Taking a housemate to court over unpaid bills and rent.

BigAunty

spacey2012 wrote: »

If the address of the shared flat is the last know address of the person you can serve your papers to that address, to avoid a non service claim you advertise the case number and persons named in the claim in a local newspaper notices section and keep this.
You would get a default judgement without having to go near court if nobody picks it up, but getting your money is the hard bit.

Notices section example:
Notice : MR John Doe is served papers to last know address(14a pishtake avenue) by Northampton county court MCOL for a claim of monies owed, Mr john Doe is Herby placed on notice of legal proceedings in action.
In the local paper, that does away with any false service claim.

Are you absolutely sure this is legit in England/Wales as I know this is permitted in Scotland but I've never heard of a similar concession elsewhere? Do you have a link to the HM court small claims website to support this?

G_M

BigAunty wrote: »

Are you absolutely sure this is legit in England/Wales as I know this is permitted in Scotland but I've never heard of a similar concession elsewhere? Do you have a link to the HM court small claims website to support this?

I have not researched this much - just a quick google which found this. See:

http://www.owenwhite.com/downloads/newsletters/social-housing/social_housing_newsletter-apr09.pdf

the change in Part 6 means that if the claimant is aware that the defendant no longer resides at the property the claimant must now take reasonable steps to find out the defendant’s current address. For example, if the claimant has relatives’ details on file it may be necessary to contact them or perhaps make enquiries of the police, any social worker, probation officer or council tax department.
If the claimant discovers where the defendant is currently living following those reasonable enquires, the court proceedings must be served at that new address.
If after taking reasonable steps, the claimant is unable to establish where the defendant is now living, the claimant must consider whether the proceedings would come to the defendant’s attention if served in an alternative way. An example might be to serve at a place where the defendant regularly visits, for example his/her mother’s address. If the claimant believes there is such an alternative place of service it must make an application to court for permission to serve the papers at the alternative address or by an alternative method. The application must show the steps taken to find out where the defendant lives and be supported by a witness statement.

Enquiries lead to no information

It is only if the claimant has carried out all of the above enquiries and is still unable to find out where the defendant lives or to find an alternative place to serve the court papers, that the claimant may serve the proceedings on the defendant’s last known address.

Fire_Fox

There is no point in serving papers to the last known address, you can't enforce it via bailiffs without a current address. You also risk them applying for a 'set aside' on grounds of not being aware of the court action and not being able to defend themselves. Only use the card to pay the bills IF the bills are actually in that tenant's name, NOT in your name and definitely don't do it from your home address use a internet cafe.

moneybelle

Fire_Fox wrote: »

There is no point in serving papers to the last known address, you can't enforce it via bailiffs without a current address. You also risk them applying for a 'set aside' on grounds of not being aware of the court action and not being able to defend themselves. Only use the card to pay the bills IF the bills are actually in that tenant's name, NOT in your name and definitely don't do it from your home address use a internet cafe.

If the OP knows the employer then the order can be enforced against the flatmates pay and a bailiff will not be necessary.

The OP can also communicate with the flatmate via the place of employment or his Mum; and inform him of any court action.

The OP can ask the Mum for his new address; no harm in asking.

If the the OP shows he is resolute in persuing the flatmate; that may be all it takes to get the flatmate to pay up without the need for court action.

Fire_Fox

moneybelle wrote: »

If the OP knows the employer then the order can be enforced against the flatmates pay and a bailiff will not be necessary.

The OP can also communicate with the flatmate via the place of employment or his Mum; and inform him of any court action.

The OP can ask the Mum for his new address; no harm in asking.

If the the OP shows he is resolute in persuing the flatmate; that may be all it takes to get the flatmate to pay up without the need for court action.

It is not a good idea to use the employer except as a last resort and it is a terrible idea to tell any friends/ colleagues about the debt or legal action, even a close relative unless they are the guarantor. Data Protection is an issue, harassment legislation, they could claim their employment/ employability has been harmed.

Yes you can sometimes get an attachment of earnings, but only in the case of a judgement that was 100% by the book. If you used a fake address or an address you know to be defunct the person can apply for a 'set aside', if granted you need to start from scratch with the small claims action.

Sponge

No advice, but I have a question - what happens if you and your friend only pay your share of the rent? Will the landlord/lady simply come after you and/or your friend as he/she knows where you live? Or does he/she have to make a reasonable effort to trace the absent party?

BigAunty

Sponge wrote: »

No advice, but I have a question - what happens if you and your friend only pay your share of the rent? Will the landlord/lady simply come after you and/or your friend as he/she knows where you live? Or does he/she have to make a reasonable effort to trace the absent party?

A jointly signed tenancy does not recognise individual tenants and hence their share of the rent. There is a single sum of £x rent due on x date by the tenant (i.e. the whole group). There is a joint and several liability - the landlord doesn't need to persue the non-paying tenant and can go after any individual tenant on the tenancy agreement. There is no requirement for them to make any effort to trace the absent party - all/any tenant is liable for outstanding rent in a joint tenancy.