As a landlord or a Landlord insurer, there are a vast array of issues for you to deal with when tenants occupy your properties. However, these issues can escalate when a tenant leaves the property, and you are still owed rent or money for dilapidations where there has been damage.
Conversations around money can often be uncomfortable and occasionally prove to be impossible to have, especially if the debtor has now moved on and becomes difficult to locate.
This is why many insurers and landlords opt for the professional services of a debtor tracing specialist. Our team at Corporate & Legal Investigations have many years of experience in helping landlords track down those who owe money. Our tracing agents work with some of the leading landlord insurers and private landlords including National Landlord Association to ensure you can have lost funds recovered with minimum fuss. Below, we cover more of what you can do when a tenant goes missing.
What is tenant tracing?
Former tenant tracing is a form of debtor tracing that locates those who owe a landlord or landlords money for outstanding rent, damages or other costs associated with tenants breaching their tenancy agreements. Corporate & Legal Investigations can use their resources to quickly and efficiently locate those who owe you money and help begin the process of recovery.
How does tenant tracing work?
Tenant tracing can be carried out by any individual, although the results may not always be as quickly achieved and not be as legally compliant as if using a professional tracing agent. This is largely due to the resources companies like C&L have.
With access to a wide range of comprehensive databases, all major credit refereeing agencies and any information provided by our client, we have resources many of our competitors don’t.
What to do if tenants have gone missing?
If you have a possession order and money judgment or have been informed that the tenant has absconded and abandoned your property, in most instances you will still need to legally evict them. An illegal eviction, even if the tenant owes you money and no longer lives in the property, could prove costly for you. In some cases, it could even result in prison time. Therefore, it is important you follow a few simple steps to ensure you stay on the right side of the law and that you can end the tenancy correctly, even in the debtor’s absence.
The first step is to contact our team of experts, who will be able to reassure you that our thorough process can have your debtor traced and the outstanding funds hopefully recovered.
In some cases, the tenant has fallen on hard times, or could be refusing to pay rent.
Once eviction has been processed
With an eviction notice served, it would be in your best interest to protect the property as much as possible. This could include new locks, alarms and cameras etc. Whilst there is no guarantee your former tenant will return to cause any difficulty, it is best to at least prevent the opportunity as much as possible.
Now equipped with the information provided by our team, you can pursue a claim through the courts to recover the outstanding debt. With process serving, we can ensure your debtor receives the documents that indicate they are due in court and owe money.
Why choose a tenant tracing service?
Opting for a tenant tracing service is the best solution for when tenants have gone missing. Not only do specialist agents such as ours have a vast portal of information to work from, but we also have resources that most others would not.
We work tirelessly to obtain the information necessary to help confirm and trace your absconding tenant and help you on the way to recovering your money.
Whilst working through the process yourself is possible, we would advise you not to, given the many potential pitfalls.
By opting for a tenant trace service, you will have full peace of mind that a dedicated, highly qualified team are putting their entire focus into resolving your issue.
By being able to cross-reference data from all major credit agencies, electoral rolls, phone directories and more bespoke systems, C&L have been perfecting the art of debtor tracing for years. Our skills help us to unearth those who believe they are untraceable.
Finding the best tenant tracing service
No matter who you choose to help you locate your missing tenants, you will want to make sure they are a company of integrity and of a reputable nature. There are many tracing agents out there acting unregulated or without sufficient accreditation. This can mean you spend lots of money without ever seeing a result beneficial to your needs.
If you have found that tenants have disappeared, look for a tracing agent who is a member of the ABI (Association of British Investigators) like Corporate & Legal. We are also ISO 9001 and 27001 certified and fully registered with the ICO. Please see our Trustpilot reviews for more information on how we have assisted others.
How much does tenant tracing cost?
Tracing a tenant can be a relatively quick task when you appoint a professional debtor tracing service. Depending on the level of trace required and the information provided, professional debtor tracing can cost anything from £40 up to £450 for debtors that may have gone abroad.
If you need help with what to do if a tenant leaves owing rent, contact our tenant tracing experts and see how affordable, quick and easy we can make it to locate your missing tenants.
