Likelihood of winning in the small claims court: Non paying guarantor

Debt_Free_Chick

Queenied wrote: »

Thank you all once more. I realise that winning the case is only the beginning. Unless I'm very lucky other steps will be involved but I will take one step at a time for now and weigh it up / decide as each new situation arises.

Speedtwin / Troubled Joe: Not sure by what you mean when you say that the guarantee must be executed / signed as a deed. Could you clarify? The only document the guarantor has signed is the assured shorthold tenancy. Ta!

Was the guarantor's signature witnessed? That, alone, does not create a deed but deeds usually have signatures witnessed. Even an AST is a deed, as I understand it, so chances are it is a deed. But you should read every word of the AST and see if it mentions the words "deed" or "executed" (usually at the end).

A deed is a document that is used to be "signed, sealed and delivered" - the signatures are witnessed; it used to have a seal on it, but it's now not necessary; and "delivered" just means that each party received a copy.

HTH

dealornodeal_3

Queenied, IMHO I dont think you have any hope of getting back your unpaid rent.

In 1992 my agent and I had trouble with a tenant. We had given him notice of eviction. In the end we had to go to Magistrates court. The proceedings went in my favour. He was told to leave the property, and repay the 4 months arrears with costs. In the end the Baillifs turned up to evict him. The Council were aware of the situation, and rehoused the family

On entering the property, we found £8k worth of damage. When trying to find him, we couldnt. The Council would not release details of where the family were. After paying £280 to an agency, whom also couldnt find them I eventually gave up, and put it down to experience. My agent said it was the worst case on her books that she ever had to deal with.

But good luck anyway, lets hope your case isnt as bad as what mine was

123oleary

dealornodeal wrote: »

Queenied, IMHO I dont think you have any hope of getting back your unpaid rent.

In 1992 my agent and I had trouble with a tenant. We had given him notice of eviction. In the end we had to go to Magistrates court. The proceedings went in my favour. He was told to leave the property, and repay the 4 months arrears with costs. In the end the Baillifs turned up to evict him. The Council were aware of the situation, and rehoused the family

On entering the property, we found £8k worth of damage. When trying to find him, we couldnt. The Council would not release details of where the family were. After paying £280 to an agency, whom also couldnt find them I eventually gave up, and put it down to experience. My agent said it was the worst case on her books that she ever had to deal with.

But good luck anyway, lets hope your case isnt as bad as what mine was

surely causing 8000 of damage is a criminal damage issue and the police have a duty to investigate.

iolanthe07

Sadly, I too think you may have to write this off. It seems so unfair that people get away with not paying their rent, but the same thing happened to me in 1994. I was owed £1000+ in back rent but my solicitor said that recovery in these cases was almost impossible at a reasonable cost, and advised me to put it down to experience and just be thankful that the tenant hadn't trashed the place. Good luck if you do pursue it, though.

dealornodeal_3

123oleary wrote: »

surely causing 8000 of damage is a criminal damage issue and the police have a duty to investigate.

Its a long, long story of events; believe me.

The agent I had bought out previous agent. Although she was at the time his secretary. The former Agent didnt do a proper Inventory.

The tenant was a qualified electrician(supposedly). The Bungalow needed rewiring. He offered to do it at discount. I lived 100 miles away and agreed. The former agent said he inspected the work, which he didnt.

When my agent eventually got into the property, there were wires everywhere. In fact when she touched the walls, she went flying from one part of the room to the other. So I had to pay to get property rewired. The tenant ruined the carpet, he had oil from his motorbike on it. Walls had to be replastered, and painted. He broke into the Garage got rid of single door, and put up wooden double doors. He built in the bedroom, a wooden dressing table which was without consent. It was hideous, and I had removed.

I learnt alot, but it was proving it all.

Still one has to move on!

speedtwin

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Was the guarantor's signature witnessed? That, alone, does not create a deed but deeds usually have signatures witnessed. Even an AST is a deed, as I understand it, so chances are it is a deed. But you should read every word of the AST and see if it mentions the words "deed" or "executed" (usually at the end).

A deed is a document that is used to be "signed, sealed and delivered" - the signatures are witnessed; it used to have a seal on it, but it's now not necessary; and "delivered" just means that each party received a copy.

HTH

If a guarantor deed document is not witnessed I believe it is not valid or inforcable.

Conrad

I have pursued the odd non paying client through the courts and won.
Getting a judgement against them does'nt guarantee you will be paid.
If they refuse to pay after judgement you can ask for a deduction from thier earnings at source (mention this now as it can have a dramatic effect as they dont want thier employers knowing they have defaulted), but this is only for employees not self employed.

Secondly after judgment is made you can take a charge over thier assets, for example home or car but it is complex, long winded and quite costly.