Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt D
Cheers, all 
Very glad it's all over & done with!
It's been just over a year now (!) since my ex-housemates & I moved out of that hell-hole & that <insert extremely rude word here> withheld our deposit.
Just got to wait for him to pay up now, but like I said above, I think (hope) he will as he sounded worried about getting a CCJ (plus if he didn't pay, we'd just presumably be able to go back & get an order to get his salary garnished, or bailiffs sent in, or whatever).
@ me283 - yeah. He bombarded us & the court with so much stuff, so much paperwork, & it was all crap. Heh, and I had to stop myself laughing in the hearing when he tried telling the *Judge* about "the spirit of the law" lol. So surprised at how quick it was - the 1st DJ said 2 hours at least (hence the delay & re-schedule), this one had made her mind up before we got in there, & we were in & out in 10 mins. |
Yep, County Court can be fun!
Re: him not paying, there are many things you can do. Most people opt for a warrant of execution, which means a bailiff knocking on the door. Sadly these days, a lot of debtors know how to "play the game", rendering bailiffs fairly powerless. You could try using a High Court Enforcement Officer, depending on the value though, as they will try a little harder.
Another method, which could be easier in this case, is the garnishee. These days it's called a Third Party Debt Order, and it would be useful to you in many ways. I assume you know the landlord's bank details, so you can effectively get the full debt paid from their bank; but what a lot of people don't realise is that you can garnishee not just the bank, but ANYONE who owes the landlord money. So, if he has new tenants, you just garnishee them instead - so the rent gets paid to you instead of the landlord. And here's another bonus - if you go for his bank account, the bank usually charge him a hefty admin fee too.
Another method would be a Land Registry Charging Order, but these can be costly and time-consuming. Depending on the value of the debt, you could also apply for bankruptcy - again, this can be costly and time-consuming.
One of my favourites at the moment though, is the Oral Examination. Basically, the bailiff will serve an order on the landlord, telling him to attend Court for questioning. He will have to answer q list of detailed questions about assets, income and outgoings, and other stuff, plus any questions that you may wish to add to the list. He will also have to bring evidence in support, such as bank statements, payslips etc. Cheekily, he can actually ask you to pay his expenses for travelling to the Court, but here's the beauty - if he doesn't keep the appointment at the Court, a warrant for his arrest can be issued. When he is arrested, he will be taken to Court for the questioning... unless it's outside Court hours, in which case he gets locked up overnight, or for the weekend. Lovely thought, eh?
I should add, for all of these things there is a fee to pay, However, whatever you pay out gets added to what the Court try to recover from him. Most of the forms are available online, along with guidance. Feel free to to PM me if I can help at all. Good luck!
