UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi guys,

My first post on this forum - I am seeking some wisdom. I recently won my court hearing for possession of a property through section 8, and the judge ordered payment of all the arrears (along with the court fees) as well as possession of the property. Since then I have issued the warrant of possession, as my tenant did not leave by the specified date, and bailiffs (CCB's) have been booked for the first week of February. Unfortunately the tenant did not clear the arrears by the date the judge had set (I knew this was unlikely from the get-go, but she had stated in the court's paperwork that she would be receiving an inheritance allowing her to pay off the arrears), and I am unsure of the next step to take.

1) Do I have to apply to the court again for this? If so, which forms should I use and how much will this cost (and most importantly, can I submit and pay for this online?!)?
2) In the case that I do apply to the courts again, can I update the rent arrears to the amount that is payable now (including bailiff costs etc.) or do I have to maintain the amount that was stated in the possession order?
3) Do CCB's bring a locksmith with them or should I arrange one myself?

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide!

Ray

I don't know about the specific ins and outs but if it was me personally I would escalate this to the high court and get a High Court Enforcement Officer to do the eviction instead.

Not only would this be funny as the tenant is expecting to be evicted in February wheras it could happen within 24 hours of you instructing them, it will minimise the chance of the T damaging the property before their original eviction date and get you your property back much sooner.

I had considered, for almost exactly the same reason. Tenant had the cheek to smirk at me as she said CCB would take at least 6 weeks. HCEO would potentially mean a knock on the door within a few days! The problem is i'm not sure how to go about this now, especially as the CCB visit has been booked - and also, tenant has young children and so i'm not sure what the success rate of even a HCEO would be! It would save me money in any case as I could rent out the property much sooner!

There are a couple of posters on here might me worth PM'ing as they do this for a living.

I'll try to track some of them down, could with the advice. Thanks for the help so far guys, appreciated!

You could cancel the CCB but before you can use an HCEO you would need leave of the court via S42 of the County Court Act and this will likely take a few weeks anyway. I'd be inclined to stay with the CCB at this stage unless you think you can get your S42 within a week or so.

For more info, have a look here: http://thesheriffsoffice.com/services/repossession/repossession_of_residential_property

In terms of recovering the unpaid arrears you could have the CCB do this if they are not over £5000 but they are known to be pretty useless. You could enforce that aspect via an HCEO if it is over £600 but it will come down to what the debtor has in the way of assets.

Unfortunately many tenants owing rent arrears have little to seize so recovery of this kind of debt is always difficult. If the tenant has a car be sure to get the registration as this could be seized and will also help finding them once they're out.

Ahh brilliant, thank you for the information, very helpful indeed!! In that case i'll just wait for the CCB to take action. Tbh i'm not expecting to recover any of arrears (as she has no assets whatsoever) apart from those that are paid by housing benefit. Anything I do get will be a bonus but my goal is to just give her the boot. She's somehow managed to get a kitchen unit off the wall and put a hole in a wardrobe door in the bedroom - so minimising loss is a priority.

No problem Ray.

What I will say is that as you have judgment against her this will last for 6 years. A lot can happen in that time and her circumstances may change for the better. If you can diarise a trace every few years. This varies in cost but should be no more than £35. If she starts working you may find that enforcing the judgment suddenly becomes an option.

We have seen cases where we have shut them due to no prospect of recovery only to find that 3 years later the debtor is now working and has got married. Enforcement action is taken and the husbands car is seized, which technically is owned 50/50 between him and his wife...

I had no idea that was the case! I was definitely going to apply to the courts again as she hadn't made payment in agreement with the possession order, and it's only another £35 on top of all i've spent already. A 6 year lifespan on the judgement definitely makes it at least worth trying. Do you know the name/number of the form (the one which costs £35) I would have to fill out in order to make the claim to the court? I have absolutely no idea what it would be called, or what the process would be called for that matter. Thank you again for your assistance.

I've just downloaded the e-Book from your website; would I be correct in assuming that I need to obtain a CCJ? Or have I already passed this stage? Forgive my lack of knowledge regarding this, I'm a first time landlord and this is the first time time I'm having to do this.