advice please for first court date

[lanaby]

hello all. I have a court date in several weeks for my tenant with accumulated rent arrears. I've never had to take a tenant to court before and would like to know what to expect. She failed to pass on two month's Housing Benefit to me but I am now receiving the rent directly from benefits and I can keep her deposit as it was prior to the change in law. She has recently made a last minute offer to pay back the arrears at a small monthly amount which I refused but I made a counter offer, ie half the money in a lump sum and a payment plan for the rest.

If I accept a repayment plan if she offers it in court, I will get rent from now on and some of the arrears will be paid but I'll still have a crap tenant living in my property.

If I go for possession, I'll have the unpaid arrears, a messy house to get cleaned, and no rent while that's being done and new tenants are found but the problem tenant with a crap attitude will be out of my house.

as I'm writing this the answer seems pretty obvious but any advice on how things might go in court would be appreciated.

thanks

lanaby

[Preston]

Hi

Only you can judge really. For what its worth, my own view is that when I've got as far as court action, I need something pretty special and convincing not to go through with it. The choice in my mind is between a known bad payer and the possibility of getting someone more reliable; the bad payers are the exception, not the rule.

Good luck.

Preston

[lanaby]

Thanks Preston. It's hard to know when to say enough is enough, especially if there's a chance I could get some of my arrears back. there are many others on this site who wont ever see their money again and I guess I feel slightly fortunate in that there is a chance I will see some of it.

lanaby