Importance of enforcement options

By Aaron Sambells, Senior Debt Recovery Specialist at Woodstock Legal Services

Woodstock Legal Services recently had a case where a landlord came them as they didn’t know where to go after a judgment had been obtained. Despite hours scrolling through the internet, they still had no idea where to start or which enforcement method was the better option.

This debt was for over £10,000 of rental arrears which a debt collection agency had previously chased up with the debtor by telephone, email, and letters.  All correspondence was simply ignored, and the debtor was burying their head in the sand at this point. As the debt agency was unsuccessful, the landlord still wanted to find another way to recover the debt, rather than simply give up and write it off whilst the tenant is free to do the same again at another property. The landlord was struggling financially, so his options were to sell his investment property or try one last time to collect the debt.

The landlord contacted Woodstock where we discussed the debtor’s circumstances and which stage of the debt recovery process the landlord was at. The landlord already had a possession order, with an attached money judgment for the arrears and costs. This saved some time and Woodstock could instantly look at enforcement options.

Firstly, the solicitors looked to confirm if the debtor was still living at the same address the debt collection company attempted to recover the debt from but were unable to confirm this was the case. They strongly suggested a trace for address and employment to locate the previous tenant which, if successful, would allow them to look at the prospects of success and the best option for enforcement.

The landlord agreed and one week later they received a positive trace result! The debtor had moved address and was only working on a self-employed basis, so an attachment of earnings would not be possible.

Woodstock agreed with the landlord to apply for a writ of control and ask the High Court Enforcement agents (HCE) to start making visits. Once the judgment had been upgraded to the writ of control the HCE sent out a notice of enforcement, which gave the debtor the only option to pay the balance in full before an enforcement agent attends.

Just before the expiry of the notice of enforcement, the debtor contacted the enforcement company and paid the debt in full as they did not want the HCE to potentially remove any goods or assets. 

Without this enforcement option the landlord would have had to sell the property to make up for the loss and this is just one example of why the enforcement options are needed!