UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hope you can help please , my partner and I are really struggling to know what to do next .

History

Property £600 per month.
We went to court , section 8 notice. Court order in our favour, giving Tenent 2 weeks to vacate and awarding us £2,200 and £19 per day till they left.  (The 2.2k was rent and some of our costs, rent due was £1800)

They didn't leave , returned to court and warrant of possession in our favour. 
Tenent vacated morning of bailiffs arrival a few hours later.

Damage to property and other costs £1,000 we have claimed full amount of the deposit from the scheme of £1,800 , £1,000 damage (can back up with receipts quotes etc). The other £800 is solicitors bills , separate to the bills that are recognised by the above order.
Tennent's have offered £900 via scheme .
We don't know where they are.

What next ! Please .... Do we take the offer ... Do we go forward with a Ccj for the above court award .... Do we employe a detective to find them... Do debt collection agency's take on this kind of work ? Please any help....

1 of our concerns is going for the full 1,800 deposit and them refusing adjudication . .. Or if we have anything wrong on our paper work and end up with less than the £900 ...

Sorry for so many questions ...

Be wary of help from a forum (especially my own)
Always do your own research

??!?!?
The tenant owes you well over £1800 why are you even contemplating this offer?
Just claim for everything including the rent arrears.
Be organised and send in copies of all your receipts and the court order paperwork.

It would beggar belief for the TDS to offer you back anything less than the full sum.
(just check the cost of the arbitration if any).
Talk to the TDS folks...I only use the Deposit Protection Service and the folks there are very helpful indeed, they will help you with your paperwork to avoid any fouls.

What would it help if a Detective tells you where they are?
There are " no win no fee " firms that can chase the tenants but obviously they will take the lion's share of the funds recovered but you may get something back as well as making the absconding tenants somewhat miserable as well as slapping on a CCJ - vindictive (?) yup.

If cash is desperate then the damages might be recovered through insurance but that takes time and there will be an Excess that won't be covered and you might find higher premiums later.

Best of luck.

Thanks for your response. That's my feeling, go for the fall £1,800 ... My fear is that they will reject that and then refuse the arbitration option, which means , I think, we have to go to court agin () , and we don't know where to find them to do that ... Sorry if I sound a bit lost ... It's cause I am ...

Andrew

Do this

1. I dont know which TDS you are tied to but I would call them and see if they will either handle it for you or provide the appropriate details for you to serve the court notice (I doubt they will but worth a go)
2. Refuse the £900 offer but in doing so provide the paperwork to the TDS to jusify the refusal...
3. Find a no win no fee debt chasing company (there are loads) and indicate to the tentant (via the TDS) you will use said company to chase the debt (you dont acutally need to enter into a contract with the debt collector yet) and slap them with a CCJ so they can effectively never rent again (or it will be jolly hard to do so)
4. If the tenant the refuses the ADR you have a decision to make at that point...but at least you will be informed.

If the tenant is smart/brave or just doesnt care anymore then they will refuse the ADR, in which case you could ask for more than half but less than the whole in order for them to avoid to a court hearing.....it gets down to simple game theory I'm afraid.

You still have the option of the debt collector as your dues are greater than the deposit.

Your worries may be greater than the reality (you know your ex-tenants) many don't know they can refuse the ADR.
Perhaps that isnt very helpful but Im afraid the landlord's lot is a pretty cr@ppy one these days
Sorry Best of Luck.