Tenant owes me almost £8,000 in rent arrears and ran off

So I had a rocky start to my landlady journey, I started quite young and I am- admittedly- too nice and somewhat of a pushover in person and I think it’s noticeable. I let out my property to a tenant that came across me on OpenRent but it turned out I hadn’t let it through them. I was in and out of the country that year and also in and out of hospitals for a lot of operations. I didn’t have anyone to turn to for advice.

This guy and his wife stayed in my flat and kept on making excuses for why they weren’t paying on time saying I’ll pay on this date, I’m trying etc. They both have jobs but he hid the fact that he was in arrears from his partner. They ended up leaving to somewhere else but they haven’t paid. It’s now been two years- I’ve turned to a debt collection agency but they just took my investment and did nothing, found out later that many people had bad experiences with them.

I cant afford a lawyer and this guy is incredibly difficult. I’d be really grateful for some advice/ guidance. Thank you in advance.

It isn’t actually that hard to pursue a small claims case in court without a solicitor. A lease is a contract and you can sue him for it. As it is a small amount it can be done through small claims.

What you need to do is fill in a form, pay a small court fee and provide the court with the last known address(es) to him. Chances are he won’t contest and you’ll get a default judgment that you can have enforced or make him bankrupt.

3 Likes

go for it Revenge is sweet

3 Likes

Lucky that they moved on themselves. It would have taken you a long time to evict them.

2 Likes