UK Landlord Forum / Life

My tenant has defaulted on his AST after leaving.the property
HE OWES ME 5 months rent on a 12 month contract
I sent him a letter ( by recorded delivery)tater giving him 28 days to pay  to include his mother who was his guarantor
They have refused to pay
How do I go about getting a CCJ?

Has the tenant not paid rent for 5 months or has the tenant left in month 7?

He only paid for 5 months then left the property

You can't demand rent that isn't due yet.
Have you taken possession of the property?
Have you relet it?

Ideally he should pay until the contract ends,or until you take on a new tenant and release him from the agreement.In reality there is nothing you can do to recover the money,nor can you get a CCJ under the circumstances.This is one of those things you will have to put down to experience.

Don't make the mistake of taking on another person who requires a guarantor.Has he handed back the keys and removed all his stuff?

Get the property back, re-let it.
He doesn't owe you 5 months rent.
Did you take a deposit and protect it?

I took the property back and decided to sell it why does he not owe me 7 months rent after leaving after 5 months having signed a 12 month contract I have just sold in so he owes me 6 months rent correct  So what is the point of a guarantor then?

Not correct.
Rent due is for the period of rent, i.e one month. As they're not at the property they haven't rented it in March/April/May 2023 yet.

If you've taken the property back, they haven't used it and owe you zero rent.

Quote from: Martin on February 25, 2023, 07:29:01 PM
I took the property back and decided to sell it why does he not owe me 7 months rent after leaving after 5 months having signed a 12 month contract I have just sold in so he owes me 6 months rent correct.

So greedy!

You've sold the property.

Consider the case if the tenant left after 5 months and you had re-let the property. You'd have a new tenant paying rent, so would you still be chasing the the ex-tenant for 7 months rent on top of that coming in? I hope not.

Are you saying you had already intended to sell, or had it on the market before he left? If so,you are very lucky indeed that he just left without causing you a great deal of misery.As for the guarantor question,no,there is no point,they are utterly useless. That is why experienced landlords never take on tenants who cannot pay the rent without that back-up.They need to look for a cheaper property or HMO,and landlords need to wait for someone who earns enough to qualify. You are not owed any money,not just in the legal sense,but not from a moral viewpoint under the circumstances.Let it go.

HK, are you on some sort of economy drive at the moment; attempting to save spaces in the national interest?

Quote from: Martin on February 25, 2023, 07:29:01 PMI took the property back and decided to sell it why does he not owe me 7 months rent after leaving after 5 months having signed a 12 month contract I have just sold in so he owes me 6 months rent correct  So what is the point of a guarantor then?

Once you retook possession, you accepted the tenant's implicit offer to surrender the tenancy, after which point no rent is due.
If you wanted to enforce the 12 month agreement you should have left the tenancy in existence.

All you have now is a case of breach of contract.
You can't enforce performance, so your only option is to seek compensation for your loss - and I can't see that you have incurred any loss to claim for.

Handyman,don't get what you mean?

QuoteHandyman,don't get what you mean?

See the image attached to my post above.

It was not relevant to the thread. It just struck me as looking very different to your usual typing style.

Ah,Sherlock,I did not start new paragraph.

Well spotted.