What can I do about my tenant’s rent arrears?

I feel your pain as I have just been through a 9 months lengthy process to evict one of my tenant. I would get a specialist to use section 8 unpaid rent to evict the tenants asap but issue a section 21 at the same time as a back up. As the amount they owe you is over £10k, you can't use online money claim any more. I had the same issue with universal credit, the reason they gave me for not paying me directly is because the tenants are on a partial benefit, apparently, universal credit system only allows to pay full benefit or none, that is the tenant agrees to pay you directly. I went through sec21 route thinking it will be quick, how wrong I could be, I still end up in court to face my tenant who claimed extreme financial hardship, even though they admitted to judge in court they were looking for a private rental property to move out, but not paying me. the judge still gave them maximum allowed time to move out, ie 42 days. If you do end up in court by using sec 21, please make sure to ask judge to allow the case to be transferred to High court when issuing the judgement, this will save you time further down the line if you want to use high court enforcement officers,they have more power than bailiffs. Otherwise, you would be queueing again to get the order later on. bailiff service is a long wait right now. it's going to be a long process. my tenant left before bailiff is turning up, otherwise I would be still at mercy of my tenants. Good luck

Reply to the comment left by A fedup landlord at 14/09/2024 - 19:48
Thanks please do you know of a good eviction specialist would landlord and tenant action be this right people to assist?

Reply to the comment left by Jagdish Patel at 15/09/2024 - 01:55
The eviction process can be very stressful and like many others, I took feel your pain. I went through a similar situation last year where my tenant was just under £6k in arrears. I used a solicitor (Green Law Solicitors) based in Milton Keynes (my property is in Reading) who were very good and had plenty of experience. They issued a sec 8, the case was heard at court and they represent me. I won possession and the solicitors also got a money judgement, costs, interest and permission to have the case transferred to the high court.

I knew I had a very slim chance of getting the money owed but at least the tenants got a ccj.

Funny enough though, the council did email me half way though asking if they could do anything to help 'the tenant and her family not become homeless'! Curiosity got the better of me and I enquired but they wanted to do some deal which ultimately meant the tenant would stay at the property.
That might be an option for you to look into further if your local council contact you.

Good luck though and all the best.

Reply to the comment left by Jagdish Patel at 15/09/2024 - 01:55
I did all the forms myself by using sec21 route, when I received the final court paper, I used DCB to assist on applying for a bailiff service, their details are DCB Legal Ltd
Tel: 0203 838 7038 | DX 23457 Runcorn. please make sure you have all correct documents if you are using sec 21, otherwise, your case will be kicked out. I felt the court system is not only packed up, but also very biased towards tenant, especially, if your tenants claiming to be disabled or in financial hardship. I had all correct paper work, but the court made a mistake, not sure if it's deliberate or not, but it caused 2 weeks unnecessary delay by this, I had to go through a court hearing, as tenant claiming hardship, this caused another few weeks delay, sec21 is supposed to be quick and straight forward, not in my case! I might as well using sec 8, if I knew better from start! What I didn't know was that I could ask the judge to allow the case to be transferred into high court during the hearing. If you could get that order, you can apply for high court enforcement straight away after receiving cout order. I didn't do that and when I tried to use this service, I was told that I have to go through the county court again to apply, then they scheduled a hearing again in Jan 25! I gave up at that point and went back to bailiff route which was supposed to be 17weeks waiting time. during this time, I drove past my property to make sure property is OK, then I noticed the tenant may have already moved out, confronted them to confirm they have left. If you know the neighbors, they could be a good help to you too. I also used money claims online services before the outstanding debts gone over the maximum limit and received a tenants admission on their debt and the court judgments on money owed. By the way, you could ask the judge to add the money order on your procession order if you need to go to a hearing under sec 21, something I didn't know at the time and wished I knew. I have to point out to the tenant their debts will continue to rise unless they let me know that they have left for them to admit that they left. it's going to be a long stressful process, I hope by talking to fellow landlords, you could at least get some mental strength to keep going, which I find helpful in my case. Hope you get back your property soon, if you have an insurance, check if it covers your legal fee or unpaid rent. I am still trying to get my money back by applying for an attachment of earning order. The law in this country is not only weak, but also biased, the tenants just ignore all the orders against them, and they have no consequences for doing it! Tenants have free advise from the council and other organisations, free lawyer, landlord has to pay for everything if you want to evict a tenant!

Reply to the comment left by Chris A at 11/09/2024 - 11:58
Applied 3 times to universal credit the request for direct rent was declined.

Reply to the comment left by Ivor Tennant at 11/09/2024 - 08:14
Money claim online reviews dont look great Ivor.
https://au.trustpilot.com/review/www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

Reply to the comment left by Jagdish Patel at 15/09/2024 - 07:15
UC were really bad in the past but have got far worse. I first applied in May and did not hear anything, I later applied again and did not hear anything. I phoned UC three times and each time was assured that it was being looked at. I then applied for the third time and also raised a complaint at the same time. About a couple of days later, I got an email saying that payment was going to be made to me. The payment was due on 14th of September. I still have not received any of the rent. Being a weekend, I am hoping it will be tomorrow 16th September being a Monday. So far, I am owed £9675. There is no point in having a government body that is causing fraud by ignoring genuine rent arrears from the landlord.

This tenant was from Lambeth Council where they informed me that the tenant was fully checked and they provided rent guarantee insurance which unfortunately I did not read. The wording states there is no cover if there is rent arrears in the first 90 days. From the time the tenant moved in no rent was paid so that is how there has been such a build-up of rent.

Unfortunately, UC can do what they wish and are not held accountable for any mis-doings

Reply to the comment left by A fedup landlord at 14/09/2024 - 19:48
Hi fedup landlord. Excuse my ignorance. When it comes to s21/s8 possession order, what is the difference between county court and high court enforcement? Is county court bailiffs and high court enforcement officers and they have more power, do you pay a different cost for this? I hope I do not experience this but still good to have the knowledge and understanding.

Thank you

Alison

Reply to the comment left by Alison Clark at 15/09/2024 - 12:15
High court enforcement is more expensive and you have to have a high court writ to use this service, to get a high court writ, you will have to ask the county court to transfer the case to the high court, which will be another round of form filling and waiting game, as the possession order can't automatically be transferred. if you use sec8 route, you will have a court hearing, during the hearing, you can ask the judge to put the court transfer on your possession order, this will save you lots of time and form filling if granted. You don't normally have a court hearing if you are using sec 21 route, as it is supposed to be just filling the form, without giving reason eviction, a quick route. You won't get an order transfer on your possession order automatically, if your application went straight through. However, if your tenant replied to the court when you sent your sec 21 form, most likely, the court will ask a hearing date, if this happens, you can ask the judge to put transfer on your order during hearing to save time. high court enforcement officers have more power than bailiff, they can force entry in if your tenant doesn't open their door without getting police involved. bailiffs would have to call police or reschedule eviction which could cause further delay. It's also quicker to book a high court enforcement officers, when I called around, they all have vacancies, but you do need a high court writ to appoint them. While current waiting time for bailiffs is 17 weeks in my area.

Reply to the comment left by A fedup landlord at 15/09/2024 - 18:16
Hi Fedup Landlord. That’s great detail and thank you for taking the time to explain this. I appreciate it.

Thank you

Alison