How to deal with tenant who hasn’t paid any rent?

How to deal with tenant who hasn’t paid any rent?

0:02 AM, 17th July 2024, About 4 months ago 25

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Hi, we had rented our 2 bedroom flat in London at the end of October 2023 through a estate agent. The agent did the referencing and the tenant passed. The agents collected the deposit from the tenant.

The tenant didn’t pay rent in November and somehow reclaimed his deposit through a bank chargeback.

Since then, he hasn’t paid any rent. We used solicitors and issued a Section 8 notice, went to court, and secured an eviction order. However, he didn’t show up to court or leave the property.

We have been informed by the building management that they are getting complaints of something dodgy happening in the property. He has not paid any council tax,utilities bill or any rent at all.

County bailiffs are due to attend the property on 1st of August.

Questions:

1)Is there anything the tenant can do now to stop eviction?

2)How was he able to charge back his deposit from the agents. Is the bank or agents responsible for this. What can we do about this?

3) Is there anyway or any chance of collecting the rent arrears bearing in mind that we have already incurred high solicitors fees thus far. Is it worth trying for debt collection?

We would appreciate any advice please.

Thank you,

Ruchi


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Jimmy Smith

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13:31 PM, 18th July 2024, About 4 months ago

This is the type of tenant the government wants to protect

Kat Scott

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14:15 PM, 18th July 2024, About 4 months ago

Ruchi,

You need to get all the paperwork from the agent including referencing, ID docs etc. To check this has been done correctly and also to do an attachment of eranings.

You also need to ask agent from writtwn confirmation that deposit miney taken back by bank. They ask them why they did not dispute this? As them to disput it now and for copies of documentation on this matter.

Its worth doing AOE to get your money back. Use fixed fee specialist company, although it is possible to do it yourself.

Best of luck,

Kat

Paddy O'Dawes

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16:02 PM, 18th July 2024, About 4 months ago

Reply to the comment left by GlanACC at 18/07/2024 - 08:48
I suspect that the police wouldn't respond as you say. It just smacks of no intention to pay by enacting the chargeback. My suspicious mind then starts questioning if the identity of the tenant is actually real or if this is a serial offender as that feels like it's someone who understand the process. If this is a habit then it would be a short one under your own name. Either way 10 min on action fraud to create a record may give someone else a chance of shifting said individuals in the future.

Tuly

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18:23 PM, 18th July 2024, About 4 months ago

Hi
I would apply at the small claims court and get a ccj on there name..

GlanACC

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18:27 PM, 18th July 2024, About 4 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Tuly at 18/07/2024 - 18:23
I agree, I used to work for a credit reference agency and a CCJ is the best way to go as it ties up the tenants name with any number of multiple other addresses and makes him 'visible' to many other organisations

Ruchi Chandra

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11:33 AM, 24th July 2024, About 3 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Kat Scott at 18/07/2024 - 14:15
We had used a reputable agent of London called Barnard Marcus , they say they appealed to the bank about the chargeback but somehow the tenant charged back saying it was unauthorised payment although he had signed the tenancy agreement and has been living in the property

Ruchi Chandra

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11:34 AM, 24th July 2024, About 3 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 17/07/2024 - 11:34
Yes we informed the council and utilities . Utilities say we are responsible for the payment if the tenant doesn't pay

Ruchi Chandra

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11:38 AM, 24th July 2024, About 3 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Paddy O'Dawes at 18/07/2024 - 08:32
You are right he seems to be serial offender who knows how to play the system. He has probably done a similar thing to other landlords. All the paper work he had given for referencing was probably fake ad the references were do e by homeless company and it all passed.
Hopefully once we get the property back does anyone know of any no win no fee debt collectors who can get our rent arrears of over 20000 back.
Or a process of getting a ccj on him without the expensive and lengthy pro ess of going through court again.

Paddy O'Dawes

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14:39 PM, 24th July 2024, About 3 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Ruchi Chandra at 24/07/2024 - 11:38
That being the case then who would you be pursuing? You would need to find out the real identity and aliases. Also be wary of no win no fee disbursements come out of your pocket and need to be added as costs 😉

GlanACC

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18:05 PM, 24th July 2024, About 3 months ago

Having once worked for a credit reference agency, I can tell you there are many serial offenders. Providing genuine references are provided and checked genuine, you can link previous addresses to CCJs etc. Problem is many landlords would just write off the debt without raising a CCJ (do it for a small amount £300 and it only costs £35). Without these links the serial offender can digitally disappear and you will have a job tracing him.

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