UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi, I have a bad tenant.....bad bad bad.  She is now in rent arrears of over £4000, I have taken her to court (she didn't turn up), who have granted an order of possession and to repay rent arrears.  I have now just applied for a warrant for possession as still no rent has been paid and she hasn't moved out on the date ordered (28th October 2015).  However, she has suddenly decided to contact me today and let me know that her sister will pay all her rent arrears - but only if I guarantee that I will let the tenant remain in the property.  I of course want the money, but I also still want her out (neighbour complaints and reports of violence and damage to the property). 

Can I say that I will let her stay on and take the money from her sister but still get the bailiffs to kick her out?  Not very moral I know but I don't know how else the arrears will get paid if I get my property back! 

You don't believe that here sister really is going to cough up £4000 do you :-)

Stick to your guns and kick her out.  The situation can only get worse.

She has paid up before, and I have said the bailiffs order will stay unless rent arrears are paid in full.  But she says she won't pay it unless I promise not to kick her sister out!  The sister is not a guarantor so I wasn't sure of the legal situation of accepting her money.

Get her sister to sign as guarantor going forward. If she has assets it may be easier chasing her.

Just make sure the bailiffs are able to enforce within a sensible time period if you do go ahead. Many people are turning to HCEOs who can evict within days rather than the months often quoted by County Court Bailiffs. This would require leave from the court under Section 42 of the County Court Act 1984. However, if the CCB's can do it within a month we would always recommend using them.

Also, as the debt is over £600 you could also use HCEOs to try and recover the debt although this type of debt can often be difficult due to a lack of assets owned by the debtor. There are many reasons people prefer using HCEOs for recovering debt but the main one is that recovery rates are significantly better.

We would suggest you familiarise yourself with the above options should you need to go down that route. It may be that you use the CCB for the eviction and an HCEO for the debt.

This web page will give you some guidance and there is also a downloadable e-Book if required -

http://thesheriffsoffice.com/services/repossession/repossession_of_residential_property

http://thesheriffsoffice.com/resources/tenant-eviction-ebook

thank for this info The Sheriffs Office.