Tracing and finding ex-T who left rent arrears

[doxy]

After an unnecessarily long tussle, lasting over a year, I have finally managed to evict my tenant from hell. This former con woman is now at large leaving me over £10,000 poorer and my flat in a right state.

I have CCJs of over 5000 against her already none of which have been satisfied. What is the best way to trace her and serve her with the remaining summons to get my dough? Or is it a case of cutting losses?

Going forward if for some strange wiered reason she wishes to contact me to settle the debt, how would she find me given that I am out of the country quite frequently......

[helpercell]

is this the person who conned you?

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff107434.htm

[BeeKayEmm]

Tracing and finding ex-T who left rent arrears

How do we trace tenants who have disappeared owing us a lot of money ? ;
as new landlords to a very run down building, we have tenants who have disappeared leaving behind the detritus of several years of squalid living. We needed two skips to clear out their flat alone and there are now eight weeks rent owing . No notice was given by these tenants, it was a case of "now you see 'em,now you don't . The bill for this is over £1,000 . Are their any agencies who will track these people ? They left behind a lot of bank statements which I have kept and I have established that he was once employed by a major DIY chain. We had a valid 6 month tenancy agreement which they have clearly breached.

Help would be appreciated

[mjpl]

In my experience you will be very lucky to recover anything.

There are some tracing agencies but I will have to let you know some names tomorrow. Alternatively do a search on the internet.

[MrShed]

As mjpl said you will be very very lucky. Even by running off standards that isnt much to go on! Do you have ANYTHING that he has a current link to? Not that it probably matters....data protection act really screws up any attempts to chase people like this!

On a side note, be careful about entering the property when they havent formally given up the property! If they return you could get done for unlawful eviction!

[Gigi]

On a side note, be careful about entering the property when they havent formally given up the property! If they return you could get done for unlawful eviction!

This is a problem I just had - the tenant cancelled his standing order so I called him and he said he had moved his stuff out. I told him I wasn't allowed to enter the property until he had 'handed over possession'. Then he moaned because I kept back one weeks rent for that week.

I assume these moonlighters weren't paying by standing order? If they were would that be one way of contacting them through the bank?

[harvey]

Tracing tenants - Rent arrears

Hello all. This is my first post but I have been reading the forum for a while, it helped to understand the whole section 21 & 8 processes and the procedure at court etc. Not living in the UK I used a solicitor to do all the work and teh tenants left (luckly) on the date set by the court.

They of course have left the place like a tip but at least we have our place back.

They left leaving no new address. The solicitor has sent me a list of options to try trace them and to try to get the money that they owe me. Given that I know every man and his dog is after them (We even received a letter here in Germany from the Inland Revenue who are trying to trace them). I have decided to wait for a while to let the dust settle.

To my question:

I have discovered that they are redirecting their mail. I would of course like to get at their new address. Does anybody know if I can ask the post office for the new address ? Or if the fact that the mail is redirected if this could have other advantages for me ? Would a tracing agency be able to ask the Post Office for the address ?

Thanks for your help

[Poppy]

Have you telephoned Royal Mail yet? That's your next step.

Have you also deduced that people find the cost of tracing/chasing payment usually outweighs the original debt?

[harvey]

I have called the post office who site data protection as the reason for not giving me the redirection address.

The debt (awarded by the court hearing) is around 9K so I thought I would see what was possible.

[MrShed]

I suspect that the Royal Mail giving out the address would fall under the DPA. However, there is a clause in the DPA that allows(does not obligate) them to give out the address in case of legal disputes, which I think this may fall under. I would look up the DPA, get the exact wording of the legislation etc, then phone Royal Mail and quote all this to them.

The other issue would be, if there is a valid redirection in place, could it be seen as valid service to serve papers etc to this address, knowing that the redirection should get the post to the person in question?

[harvey]

Dpa

OK I found what I think is the relevant part of the DPA, armed with this I called the PO back. Who have now given me an address in Bristol (Seals and customer services), previously they were not prepared to give me anything.


Disclosures required by law or made in connection with legal proceedings etc.
35. - (1) Personal data are exempt from the non-disclosure provisions where the disclosure is required by or under any enactment, by any rule of law or by the order of a court.

(2) Personal data are exempt from the non-disclosure provisions where the disclosure is necessary-

(a) for the purpose of, or in connection with, any legal proceedings (including prospective legal proceedings), or
(b) for the purpose of obtaining legal advice,
or is otherwise necessary for the purposes of establishing, exercising or defending legal rights.

[optimus prime]

Tracing agents

I'm trying to recover an outstanding debt through the small claims court but I'm pretty sure that the last known address of the debtor is his parent's address - I don't know whether he is actually living there or whether it's somewhere else unknown.

I've tried checking on the electoral roll but the parent's address is not on the register. So in the absence of any other ideas, I was considering using a tracing agent to find out if he is living with his parents or to find the other unknown address.

Does anyone have any experience of using tracing agents? Are there any agents you would recommend? How expensive is it? Do the agents actually have access to the unedited electoral roll or other data protected info? Or are there any other ways to get access to the unedited electoral roll?

[jeffrey]

I'm trying to recover an outstanding debt through the small claims court but I'm pretty sure that the last known address of the debtor is his parent's address - I don't know whether he is actually living there or whether it's somewhere else unknown.

I've tried checking on the electoral roll but the parent's address is not on the register. So in the absence of any other ideas, I was considering using a tracing agent to find out if he is living with his parents or to find the other unknown address.

Does anyone have any experience of using tracing agents? Are there any agents you would recommend? How expensive is it? Do the agents actually have access to the unedited electoral roll or other data protected info? Or are there any other ways to get access to the unedited electoral roll?

I have occasionally used them. They usually charge a fixed minimum fee then per hour.
Anyone can see the unedited Roll BUT photocopies cannot be taken. Contact District Council's Elections Office.

[optimus prime]

I have occasionally used them. They usually charge a fixed minimum fee then per hour.
Anyone can see the unedited Roll BUT photocopies cannot be taken. Contact District Council's Elections Office.

Thanks jeffrey. I wasn't aware that the unedited version had public access. I will try that first to see if he is registered at the family address. I'd be very interested to know more about your experiences with tracing agents and how successful they were.

[settloe_99]

We regularly use tracing agents to locate tenants who have left owing arrears. All the agents we use charge a fixed cost no find no fee. They can also do employment traces to tell you were they are working.