Rapid residential repossession

by David Carter on 31 May 2011

Unfortunately in the current climate many residential tenants are falling behind with their rent eventually requiring the landlord to take repossession of the property.

This is a job usually reserved for the County Court Bailiffs; however with their ever increasing workload this can often mean delays of up to four months! Residential landlords can be left without having the rental income but still having to pay the mortgage, costing them many thousands of pounds.

All is not lost, however, as you will be pleased to know there is a method to get your property back quickly and efficiently by using an HCEO (High Court Enforcement Officer).

To instruct an HCEO you will need to make an application under Section 42 of the County Courts Act 1984 to the court that has issued the repossession order. This provision deems that the enforcement of a judgment or order can be transferred from the County Court to the High Court.

Once the transfer is granted, an HCEO will usually evict the tenants within 7 days, although in certain cases this has been done as quickly as 24 hours.

If you would like to know more about this, please either write a comment on this article or get in touch.

© Sheriffs High Court Enforcement Ltd. Please contact us to request permission to reproduce this article.
Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Sheriffs High Court Enforcement Ltd, trading as The Sheriffs Office. Sheriffs High Court Enforcement Ltd does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. The author will not be held responsible for any comments posted by visitors to this site. Please note that this article does not constitute legal advice. The author has used his best endeavours to make this article as accurate and complete as possible, but requests that the reader be aware that the law of England and Wales frequently changes. The author strongly advises the reader to take legal advice before embarking on any enforcement action.

“It was a worrying time, we spent many thousands on legal costs over 2 years and although we had a High Court Judgement the Defendants still didn't pay us. Our solicitor issued statutory demands and then suggested we use The Sheriffs Office to enforce the demands and Judgement. Our main concern was the defendants not paying and incurring even more legal costs in collection, however it was so good to hear that the only fee we had to pay was £60. The Sheriffs Office attended the defendants property and after much deliberation the defendants made full payment, along with interest and their collection fees. Fifteen days later we received a cheque clearing our legal costs and original debt. It was so simple, easy and effective, thanks to The Sheriffs Office, without whom it could have been a thankless and fruitless task. Thank you so much.”

John Frost, Manufacturing and Consultancy firm


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