27th March 2024, About 2 years ago

Something along the lines of

The tenant is liable for any costs including lawyers fees and court costs incurred by the landlord in enforcing the terms of this agreement or any associated breach.

1 2

Have Your Say

Every day, landlords who want to influence policy and share real-world experience add their voice here. Your perspective helps keep the debate balanced.

Not a member yet? Join In Seconds


Login with

or