How to sue a tenant for rent arrears in the most efficient way

[RajK]

Hi

I rented out my property to students through a letting agent. It was a 10 month contract that ended in July this year. The tenants left with rent owing and damages.

Rent arrears was approximately £2400 pounds and damages of £900. I have recovered their full deposit of £1800 (900 assigned for damages and 900 for rent) via my letting agent. Now there is about £1500 rent remaining which is no small thing. I would like advice on how to pursue them.

The problem is I am tied up with a family situation at the moment and would really like to get a company with a fixed fee or no win no fee ( if possible) to handle this for me. I have never done this before so have no idea of reputable people/firms. I have heard of the sheriffs office on another post. Has anyone use this?

The students were international so I believe they have gone abroad now (can't be sure). I believe the lead tenant and the guarantor are in the UK (form what my letting agent says)

On another note, is this now my responsibility to pursue for the rent owed. Does the agent have an obligation to handle or do this completely for me?

Cheers
Raj

[theartfullodger]

As the agent seems to have failed in their job I'd not let them do anything else...

Two steps to this...

a) Getting a court judgement: There are fixed-fee people who do this, although it ain't difficult....
b) Collecting the money: (Most T's won't pay after court judgement). Difficult, can take years...

It is quite possible it will cost you £1500 to get nothing, but IMHO you should pursue these the**ing b****ards...

You may have a case againts the letting agents...

Hope family situation gets better..

[Lawcruncher]

Any business - and letting is a business - needs to decide when to write a debt off as bad. The decision needs to be made on purely business grounds, not "as a matter of principle". We should all be "principled", but when it comes to litigation you need to ask yourself whether you can afford your principles. You are not going to get a lawyer to chase £1500 on a "no win no fee" basis. In any event, it is generally only personal injury cases that are dealt with on that basis.

[westminster]

Rent arrears was approximately £2400 pounds and damages of £900. I have recovered their full deposit of £1800 (900 assigned for damages and 900 for rent) via my letting agent.

Recovered how? You mean the agent raised a claim with the deposit scheme?

Now there is about £1500 rent remaining which is no small thing. I would like advice on how to pursue them.

The problem is I am tied up with a family situation at the moment and would really like to get a company with a fixed fee or no win no fee ( if possible) to handle this for me. I have never done this before so have no idea of reputable people/firms. I have heard of the sheriffs office on another post. Has anyone use this?

As Lawcruncher says, you won't get a no-win-no-fee lawyer for a small claim like this, because you can't claim legal costs in the small claims track.

The students were international so I believe they have gone abroad now (can't be sure). I believe the lead tenant and the guarantor are in the UK (form what my letting agent says)

*If* the tenant is UK resident, and *if* the guarantee was correctly executed as a Deed, then you can pursue a claim against both of them as co-defendants. An individual joint tenant is liable for all of the rent, not just a 'share'.

On another note, is this now my responsibility to pursue for the rent owed. Does the agent have an obligation to handle or do this completely for me?

No. He is not a lawyer and cannot conduct a claim on your behalf. In fact, it would be illegal if he did so.

[RajK]

westminster,

Thanks for the confirmation here

[Snorkerz]

One of my competitors - Landlord Action - seem to offer debt recovery services. I have no idea if they can help you, or if it would make financial sense to use their services, but it may be worth a phone call to them. They advertise on here.

[westminster]

I really would not advise going to a so-called debt recovery agent. At best, OP will be charged fees for them to send toothless threatening letters. The correct route to recover a debt is a court claim and court enforcement action.