After Eviction FAQ

I have been to court and have been awarded immediate possession of my property. I am awaiting the court letter to be sent out to me and the tenants. What do I as landlord need to do now? I assume I should wait until the date on the court order has passsed before I fill in the court bailiff form N325. How will the court recover money owed?

ANSWER 1: Yes, you do need to wait until the date on the order before instructing the county court bailiffs. The best thing to do is to speak with the bailiff manager at the nearest county court to arrange the eviction. Unfortunately the county court bailiffs will not recover the outstanding monies at the same time as the eviction and you will have to treat this as a separate instruction. The problem is that once the tenant leaves your property it is highly unlikely that they will leave a forwarding address which makes it difficult to recover the outstanding monies. My advice in this instance is to contact a high court enforcement office who can trace and attempt recover on the outstanding monies and are far more successful than county court bailiffs but please note you can instruct a high court enforcement officer if your are owed over £600. For more information please visit my website www.thesheriffsoffice.com or the high court enforcement officers associations website at www.hceoa.org.uk

I have legally evicted my tenant but he will not give the keys back. Can I call the police and report this as theft?

ANSWER 1: To be honest by time you go through the Police - they won't be that bothered - you might as well just go around and change the locks. If he/she won't happily hand them back then it suggests that this was a bad tenant or a bad ending so i'd change the locks anyway if it was me.

ANSWER 2: If you have got a court order for eviction, then in theory, yes, you could report the theft of the keys to the police. However, their likely reaction would be that it is a "civil matter"- it's not really but the old bill get lazy most times on matters they are not too sure about. Probably best to say to the tenant that if he does not return the keys then you will have no choice but to change the locks and take county court action for the cost of doing so. It is good practice anyway to change the locks irrespective of whether the keys are given back, especially when you have had to evict the previous tenant.

I have legally evicted my tenants. They have left some of their personal possessions in my property. Where do I stand with these items? e.g. Can I sell them? Can I dump them?

ANSWER 1: You can't dispose of the items. You'll need your tenant's permission first. However, you are allowed to remove the items from your property and store them. you need to get hold of the tenant and get their permission to dispose of the goods. Write a letter (send by recorded deliver) asking the tenant to collect the goods within a reasonable period (e.g. 4 weeks), and give your contact. You can advise your tenant in this same letter that if the goods are not collected, you will sell or dispose of them. Keep a copy of the letter so you can prove you've tried to contact the tenant. if you don't have a forwarding address, you still need to be able to show that you've made reasonable efforts to trace the tenant before you're allowed to dispose of the goods. Tracing agents offer "no-find, no-fee" arrangements and might be your best option in this case. if you still can't contact your tenant, you still have a duty to dispose of the goods in the most advantageous way possible. If they have any value, you should sell rather than dump them; any monies raised would, strictly speaking, be the tenant's, though you would be entitled to deduct any costs associated with the sale (e.g. Auctioneer's or ebay fees, advertising costs). Again, keep a record of what was done in case the tenant later turns up demanding her goods.