Tenant has moved and left a lot of damage

timberflake

Hi guys,


I'm posting this for a friend and would appreciate some advice.


So my friend owns a house and has been privately renting it, but over the past few months the tenant has not been paying rent, so my friend started proceedings to evict her. However, the tenant got wind of this and moved out of the property, but not before causing over £10k of damage.


The question is, is there any way of tracking her down? Can my friend start court proceedings on someone that she doesn't have an address for?


The tenant was receiving benefits and my friend went to the council but they were very unhelpful and didn't really want to know.


Thanks

Pixie5740

Your friend could try tracking the tenant down using a service such as Monkey Finder. He could take her to small claims court and he might even win. However, winning a judgement is the easy part, enforcing it is another matter. The chances of your friend getting all the money back is slim to none especially if her only income is benefits but your friend might just like the satisfaction of getting a CCJ awarded against her as a warning to future landlords.

Has the tenant served notice, or agreed a surrender, or been granted an eviction order? If none apply then he has to be careful about taking possession of the property back.

G_M

There are tracing companies who for a fee will find people. Never used them so can't recommend: try google

If the tenant was on benefits, presumably the landlord took a guarantor. Send bill to him/her.

During tenant-vetting, presumably landlord took up references (family, employer, previous LL etc). Trace via them.

Court notices can be served on
a) the last known address
b) the defendant's residence. Since it appears the tenancy has not ended, the tenant's address has not changed.

Make sure all costs are fully documented, damage is supported by contractors' quotes, estimates and/or receipts fully detailing the work

See also


* Deposits: payment, protection and return

KingS6

Yes. A private investigator.

timberflake

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Your friend could try tracking the tenant down using a service such as Monkey Finder. He could take her to small claims court and he might even win. However, winning a judgement is the easy part, enforcing it is another matter. The chances of your friend getting all the money back is slim to none especially if her only income is benefits but your friend might just like the satisfaction of getting a CCJ awarded against her as a warning to future landlords.

Has the tenant served notice, or agreed a surrender, or been granted an eviction order? If none apply then he has to be careful about taking possession of the property back.

Thanks for the response, with regards to the last paragraph, I'm not sure she has service notice or anything. Does she have to do this to take the property back?

Guest101

timberflake wrote: »

Hi guys,


I'm posting this for a friend and would appreciate some advice.


So my friend owns a house and has been privately renting it, but over the past few months the tenant has not been paying rent, so my friend started proceedings to evict her. However, the tenant got wind of this and moved out of the property, but not before causing over £10k of damage. - So she never finalised the eviction? Risky, the tenant might come back and claim illegal eviction (but it's unlikely)


The question is, is there any way of tracking her down? - Yes, hire an investigation agency. She must do this, otherwise the court process might fail. Can my friend start court proceedings on someone that she doesn't have an address for? - Not really. You can serve at last known address, but it's a very simple set aside to get, the LL knows the tenant isn't there.


The tenant was receiving benefits and my friend went to the council but they were very unhelpful and didn't really want to know. - In what way did you/she expect them to help??!!


Thanks

When you say the tenant 'got wind of this' - what do you mean??!!


The LL must've served notice on the tenant, or was this going to be dodgy Dave down the pub and his mates?

Guest101

timberflake wrote: »

Thanks for the response, with regards to the last paragraph, I'm not sure she has service notice or anything. Does she have to do this to take the property back?

So how did she 'start the process to evict'??!!

timberflake

Guest101 wrote: »

When you say the tenant 'got wind of this' - what do you mean??!!


The LL must've served notice on the tenant, or was this going to be dodgy Dave down the pub and his mates?

A mutual friend of the landlord and tenant let slip to the tenant that she was applying for eviction so the tenant trashed the placed and moved out without saying anything. So the LL never actually got to the point of serving the eviction as she did a runner beforehand.

Pixie5740

timberflake wrote: »

Thanks for the response, with regards to the last paragraph, I'm not sure she has service notice or anything. Does she have to do this to take the property back?

A tenancy can only be ended by the tenant, a court, or by mutual surrender. If none of those things have happened then the tenancy still continues.

Guest101

timberflake wrote: »

A mutual friend of the landlord and tenant let slip to the tenant that she was applying for eviction so the tenant trashed the placed and moved out without saying anything. So the LL never actually got to the point of serving the eviction as she did a runner beforehand.

Applying how?!


the LL must serve notice on the tenant. (your friend needs some lessons on being a LL asap!)

Guest101

I'm not defending the tenant, but how unprofessional to discuss this with a 3rd party, especially one who knows the tenant...