Tenant referred to debt collector

Houls25

Hello,

I have gotten in a bit of a situation with a rental property. We have been renting for 3 years and have had rats in the house for larger portions of this. They come. The landlord puts down poison. They are gone for a while and then they come back. The landlord has failed to tackle the real issue which is access. 

Anyway, I live here with young children and we have handed in notice and are moving out. To get the landlord to act I reported it to the council and also stopped paying rent. I tried to negotiate with the landlord for damage to our property and the hassle we have encountered dealing with this for 2 years.

The landlord has sent our outstanding rent to a debt collector. I know I should have dealt with both issues separately but I was also temporarily out of work and have just bought a house so am under a bit of pressure. I can now pay the rent and pursue damages separately. I was wondering though do I need to pay the debt collectors fees as well? The lease mentions legal costs but not debt collector fees.

Thanks

Schwarzwald

you kind of acknowledge your mistake in entangling various matters and then decide not to pay rent (a bit also like your post is written tbh...).

at the end, how much are the debt collectors fees? 
cant you just pay them off and move on and put this all to bed?

Grumpy_chap

Houls25 said:

Hello,

I have gotten in a bit of a situation with a rental property. We have been renting for 3 years and have had rats in the house for larger portions of this. They come. The landlord puts down poison. They are gone for a while and then they come back. The landlord has failed to tackle the real issue which is access. 

Anyway, I live here with young children and we have handed in notice and are moving out. To get the landlord to act I reported it to the council and also stopped paying rent. I tried to negotiate with the landlord for damage to our property and the hassle we have encountered dealing with this for 2 years.

The landlord has sent our outstanding rent to a debt collector. I know I should have dealt with both issues separately but I was also temporarily out of work and have just bought a house so am under a bit of pressure. I can now pay the rent and pursue damages separately. I was wondering though do I need to pay the debt collectors fees as well? The lease mentions legal costs but not debt collector fees.

Thanks

You need to pay the rent (including back rent).  As soon as that is done, no further debt collector fees will accrue.
You may need to pay the debt collector fees to date.  Check the documentation.

What damages do you think you can pursue from whom?
Why do you think that damages are owed?

I am not sure that dealing with he rats is necessarily for the LL to resolve.  At least not LL sole responsibility.
The tenant also needs to act in a "tenant-like" manner, so doing the things that a normal householder would do.  I would suggest that would include laying rat poison if required.  This article seems to agree https://1let.co.uk/news/tenant-like-manner-what-exactly-does-it-mean

theartfullodger

Was there a court judgement over this debt?  If not ignore the blood-sucking debt collector... they have AFAIK no power.

But yes, you do owe. Suggest you start paying a regular amount each month against debt - say £5 - to show willing.

Artful, landlord since 2000

Houls25

Schwarzwald said:

you kind of acknowledge your mistake in entangling various matters and then decide not to pay rent (a bit also like your post is written tbh...).

at the end, how much are the debt collectors fees? 
cant you just pay them off and move on and put this all to bed?

Maybe. Debt collection fees are £700 plus interest. I don't mind the interest.

Houls25

theartfullodger said:

Was there a court judgement over this debt?  If not ignore the blood-sucking debt collector... they have AFAIK no power.

But yes, you do owe. Suggest you start paying a regular amount each month against debt - say £5 - to show willing.

Artful, landlord since 2000

My wife is terrified of getting a CCJ so don't want to get to that stage

theartfullodger

Understand..

Has this got to court on not, please?? (CCJ means County Court judgement.. only they can start it off...)

Good luck

propertyrental

As asked, has there been a court hearing and a court judgement?

It makes a huge difference!

What has the council done or said regarding the rats?

Houls25

propertyrental said:

As asked, has there been a court hearing and a court judgement?

It makes a huge difference!

What has the council done or said regarding the rats?

No there hasn't been a court hearing. Just being chased by debt collectors now.

The council wrote to the landlady to get her to resolve the issue. She hasn't done that. We are moving out now so they seem to have closed the issue.