Frustrations with the legal system and a tenant that defaulted payments

JamesY201

I will try and keep this brief, and am aware I may need to cut my losses. I rented out a property through a letting agency that did the relevant checks of ID etc. The tenant defaulted payment within 3 months and failed to make any further payments for 5 months. An eviction order was made, but the tenant vacated the property just before lockdown March 2020. The court hearing was converted to a money claim for a little over £5000 but the court date was put back until April 2021 due to covid. The case was found in my favour, in the absence of the defendant. I had no forwarding address but after a little digging around, found a current address for the tenant. The sheriffs went to retrieve the missed payments after they themselves confirmed the tenant's identity. The tenant then denied he had taken out the tenancy agreement and the case went to court again this month. I had the passport of the tenant with his date of birth and middle name as well as his photo. The tenant confirmed the name and date of birth, but as it was a telephone hearing, we could not confirm his face. The tenant claimed he had possibly lost his passport a year or so back. The judge was satisfied that there was more than a "fanciful" chance that the tenant was telling the truth, and therefore advised that I resubmit another claim for this individual to ascertain the identity.

My question is, is it worth it? As usual, the courts gave very little direction as to how to proceed insomuch as they said I could use the current claim, however I may also need to pay further costs.

Just frustrated but angry and stubborn enough to pursue this.

canaldumidi

Very frustrating!

Key question- has the T got any assets? If not, sheriffs won't be able to get money. So you have to weigh up the choice:

hassle, additional costs and possibility of getting some money Vs total write-off but clean start

BrownTrout

Why on earth did you allow this case go to a telephone hearing, you should have on allocation to the small claims track insist this was a face to face hearing with the reasons stated and it would have then been a f2f hearing
It sounds like the tenant has applied for a set aside is that correct?
Post up the order exactly as it is from the court, this will give clear guidance on what to do next
You don't start a new claim.  The only fee you will have to pay is the hearing/trial fee.

JamesY201

canaldumidi said:

Very frustrating!

Key question- has the T got any assets? If not, sheriffs won't be able to get money. So you have to weigh up the choice:

hassle, additional costs and possibility of getting some money Vs total write-off but clean start

I have had that dialogue with myself. He claims to be working, and took the call whilst he was in Amsterdam. I appreciate he may not have anything to claim from, however I may be satisfied with a CCJ in his name to spare anyone else this hassle from this individual.

JamesY201

BrownTrout said:

Why on earth did you allow this case go to a telephone hearing, you should have on allocation to the small claims track insist this was a face to face hearing with the reasons stated and it would have then been a f2f hearing
It sounds like the tenant has applied for a set aside is that correct?
Post up the order exactly as it is from the court, this will give clear guidance on what to do next
You don't start a new claim.  The only fee you will have to pay is the hearing/trial fee.

Thanks for the reply. I didn't ask for a telephone hearing and it was always a struggle to get a reply from the courts. This has been going on through Covid and as a hospital consultant through that time, I have had very little time to give this the attention it deserved. My head had been preoccupied with other matters. The judge has not written up their order yet, and seemed to be particularly vague on the day.

BrownTrout

JamesY201 said:

canaldumidi said:

Very frustrating!

Key question- has the T got any assets? If not, sheriffs won't be able to get money. So you have to weigh up the choice:

hassle, additional costs and possibility of getting some money Vs total write-off but clean start

I have had that dialogue with myself. He claims to be working, and took the call whilst he was in Amsterdam. I appreciate he may not have anything to claim from, however I may be satisfied with a CCJ in his name to spare anyone else this hassle from this individual.

Personally you should go for it, if you have the trial fee left to pay, definitely worth 
But post up the orders .  You can then (if you win) find out where he is working and then get an attachment of earnings order against him
A third party debt order is also possible , but depends on his banking assets.  Don't bother with HCEOs they really are a waste of time for domestic cases like this

JamesY201

BrownTrout said:

JamesY201 said:

canaldumidi said:

Very frustrating!

Key question- has the T got any assets? If not, sheriffs won't be able to get money. So you have to weigh up the choice:

hassle, additional costs and possibility of getting some money Vs total write-off but clean start

I have had that dialogue with myself. He claims to be working, and took the call whilst he was in Amsterdam. I appreciate he may not have anything to claim from, however I may be satisfied with a CCJ in his name to spare anyone else this hassle from this individual.

Personally you should go for it, if you have the trial fee left to pay, definitely worth 
But post up the orders .  You can then (if you win) find out where he is working and then get an attachment of earnings order against him
A third party debt order is also possible , but depends on his banking assets.  Don't bother with HCEOs they really are a waste of time for domestic cases like this

Thanks. Yes my experience with HCEOs has not been great in the past. Will post when the order arrives. BY all accounts any day soon.

BrownTrout

JamesY201 said:

BrownTrout said:

JamesY201 said:

canaldumidi said:

Very frustrating!

Key question- has the T got any assets? If not, sheriffs won't be able to get money. So you have to weigh up the choice:

hassle, additional costs and possibility of getting some money Vs total write-off but clean start

I have had that dialogue with myself. He claims to be working, and took the call whilst he was in Amsterdam. I appreciate he may not have anything to claim from, however I may be satisfied with a CCJ in his name to spare anyone else this hassle from this individual.

Personally you should go for it, if you have the trial fee left to pay, definitely worth 
But post up the orders .  You can then (if you win) find out where he is working and then get an attachment of earnings order against him
A third party debt order is also possible , but depends on his banking assets.  Don't bother with HCEOs they really are a waste of time for domestic cases like this

Thanks. Yes my experience with HCEOs has not been great in the past. Will post when the order arrives. BY all accounts any day soon.

It will probably say "claimant to serve claim within xx days" make sure you don't mis the deadlines as the date the order gets sent out may not leave you much time, maybe worth you giving the court a court and taking a note of what the order was

The reserve you claim, put the defendant to strict proof they are not the person in the photograph etc.  Then when it gets a hearing date if it mentions a hearing via CVP/BT Meet me, email the listings team  @ the court and explain why it needs to be a physical hearing, or when you submit the defence put that in the email

If you want to send me a message as to your location i **may** be able to assist with one aspect, just depends on where you are in the country!

london21

Your Persistence is admirable
 
It is really annoying when it goes wrong. 

Hopefully goes in your favour and can recover money owed or at least get a CCJ  issued. 

BrownTrout

london21 said:

Your Persistence is admirable
 
It is really annoying when it goes wrong. 

Hopefully goes in your favour and can recover money owed or at least get a CCJ  issued. 

A ccj with no payment is a piric victory 

penners324

Sounds like it's far beyond a ccj