Discovered rent Arrears after tenant left

[tlp333]

Hi All,

I have a question. I had an assured short hold agreement with a tenant, and it went from 6 months to a month by month agreement.

3 years later the tenant has left. Handed the notice in, did it all the right way, we agreed the amount to be taken off the deposit, refunded the deposit etc. Found out now a month later that the tenant owed me a months rent (for the 2nd last months rent, they did pay the last though). I sent them a letter stating that they owe me a months rent, but they are not responding.

Is there anything i can do, short of handing it over to a debt collector?

[Dave A]

Annoying as it might be, and you're probably fully within your rights, I'd put it down to experience if it was me. The grief probably isn't going to be worth the outcome.

Unless of course it's a high end whizzy two grand a month job.

Dave

[Melboy]

As you are probably aware now that when finalising a tenant's leaving account you should ensure that the accounting aspect is all up to date before handing back deposits etc etc

You missed a rent payment month only to discover 2 months later that the rent had not been paid into your bank account ???

Your choice if you want to chase the debt or not..... and it will be a chase as well and will cost you money to do so, so it's all up to you if you want the hassle in doing this.

[Chestnut]

Concur with above. Put it behind you. 1 month over three years is not worth hassle and, from what you say, you made a book-keeping error in your closing account.

[Carryon Regardless]

Push 'em for payment, you've nowt to lose.

However since your systems are seemingly lacking in that you missed this payment will you be able to demonstrate your loss to a court?

The continual updating of a rental statement shows me a resultant balance of each tenancy, this would be good documentation for a claim.

In the unlikely event that I fail to show a payment made on the statement the T has opportunity to hi light this.

[Richlist]

I'm at a loss to understand some of the responses you have recieved.

What is so difficult about using the small claims court......this is EXACTLY what it was designed for.

* You download the forms.

* You claim what is owing.

* You add the court costs to the claim.

* You attach your evidence.

Send a letter before action .....detailing what you will do if the rent is not paid NOW and make sure you tell them the court costs that will be added to the claim.

If you can provide hard evidence then its likely you will win.

[Grampa]

I argee with RL and chase collection UNLESS they are on benefits and and they are unlikely to have any money.

Is there a guarentor you can chase?

There is nothing wrong with making a mistake as you have done as long as you can prove what has and has not been paid.

[tlp333]

Thanks everyone. Yes, i did not pay attention as they always paid rent ontime and i never had to check.

They responded and said i was too late, as the agreement has now ended and we agreed on an amount with the deposit. I should have taken it off the deposit they said.

They are not on benefit, but do not have a fixed residence (now live in caravan travelling). But i do know their place of work.

Can i pursue it?

Just to add it was just over a 1000 pounds.

[Melboy]

I'm at a loss to understand some of the responses you have recieved.

Well, as I thought there was always going to be more to this story and..... so there is:

Travelling in a caravan is not going to be easy to give them any Court summons or legal type paperwork and chasing them for the money through their workplace and salaries is not an easy option.

Even if you were to win your case and you probably would, the repayments could be as low as £5 a week. Plenty of cases around that show this to be the case when a case is won by the landlord.

Giving them a CCJ is a step forward in making sure that there is a record of their unpaid debt. You might strike lucky when you point this fact out to them and they may cough up the rent arrears to avoid a bad credit rating but you have given yourself a self inflicted headache and much stress for taking your eye off what was going on with the rent money.

[Richlist]

(now live in caravan travelling). But i do know their place of work.

Well, surely if they have a permanent place of work then they cannot be travelling very far. There are firms who will find where they are located for you.

[Carryon Regardless]

Their response is an admission of the debt in my view.

If they haven't provided a following address you can use the last known address for service of the claim.

At some later date they might well settle down again and you or a debt collector can pursue.

This is my take on things anyway and keen to learn if my thoughts are wrong.

Some years ago I had a T who had swanned off around Sth America, Mexico mainly. bout four yeas later debt collectors caught up with him at my property, and he was lost to understand how. I said it was likely when he registered for Council Tax ??

Nowadays I'm less inclined to ignore a bad debt as after 6 years we lose it totally if we haven't pursued. A CCJ means we can at least try again later sometime.