UK Landlord Forum / Life

I have Tenants, a couple, who applied for a property. The rent is low-end (think £500 per month). When they applied they seemed eager to be referenced, then I received a call from the female saying that the male has some arrears in his current Council property. This seemed to be a genuine surprise to the female; it was like he'd come clean when things got real about their application. I said we should still proceed through referencing and see what comes out of the other side. So we did.

She's come back as an ACCEPT, earns less than £20,000. He's come back as a CONDITIONAL ACCEPT, earns more than £20,000. He's conditional because they've put down that his share of the rent would be £0.

Together they amount to an ACCEPT... and would be valid for Rent Guarantee Insurance, although I never do that.

Turns out he has 1 CCJ for over £1,000... that is said to be TOTAL SATISFIED CCJ AMOUNT £0 and that's what worries me. If there's a CCJ, is it being ignored?

So... questions...

The fact that they've written down his share is £0 or 0% as part of their application doesn't impact my ability to enforce joint and several liability if I have that in my AST, does it?

Bearing in mind her ACCEPT and his CONDITIONAL ACCEPT, but also that unserviced CCJ, what on earth would you do?

What would Jesus do? Flip the tables, most likely...

The male had a very soft handshake when I met him... I shoulda sensed all this at that point. My SpideySense was tingling, but I thought it was just my fleas.

There are two possibilities: either he can't pay his debts, or he won't pay his debts.

Both of them are a don't-touch-it-with-a-bargepole.

Not clear if they have been living together already in his council place ? Either way,the fact that he did not tell her about his arrears would worry me (expect it worried her too) Biggest factor though (next to the weak handshake of course) is not trying to clear his CCJ.I always ask Elvis what he would do,and it's a big fat No from both of us.

Quote from: heavykarma on August 16, 2019, 01:30:33 PM
I always ask Elvis what he would do,and it's a big fat No from both of us.

Is that because you have suspicious minds?

You are quick-that's the wonder of you.

I have spoken to the prospective Tenants. They are not aware of this CCJ. I have asked them to find out as much as they can. But I am willing to do the same, because I know it is actually possible to get a CCJ without you even knowing about it (so I do think the two possibilities of can't or won't are too black-and-white at this moment in time).

I am trying to figure out how to search any public register of CCJs...

On the referencing report it has:

NO.CCJS 1
VALUE OF CCJS
TOTAL ACTIVE CCJS £X,XXX
TOTAL ACTIVE CCJ AMOUNT £X,XXX
TOTAL SATISFIED CCJS £0
TOTAL SATISFIED CCJ AMOUNT £0
CCJ CASE NUMBER1
CCJ COURT NAME1 HAMPTOFXXXXXXX

I've changed stuff to the Xs, but you'd think the Case Number would be filled-in and I could search for that at https://search.trustonline.org.uk/Search/CaseNumber ?

I read - "If you do not reply, a CCJ is issued automatically by an office in Northampton. This is called a default judgment." - and that's where the HAMPTO comes from I bet.

So, I'm learning stuff today... Upad don't get the Case Number provided. And Legal4Landlords, who do their referencing, don't have it either - all that they get is the number and the amount, and whether it's been serviced, or not. Even if you search the public database of CCJs all that you will get is whether there is a CCJ that exists - apparently, you do not get to know what the debt is for. The only real way is for the owner(?) of that CCJ to get themselves a credit report or (apparently) talk to Experian.

I have found the Case Number - it was what was after the HAMPTO. You can search by Case Number for £5... but it says - "Anyone can check the public register for a small fee – they'll be able to see your name and address, the case and court number, and the amount of money owed. They won't be able to see who you owe the money to." - what's the point of that?

The prospective Tenants phoned Experian, they then phoned Northampton County Business Court and got details of the CCJ claimant... turned out to be Catalogue company. One of the Tenants used to be Carer for his nan and they had a joint account or something, and when she passed on some time ago he has somehow been left with the outstanding debt, he was unaware because he left that address and the CCJ is a default judgement. He's contacted the Catalogue company and now tells me that a payment plan has been set up - which I don't really care about to be fair. I care more that the story is kinda credible and it hasn't come back as being rent debt (even though it could be a story). I'm now minded to proceed.

Good luck,hope they don't let you down.

Northampton is the "default" place where CCJs are issued from online applications, so most people who have CCJs get them from Northampton County Court.

Were his rent arrears because of his dear old nan as well?  I expect he couldn't keep his job with his caring responsibilities for her and she passed away without leaving him a sausage.  And he couldn't bring himself to mention that little detail to the new girlfriend he's getting shacked up with because of the terrible, terrible grief.

I've just looked into my crystal ball and it says that within a few months they'll have a joint credit card.  He'll max it out and she'll end up paying it off after the split.

Well, I don't know about any of that. My crystal ball smashed when I dropped it in surprise at what I saw.