Order For Possession - how to proceed?

recession

Hi

I am a landlord (pretty poor one!) and have a tenant who owes me several months of rent. Anyway I went through the Section 8 route and then went to court etc, the tenant did not appear in court. The tenant is not contacting me at all or answering any calls and is still living in the property. I have an Order For Possession arrive through the post over the weekend which has also been sent to the Tenant, this states that the Tenant has to leave before the 29th March afterwhich I can authorise a Baliff etc.

Please can someone advise what steps I need to take (I know I need to register with a Landlord forum and will do now!), with steps I mean do I go to Court again on the 29th and pay the fees for a Baliff? this assuming the Tenant is still there?

Or if I go to the property on the 29th and find the Tenant is not in but their belongings are, can I enter the property? or can I only enter once with Baliffs ?

Any other advise on how to proceed wil be very welcome. After several months of heartache I want to make sure I follow the correct procedures.

Thanks

nikki1520

Do NOT enter the property!!

After the 29th, you can go back to the court with an application for a warrant for possession, pay your fee (about £110) - or you can do it online if using PCOL. THen, you have to wait for a bailiff appointment. When you get this date, you turn up on the morning, park your car a bit out of the way, and have tools etc to change locks etc. They will obtain entrance, and remove your tenant.

Then, and only then, can you enter the property.

It takes anywhere between 4-6 weeks for a bailiff appointment, depending on how busy they are in your area.

Following this, if your court order specifies that the amount outstanding should be paid by the tenant, you have to track her down, then apply for a warrant of execution - this allows you to send the bailiffs round for what you are owed. Unless they've managed to distrain on goods while she is moving out.

It's a long process - travel well!

recession

Thanks for the response.


Over 4 weeks for a Baliff appointment - that is heart breaking, I had assumed it would be a matter of days.

I would therefore not enter the building, not sure how I can find out where the tenant will move to therefore doubt if I can progress with the claim?

nikki1520

If you know their name, and you know what town they are in, wait until the next electoral roll is published and look them up. Or, you may be lucky and they've cheesed their friends off so much that one of them drops you an anonymous note with the details. There's hundreds of ways of finding people - I found a rent owing tenant when she posted a picture of her new house on facebook (bad privacy settings!) and knowing the general area it was in, I walked up and down using google streetview until I found it.

Or you can pay someone to do it for you. Or you can decide to cut your losses, learn the lessons and move on.

Like I said, it depends which area you are as to how busy the court bailiffs are - round here, they're REALLY busy - I've had an outstanding warrant since November!

G_M

I admit I've never had to go this far, but I'd

1) try again to contact the tenant to confirm they are leaving on/before 29th and arrange key hand-over (change the locks!)
2) go round on the 29th with your court documents. If the property has been clearly vacated, fine.

If not, then you have to wait for the bailiffs.

recession

Hi

Thanks tried talking to the tenants and unfortunately did not work, basically told me straight they will stay until the last day of the baliffs.

So just to clarify should I pay the baliffs on the 30th at the earliest?

Does any know if there is a difference in costs to do this online, I have spent a long time looking on my possession claims online account and cannot find a section to start the baliffs?

Thanks

biggary139

Hi,
On or after the 29th; if you have the time to sit and watch the house.
You tenant will leave the house at some point, to shop to take the kids to school perhaps.. it's at this point the house has been vacated by the tenant.
Gain access, change the locks.
Take with you, all your documents from the court etc.
Video your tenant leaving the house, because later when he/she returnsand and kicks off, (Phone Police at this point, and explain that somebody is trying to break into your premises).
You will have video evidence to show the Police that your ex tenant is trespassing.

The tenant left their belongings, recoup some of your losses by selling these.
This is the way I would go about it.

Ms_Speculatrix

If the tenant has kids the council will provide housing but only if she is escorted from the house by the bailiffs. I have just been in a similar situation and that is the advice I was given - in no way to leave. However if there are arrears the council may limit the help they are prepared to give. These sorts of situations are very difficult from both sides.

The last poster mentioned changing the locks and actually selling the tenants things - I think you need to check that out very carefully. If you sell it you could risk being charged with theft.

The landlords forum is probably your best bet. Good luck.

recession

biggary139 - thanks I would dearly love to do this, but am very axious that I do not want to waste the several months it has taken to get this far. This is all new to me but a bit concerned if the police took the tenants side as there is no baliff currently involved.

From the latest conversation the tenant is working - but from the hundreds of lies I have been told who knows if this is accurate or not.

SavvyStudentSaver

I'm no expert, but I really think that what bigarry139 has suggested would count as an illegal eviction. Go via the bailiff route.

Again, I don't really know, but I'm sure there must be a reason that this isn't given as advice regularly on these boards.

BitterAndTwisted

bigarry139 is a fool (or a troll), so please do not pay any attention to their advice/opinion unless you relish being in very, very hot-water.

You must not enter the property, better to not even be physically near it or you could be in danger of accusations of harassment.

Join a landlords association without delay and go through the process of having a bailiff appointed. Only when the bailiff arrives at the property to physically evict them and their possessions should you be anywhere around. With a locksmith in tow.

People are careless and sometimes very stupid indeed, so you may be able to locate them sooner or later, especially if you know where they work.

It might be worth having a chat with the Local Authority in case they have approached them for rehousing. Not likely if they are being evicted for rent-arrears but they could be claiming LHA contributions towards their rent and not paying you with the money.