Debt Collectors – what a waste of time and money

Hi Sarah,

We as landlords have lost a fair amount of Rent, and because of this we contacted Debt Collectors – what a waste of time and money .  We paid out initially something like £600 to 700 for the agency to collect this debt from these rogue Tenants.  However, this particular company folded and we actually lost this money completely.  We again contacted another Debt Collecting Agent.  Paid out £150 and this is still ongoing after months and months – to be fair, they have provided a few addresses, and up to now, that is all – what a waste of time and effort.

My point:

The Inland Revenue, as a body, are able to claw back unpaid taxes, which, in my opinion, is a fantastic system.

If ‘you’ were to take someone to Court because of non payment of Rent they would receive a County Court Judgement (CCJ) – what a total waste of time effort and expense.  After a certain period, I understand that a CCJ is taken absolutely no notice of whatsoever.  And, the Courts are just not interested, unless the Landlord is prepared to spend out a lot of money to recover the losses.

As Landlords, we always ask for a prospective Tenants usual details; Name, National Insurance Number, Date of Birth and addresses.  Is it not possible somehow to provide a system for Landlords – having all this information, and using these details – to ensure that, no matter what, unpaid Rent (Past and Present) can be re-couped from these previous Tenants?

Thank you,