CCJ’s, how do I get them registered?

Hi Robert

My understanding is that registration is automatic if the judgement is not settled within 30 days.

If the debt is over £600 and you believe your debtor has the ability to pay but isn't doing so then you can add even more pressure by having the High Court rubber stamp the judgement and then engage a High Court Enforcement Officer - see >>> http://www.hceoa.org.uk/
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It is not automatic, except in rare(ish) circumstances.

Landlords need to enforce the judgement.

Always worth doing as circumstances can change a lot over 6 years. Don't be a victim and fall for the "only throwing good money after bad" defeatist mantra frequently trotted out .

Plus it helps stop them doing it to another landlord (maybe me!).

If you think your past evicted tenants are on the register, check at trust online (costs £4- tax deductible).
It might explain why they've never bothered paying up.

I have written about this before as it is not widely known that a CCJ is NOT registered against the tenant automatically! It was always my belief that any CCJ would be registered against the person concerned, but that is not the case. Some time after I successfully obtained a court order to evict my non-paying tenant she moved twice thereby frustrating my attempts to serve papers on her to enforce the payment of the debt owed. On speaking to an estate agent with whom she had rented a property they told me that her credit record was clear and there were no CCJs reported on there. I telephoned Lambeth Court and they confirmed it is not usual practice to record the CCJ against a tenant evicted for non payment of rent unless the landlord requests it! I think this is outrageous as then the tenant is free and clear to continue to not pay rent to their next landlord and keep moving on every 1-2 years. I wrote to the Court and requested that the judgement be a recorded CCJ and trust this was then done, but by then a year after the judgement she had moved twice more. The good news is that I was determined and in 2013, 7 years after the judgement we received the very last penny that she owed to us in full thanks to an attachment of earnings.

Reply to the comment left by "Yvette Newbury " at "14/06/2014 - 13:06":

I was in a state of shock to discover that the CCJ I had worked at getting had'nt been registered . Part of the reasons for obtaining the CCJ s are to notify other parties when the ex tenant wants another tenancy , new phone , credit etc .
Now after writing to the court and asking for the CCJ to be registered I always follow up with checking on Trust online .
If the ex tenant is working or the guarantor, I always get attachment of earnings .
You dont have to apply for attachment of earnings to ask for a judgement to be registered.

Attachment of earnings is the best way of obtaining your money, in my opinion. Keep track of where your tenants are working and their role (it crops up in casual conversation, no need to grill them) and just keep a note of it in case you need it in the future.

I think there is more to it than just asking the court to register it.

If the judgement is undefended or payment is made by instalment, it should automatically go on the register.

However, it means faffing about for the court staff so they often don't bother. If you ask them nicely or bug them enough, they will do what they are supposed to do.

On the other hand, if the claim was defended and payment wasn't to be made by instalments, then it won't go on the register unless it is enforced.

And only then if the court staff can be bothered.

Link here to check the register; http://www.trustonline.org.uk/search-others

All good landlords (and bad!) should ensure their non payers show up on the register.

I have a judgement against a tenant and her guarantor. The tenant was on housing benefit and is unlikely to have any earnings and the guarantor has moved so that I do not have his address. Can I clarify that without the guarantor's address I cannot register the CCJ against him? Can anyone recommend the best way to trace the guarantor? I do have his mobile number and email address.

Reply to the comment left by "Monty Bodkin" at "14/06/2014 - 18:28":

I can assure you that as soon as the time is up and payment not made that I then ask for the Judgement to be registered. If I have had a tenant go without leaving an address then it may take a few months to find then so i register CCJ find them and then if working I enforce .
If I do not have a local court case and I get the CCJ online then Northampton always register the CCJ.

I can assure you Jan, in the circumstances I've described, then you can ask all you want-

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/3595/contents/made

Now if you can persuade your local court to register it against that, then good luck to you.

Reply to the comment left by Stu Lu.

You have to take 'reasonable steps' to find the guarantor, then you can serve at the last known address.

'Reasonable steps' is open to very wide interpretation.

As a defendant, I once indignantly complained the only reason I found out about a claim was because I found it in the bottom of a wheelie bin (long story), two streets away, addressed to a property I'd never lived at. With the wrong (slightly misspelt) name. And I'd been dead for 3 years (slight exaggeration).

The Judge shouted at me "Well it found you didnt'it?? Gedd'on with it." (exact words).

So thereafter, I've viewed 'reasonable steps' as a bit like Witch Dunking.

If a defendant receives it -No problem.
If they don't receive it -They don't know to complain about it- No problem.

But if you genuinely want to trace them and you really can't work out how to do it for yourself, then pay the people that sponsor this site and I'm sure they will have no problem.

http://www.property118.com/first-steps-in-recovery-of-outstanding-tenant-debt/40251/