HELP! CCJ for rent arrears so soon???

Little_J

I hope someone can help advise me whether this is normal - I have some rent arrears from the beginning of this year, I spoke to my landlord and advised them I was having some problems and woudl sort it out asap, which they seemed happy enough with.

Next thing I know I received a letter from them on Friday telling me I had 48 hours to pay the arrears (£625) or they would enter a county court claim, along with a photo copy of the application they had already made.

Bearing in mind they are closed on saturday and sunday! There was no way I could contact them within 48 hours so now obviously have to go through the court process.

Is this fair??? I though there had to be a minimum amount of letters / arrears demands before they could take me to court. They've basically given me no chance to sort out the arrears myself.

(it is worth mentioning that my landlords are actually an ex employer so may hold a grudge as I decided to leave but that doesn't seem a fair reason to take me to court!)

Please could someone let me know???????

Thanks
j

Generali

I'd go to see the CAB if I were you. 48 hours seems a bit harsh though.

prudryden

The landlord was probably ok with it at first as you took him by surprise. He then probably sought advice from his solicitor, and was advised otherwise. You know how solicitors are. They try not to leave anything to chance.

Little_J

But I thought you had to prove to the court that you had made a 'reasonable attempt' to recover the money before you could go ahead with a CCJ.

You know at least 2 letters. They applied for the court order before they had actually sent me any formal request for the money! Because of that I now have to pay £80 costs even though they never gave me the opportunity to settle it first. Is that really fair?

Bestthingsinlifearefree

I guess from the landlord perspective is it "fair" that you have not paid the money you owe them ?

If you have not paid them on time what you agreed to pay them, surely it is only fair for them to chase you using all lawful means ?

cruella_de_vile

Had you made any kind of arrangement to pay the arrears? They may have just got fed up waiting for you.

Bossyboots

Can we clear one thing up? Did they send you a copy of an application, or a copy of an application with a court seal on it? I would hedge a guess that in fact they haven't actually filed this claim with the court and are just trying to put the jumpers on you to cough up sooner. As has been pointed out, they have to have to tried negotiation first.

plane_boy2000

When you say arrears from the begining of the year how long ago is that? Have you made any atempt to repay this amount? Has the situation got worse?

Little_J

I'm not disputing that I owe the money, I just feel it was unecessary to approach the court without even giving me a realistic opportunity to settle the amount first. Thus affecting my credit rating and meaning I immediately owe them £80 more.

It is only one month's rent that is oustanding, January, as I missed the payment due to problems with my current account being accessed fraudulently just after Xmas. I did speak to them and advise them of this at the time and they had agreed that I could repay the money at 'a later date'. That date wasn't actually agreed when I spoke to them on the phone.

Next thing I know the letter arrived, and the enclosed was a printout of their filed claim on the moneyclaim website - I have today received the papers from the court so they have definitely filed a claim

clutton_2

a landlord is entitled legally to pursue you thru the courts if you are two months in arrears - i believe this means that, if your rent day i the first of the month, and you have not paid on Jan 1, by the time it gets to Feb 2 you are then 2 months payments in arrears. What attempts have you made since christmas to pay off the amount you owe ? if you have only made one phone call, then as a landlady, i would assume that you had little intention of paying me at all.

Littlej you say "But I thought you had to prove to the court that you had made a 'reasonable attempt' to recover the money before you could go ahead with a CCJ."

the law allows a landlord to pursue you - why shouldn't it ? Your having signed the Tenancy Agreement means that you have agreed to pay £x on x date each month - you have failed to meet your obligation. Sorry if this is harsh, but, this is the law, and if you had communicated more with your landlord in the past 2 months since Christmas, he may not have done what he has .

regularsaver1

Little_J wrote:

It is only one month's rent that is oustanding, January, as I missed the payment due to problems with my current account being accessed fraudulently just after Xmas. I did speak to them and advise them of this at the time and they had agreed that I could repay the money at 'a later date'. That date wasn't actually agreed when I spoke to them on the phone.

Have you now got this money back from the bank? I hope its been resolved for you