Tenant has disappeared owing thousands

kissjenn

Hi,

I have a tenant in Scotland who has disappeared leaving rent arrears of over £2000, unpaid bills etc. The damage done to the flat will swallow up his £500 deposit and he verbally acknowledged this before cutting all contact (bathroom door ripped off hinges, toilet broken, front door damaged, double glazed window broken etc etc - this is not a spurious "lets just keep the deposit" case.)

His forwarding address is his Grandmother who is now refusing his mail.

Has anyone had a situation like this?
How do I find him to make sure he is fully aware of what he owes?
Can I start small claims action without a current address?

The Council are after him for a fraudulent Housing Benefit Claim also and have asked us to provide info which because it's an offence being investigated we can/must do under data protection act.

We're a very small private landlord, we do everything by the book and look after our tenants well. We've done this properly and he has used the statuatory Notice to Quit to build up more arrears and then skip. We can't afford losses like this. Any suggestions?

Thanks

mlz1413

Does he still work at the same place as you have references for?
Did you get a guarantor?
Do you have a National Insurance number from the credit checks you did / ID taken?

Until you can find him you won't get any money from him, I don't know scottish law but I believe you need a current address to serve court papers within the UK so its probably best to check direct with your local court if his forwarding address is correct to use.

Sadly you will need to stand the cost of the repairs initially to enable your investment to continue earning you an income, any money from this man will be hard fought for and time consuming. Good Luck.

Jowo_2

Was there a dual signed initial inventory in place?

In future, only accept low income tenants who can offer a guarantor who you can hold responsible for damage and rent arrears if the tenant does not cooperate.

You may have to put this down to experience. If you do get a judgement against him, how can you enforce it if he has no income, assets or savings?

Unpaid utility bills are not your problem if the accounts are in his name. Forget about them, if that's the case - service providers have their own arrears collection services.

herbertthehelper

Jowo wrote: »

Was there a dual signed initial inventory in place?

In future, only accept low income tenants who can offer a guarantor who you can hold responsible for damage and rent arrears if the tenant does not cooperate.

You may have to put this down to experience. If you do get a judgement against him, how can you enforce it if he has no income, assets or savings?

Unpaid utility bills are not your problem if the accounts are in his name. Forget about them, if that's the case - service providers have their own arrears collection services.

Great advice it seems that many people are going for the guarantor option to help with paying - I know several people who will only rent to people with guarantors.

kissjenn

Hi,

Points in order:

Jowo,

Guarantor has no standing in law. Been bitten by this one before. You have to have the tenant declared bankrupt before you can go after the Guarantor in Scotland. Guarantor may give you some emotional leverage eg a parent but nothing else.

Tenant originally moved in with girlfriend, she left him. The lease was put in his name only 10 months ago.

Utilities - I agree the service provider should bear the cost BUT as he has had a key meter installed, I need to bring it up to date to get the lights on! Only at tenner but my tenner.

MLZ1413

He changed employer numerous time and is now unemployed although not claiming - he told me. Why claim when you can squat!!

Repairs are being done this week as you suggest. I can't afford a void.

I will look to employing a tracing firm to track his new address down. TBH he said he is in a mate's spare room.

Forwarding address per se is kosher. It's his granny's house and it looks like she's just disowned him. As she's 83 that's not an avenue I have any appetite in pursuing.

So now I need to find out where he actually is and serve papers there. As he has left 4 bin bags of paperwork in the flat, there should be plenty material for the trace company to work with!

kissjenn

Thanks HtheH

Unfortunately guarantors here are as much use as chocolate teapots!!

theartfullodger

KissJenn:

Your best bet is (in my experience) to be very patient & rigorously divergent. Go after him through the Sherrif Court for a small-claim (? Up to £3.5k in bonnie Scotland I think). Can be served etc. at the last address you have (Grannies)? If he fails to turn up you will get a decree in your favour.

Then, wait. Employ tracers from time2time to find out where he is & is he working. The great thing about Scottish Law is that the decree stays valid for 20 years, with the debt found by the decree increasing @ 8% pa (Where else can you get that sort of return?).

Eventually he will be a job & you can start "arresting his wages".

It worked for me (5 dodgy ex-tenants: Recovered several £k so far & still going...


Cheers!

Lodger

kissjenn

Nice one..thanks.

Catblue

Do you have a forwarding address or phone number for the ex-girlfriend (the original tenant)?

She may well have heard on the grapevine where he is holed up, and if she harbours no feelings of great love towards him now, she might tell you the information you need.

alared

This is a sign of the times with the recession and unemployment,renters will rack up debt and then do a moonlight,leaving the landlord with the mess.

kissjenn

Good idea CatBlue, I'll look thru the file.

Alared, this little darling isn't a recession victim he at one point had his wage, his fraudulently claimed LHA (he hadn't told Council about working) and his granny gave him half the rent cos she was sorry his girlfriend had dumped him (she didn't know about the LHA). So 3 incomes (right or wrong) and he bought a 50" plasma TV , increased his Sky Package and told me that he had to pay them because they could cut him off.

Know what I'd like to cut off?