Taking the co-tenant to small claims court for rent arrears.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81972614#Comment_81972614

If the contract is joint and severally then it doesnt say he has to pay a penny, that would be a joint contract, the severally means rather than it being a 50:50 agreement its basically a 100:100 agreement. Landlords will always prefer such a contract as it means if one tenant falls on hard times or disappears they can still pursue the other tenant(s) for the full rent but it provides no evidence of what the agreement between the tenants are. Its certainly not that uncommon for rents not to be 50:50 because one person gets the master bedroom with the ensuite and the other gets the box room.

Avg_Joe

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81972835#Comment_81972835

Yes, you are right. Lessons learned here to sign additional contracts in the future. One that will clearly state all the obligations. I suppose in my case, I will try to rely on my bank statements to prove that my ex-housemate was aware of his obligations. Hopefully, the fact that he paid clearly stating the month and reason in the transactions will be enough.

user1977

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81972835#Comment_81972835

No, joint and several also means that the OP is entitled to recompense from their co-debtor if they've paid more than their share.

Avg_Joe

Thank you for all the advice so far. To potentially proceed with the debt recovery from one individual to another individual what protocol should I use?

_Penny_Dreadful

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81977699#Comment_81977699

The first step is to send your former flatmate a letter before action stating how much he owes you and giving him a date by which to repay it, within 14 days is pretty standard.

Then if/when he doesn’t pay up, assuming you’re in England or Wales, you file a money claim online. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different processes.

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

HobgoblinBT

If it were me, I would use a tracing agent to find his home address. Then speak to him with the objective of setting up an arrangement to repay you. If that fails then issue a letter before action to his home address and if you want to add more pressure, send a copy of the letter to him at his workplace address by special delivery mail ie one that he or a work colleague will have to sign for. If signed for by someone else, or even if someone calls him to sign for it they will possibly ask him questions, adding to the pressure.

I know that some forum members will disagree with me on this one, but this so called friend has screwed you for rent that you verbally agreed to equally share and he has not carried out on his obligation to pay half of the total rent. From what you say, the rental agreement between tenants and landlord was joint and several but you are not acting on that…………..your agreement with your co tennant was for each of you to pay half.

The aim to is to create pressure on him to get the repayment. Then carry through to the small claims court, if it gets that far then follow up the CCJ with enforcement with High Court bailiffs.

If he is doing well financially and he has any common sense he will not want a CCJ on his credit report that could cause him problems in applying for a mortgage, renting a house, taking out a credit card or even a mobile phone contract.

My two experiences of letters before action to businesses rather than individuals led to resolutions offered on the day of receipt of the notice.

Good luck.

Jude57

If you choose to go via the small claims track, the other party doesn't defend the claim and/or loses the case, they have a short period in which to pay in full and avoid a CCJ being recorded against them. If they don't pay after the CCJ is awarded, I'd personally go for an Attachment of Earnings Order as you know where the debtor works.. It's an Order of the Court to the employer to deduct a set percentage of salary/wage from the debtor until the debt is cleared of the Court suspends or cancels the Order. Neither the employer not the debtor can legally ignore the Order, though the debtor can apply to the Court to vary it.

There's more information for the employer here:

https://www.gov.uk/debt-deductions-from-employee-pay/getting-an-order

And for the debtor here:

https://www.gov.uk/debt-payments-from-your-wages

Yorkie1

Make sure to include your costs for issuing the court proceedings in your claim, if it gets to formal court proceedings.