TQS Landlords

The great majority of tenants are responsible and pay their rent on time, but there are always a few who will mess you around if they can. These tenants require firm management, and what better way to let them know you mean business than using solicitors!

We can handle smoothly and efficiently the perhaps stormy waters ahead when things sometimes do not go according to your master plan and you are landed with one or perhaps both of these problems

Problem A…….You need to recover rent owed to you

Step 1…..A solicitors letter

We can send a solicitors’ letter demanding payment within 7 days with the threat of proceedings if the payment is not forthcoming. You should be able to do this 14 days after the rent has become due.

This could also help you with housing benefit tenants receiving their benefit from the council; you could use the copy letter to help persuade the council to switch payment to you.

Our fee £25 plus VAT

Step 2 ……Possession proceedings – Rent Arrears

If Step 1 does not have the required effect and the tenant is two months or more in arrears of rent, you are entitled to go to court for possession. A ‘Section 8’ Notice, requiring possession due to arrears of rent, needs to be served on the tenant.

Our fee £50.00 plus VAT

If the tenant does not respond within 14 days to the Section 8 Notice then you can go to court – we will use the most efficient and cost effective method which is the Accelerated court procedure (see below)

Problem B…… The tenant has failed to move out

Ideally you should have served a ‘Section 21’ Notice at the beginning of the tenancy. This Notice advises the tenant that possession will be required at the end of the term of the tenancy.

If you have validly served this notice, then we can go to court against the tenant as soon as the term ends - again we will use the Accelerated procedure (see below).

If you have not served this ` Section 21` notice we can issue the notice for you – you must give at least 2 months notice following the end of the tenancy before being able to go to court.

Our fee £50 plus VAT

Accelerated Court Procedure

We will:-

• Prepare all the required court documents
• Issue and serve notice of proceedings
• Process any response from the tenant
• Attend court and obtain an order for possession and rent arrears
• Endeavour to recover your costs

Court issue fee £100.00
(for rent arrears only; otherwise £150.00)

Our fee £350.00 plus VAT
(+ advocacy fee of £250 + VAT for rent arrears cases only)

If the tenant does not defend the proceedings then this figure will represent the total cost for dealing with the case.

If the tenant files a defence then we will need to agree the best course of action with you, and let you know the likely costs involved.

Eviction

If the tenant fails to quit the property after the possession order is obtained then we will instruct the bailiffs to obtain possession for you and to recover the judgement debt. The chances of making a successful recovery of the judgment debt are, however, slim.

Bailiffs fee 95.00
Our fee £25.00 plus VAT

Ground rent or service charge arrears

Are you a managing agent for an estate or apartment block? If so, we can help with recovery of ground rent and service charge arrears.

If our 7 day letter does not do the trick, we can go to court to obtain judgment for the arrears.

Our fee sending letter £25 plus VAT
Our fee going to court £175 plus VAT

Court fee varies according to arrears

Money Laundering Regulations

We are required by the money laundering regulations to verify new clients’ identity and present address. We will therefore be running electronic checks with a mainstream database provider which entails a one-off charge of £10 for providing this service. This will be payable in addition to the above prices.

In the highly unlikely event that any issues arise from the checks then we will contact you as regards alternative means of identification such as passports and utility bills.

Tracing Service

If your tenant has gone, leaving unpaid arrears we can organise a trace for you. You will be reimbursed in full if the tenant is not traced.

Our fee £125 plus VAT

Buying and selling can be broken down into an easy to follow process. Click the documents below to see how it works:
When you are buying (PDF)
When you are selling (PDF)

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