Lodger moved out owing rent and now unreachable

letitbe90

AdrianC wrote: »

Another vote here for suggesting you balance the time, effort and cost to find him...

Even if you do find him, what if he's skint and happy to have (another?) CCJ ding on his record? You get nothing. Or maybe a very small payment. Woo. And how much did it cost to get that far? It would probably have been cheaper to let him get away with it.

It's one of the expected costs of being in the residential letting business...

Next time - better referencing. Because I bet it's not the first time he's pulled this trick.

Although it makes financial sense in many cases not to pursue, the problem is that such lack of action just motivates others to do the same. It is the same with petty crime, the less you enforce it, the more it happens.

I would pursue it to court to deter others from doing so. What do you think this guy is going to do when he gets away with it, tell all his friends and families how easy it is to get away with not paying.

I would be happy with a CCJ being issues alone, even if I don’t get my money back. That’ll help a lot of other people avoid him at the very least. If everyone does the same and don’t ignore it - collectively it means we all have less chance of being caught out.

getmore4less

Keep all the evidence.

you have 6 years.

When they resurface a claim may have more success if you check they have money.

expl0rer

Thanks for the replies. The sum is under £1000, so probably not worth pursuing.

That said, I resonate with letitbe90.

DCFC79

expl0rer wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. The sum is under £1000, so probably not worth pursuing.

That said, I resonate with letitbe90.

Hazyjo asked did you take a deposit ?

martindow

Have you tried looking on Facebook for him, or for any friends or relatives of his that you know of? Some people who avoid leaving a forwarding address can be freely leaving information elsewhere.


I agree that even if you find an address it can be fruitless pursuing someone who is unlikely to pay. However, some people will spend some money to get a CCJ as a matter of principle.

Comms69

expl0rer wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. The sum is under £1000, so probably not worth pursuing.

That said, I resonate with letitbe90.

Enough to throw good money after bad?

pearl123

I agree try facebook. Perhaps, the CAB could offer some advice too.

westernpromise

Give it long enough and he will surely be traceable via 192.com.

So you surely take him to the Small Claims Court, get a CCJ, and when he pops up again, that's when you enforce.

getmore4less

6 years people move on.

if you are lucky taking action just when they want to buy a house might get them to cough up quickly.

tom9980

Install whatsapp on the phone with their number on, you can see status updates and when the user was last online with that if they have whatsapp installed as well. Potentially useful to know if they are still using a number.