Debt recovery
Getting the money back is a separate job from getting the property back.
Possession ends an occupation. It does not clear the debt. Waymakers Legal supports landlords, agents and property businesses with the recovery of money owed, whether that sits alongside a possession claim or stands on its own.
Advice starts with what is realistically recoverable. A judgment against someone with no assets, no income and no traceable address is a piece of paper, and clients are told that at the outset rather than after the costs have been incurred.
Rent arrears and service charges
Recovery of unpaid rent, service charges and other sums due under a tenancy, occupation contract or lease.
The account is reviewed first: what is genuinely owed, what is disputed, what has been paid in part, and how any housing benefit or Universal Credit payments have been applied. That reconciliation is what a claim stands on.
Pre-action correspondence
Most debts are recovered without proceedings. Correspondence that sets out the sum owed, the basis for it and the consequences of non-payment resolves a large proportion of matters, and it is a step the court expects to see taken.
Proceedings and judgment
Where correspondence does not resolve matters, advice covers issuing a money claim, responding to any defence or counterclaim, and obtaining judgment.
Disputed sums, alleged disrepair set-offs and counterclaims are assessed before proceedings are issued, not after.
Enforcement
A judgment is only worth what can be collected against it. Advice covers the available routes, attachment of earnings, charging orders, third party debt orders and enforcement agents, and which of them is likely to produce a result in the circumstances.
Commercial debts
Recovery of sums owed under commercial agreements in and around the property sector, including unpaid fees between businesses.
Discuss your property matter
Tell the team what has happened, what you would like to achieve and whether there is an approaching deadline.