Tenant Arrested - How do I Contact Him?

[Andy Morley]

A formerly reliable tenant of 5 years standing has missed two payments and has not been seen for five weeks.  The local police tell me that they 'know where he is and he is safe and well'. That is code which probably means he has been arrested.  Before I go through any formal proceedings I would like to talk to him but the police will not facilitate any contact.  Is there any way I can use Habeus Corpus or other such legislation to find out where he is being detained and make contact with him?

[Grampa]

I guessing you just want possession back of your property and if so just serve a S8 and S21 if applicable. He would know he is in arrears and if was that bothered would have arranged someone to pay on his behalf or at least contact you.

You could ask the police to pass a letter on for you.

[Andy Morley]

The police will not pass on any letters or messages.  As he is a long-standing tenant, I do actually want to speak to him before I start the eviction process if at all possible. Does anyone here know the protocol for contacting prisoners on remand?

 

[adonaghy]

Being a landlord in Glasgow I had an experience of this although rent was still being paid. I called couple of prisons and one kindly told me which one to contact. Officer at prison agreed to have a messages passed to him and I received a call. Prison social worker was going to be my next step but wasn’t required. Tenant assured me he wanted to keep tenancy and payment continued. 

[Andy Morley]

Thanks - approaching the local prison was not an option that I had considered.