taking someone to court who lives abroad, is it possible?

Did you ask the solicitor? I would phone the CAB they will be able to help with info about small claims. At a guess I would say you could file but it wouldnt be enforcable with him living abroad

Why dont you just stay in the property for the length of time it takes to cover the deposit. eg, your rent is a grand a month, and your deposit is two grand. so you stay an extra two months without paying rent, and bugger off then. far easier than any court related stuff.

I asked the solicitors that were dealing with his case about taking him to court, but wasn't their area of expertise, so they didn't know. I've tried CAB, but they were next to useless - for some reason i seem to ask them questions which they can never answer!

lolls, did your husband manage to sue the person in Gran Canaria successfully?, how did they enforce it if the person lives abroad?

NickJ, the bailiffs are coming to evict on 19th Feb, so I can't stay. I found out the people who rented his other house did exactly as you suggest, bu they had a long time between the posession order and the eviction - we have 2 1/2 weeks. I've been advised that we can't do anything about it.

Just a couple of thoughts (from a uk landlord living in the US)

living in the us does not exempt you from uk law regarding deposits - it just makes it harder for you to get them back

unless he has a greencard, he'll have to come back when his visa expires. 90 days for atourist, or likely 3 yrs for other types

do you have any contact detaiks at all for him? surely if you have the best thing to do is get on the phone to him?

do you know his name and where in the us he is living? it shouldn't be too hard to track down a numbet for him - I'd be happy to help or tell you where to look.

Bostongirl, i'm assuming it'll be a 3 year one then, as he's been there over a year.

I have his email, and we usually keep in contact with that. But since i told him about the re-posession he has not replied to me.

I spoke to the guy from the other house that LL owned, that was also repossesed and they were all evicted. He said that the landlord completly ignored all his emails/calls the moment they mentioned the re-posession/eviction, but apparently close to the eviction date the LL wrote some really weird emails saying he was taking them to court/phoning the police for not paying rent (even though they were only withholding it to compel him to take action and stop the eviction).

I have a phone number, but he never answers. I also have an address in the US - not sure if it's legit. The solicitors have been sending mail to it to inform him of the court proceedings for some time, so if he does live there he's known what was happening for ages (makes me wonder if thats why he stopped paying Sky). But i wonder if it is the correct address as when the Council tried to contact him regarding not paying the council tax they got a 'no longer at this address' back - although he may have just written that on the envelope himself!!

You could sue him. You would need to serve the court documents on him. The rules provide that the place for service is his usual or last known residence (assuming he has not agreed for a solicitor to accept service). However, if you have reason to believe he's not at that address you must take reasonable steps to try and ascertain his address. If you found out his address in America you could serve him there but from recollection you would need permission to the court to 'serve outside the jurisdiction'.

I say all this but it's completely pointless if he has no assets from which you could actually recover the money and you would almost certainly be throwing good money after bad. I wouldn't do anything now. The time limit for bringing a civil claim like this is 6 years so if something radical changes you can still pursue him.

Complete arse for you though, you have my sympathies.

If you know his full name and state it might be easy to find from public records, unless he is taking steps to hide.

Try whitepages.com, switchboard.com or anywho.com all are usually fairly up to date - we moved less than 2 months ago and I am listed on there with the correct address.

The IRS may have an address for him, although I doubt they will give it to you. He must have to file a UK tax return even if he is living overseas.

Thanks for all the help - I'll have a go and see if I get anywhere. I'll see if his address is anywhere on those sites. I can imagine him just trying to disappear - he's the sort of person that would probably try and get a fake identity - I have a feeling he wont be filing any UK tax returns either.

I'm pretty sure he has no assets here, I think both houses are in negative equity, so I think you're right to perhaps wait and if he comes back to the UK I'll have a nice suprise for him.

I'm just so angry. We've been good tennants and we don't deserve this. Why is it that the people who are good have to take the hit, while he's swanning over there with all our money. He must have been getting a fortune from both of his rented houses - I bet he's been living really well! I hate him so much.

Well we get the keys to our new place tomorrow so at least I wont have to look at this place any more.

When we go I'm not even going to hoover the carpet - I know he wont see it, but it'll make me feel better. Maybe I'll come and wipe my muddy boots on it too ?