How much does it cost to take someone to court? (Evicting tenant / chasing money owed)

Don't know that cost of going to court, but surely as a landlord your have a claus in the tenancy which states if they miss rent payments that you are within your rights to serve notice?

I think you've been patient enough with them, and rather than worrying what could happen I think you are in the right that if you served notice on them, stating the reason for none payment, then that is fair. Once they are out, then perhaps decide if you are going to chase for arrears in court, but in some cases it might be more trouble than it's worth.

You need to get legal advice, seriously. If tenants even make a token payment, no matter how late, most courts will not evict. You will need to have every bit of paperwork absolutely spot on.

Are you a member of the Landlord's Association? Not sure exactly what it's called, but it does include access to a legal helpline. You might want to give Peaches a shout - she's well up on the landlord business.

I'm literally in the middle of reading this, which details your legal rights and obligations as a landlord. Obviously, much of it depends on the nature of the contract they signed, but it may be of use?

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/138286.pdf

Becca. You cannot make them leave without a court order and in order to take the matter to court you need to have served the appropriate notice on them. Assuming they are assured shorthold tenants there are various different grounds for getting a possession order some are mandatory and some are discretionary. Depending on how long they have been your tenants and the terms of the lease you may be able to serve a section 21 notice which is grounds of a mandatory possession order. If you don't seek an order for the arrears you can apply for an accelerated possession order which is done quickly and dealt with on paper without a hearing provided you have followed the correct procedure. In my experience it is difficult to recover arrears from tenants (they usually have no money) and you are best getting them out as quickly and cheaply as possible.

If I were you I would consider going to a solicitor as the forms and service are easy to mess up and can end up losing you time and money...

ps Happy Birthday!

Just got back to this after the fuss of mine and the babe's birthdays.

Thankyou all for replying. They are on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, and I have started to appreciate through Landlord forums etc that it is a tricky business evicting tenants and unlikely to see any money back.

I think they are actually a decent pair who only earn enough for the rent on a good week, so with 2 of them on stat sick pay for 2 weeks I can see how they ended up in trouble. They are making attempts to get back on track, and she has increased her working hours by 50% so hopefully it won't be an issue in the end.

Thanks again, Bex xXx