RENT DISTRESS elliottdavies provide commercial landlords with a professional and reliable solution to recover outstanding rent… … without upsetting tenants wherever possible! We passionately feel that Rent Distress is a greatly under used remedy which when exercised professionally can be a powerful resource in every landlord’s ‘toolbox’. Why RENT DISTRESS?   • Fast and efficient method of rent recovery   • Enjoys many privileges in relation to Insolvency   • Enjoys many privileges in relation to the tax man It is a self-help remedy which on first sight appears to be overly complicated. But as far as the landlord is concerned it could not be simpler. Let elliottdavies handle the case and we will not only recover the debt, but take care of all the complicated bits along the way.

Priorities

If distress is exercised then the landlord enjoys many privileges with regard to the tax man and insolvency situations.

1	If the landlord has seized then the taxman cannot claim Crown priority
2	There is no automatic stay in voluntary liquidations
3	The Administrative Receiver is not protected and still must pay the outstanding rent

Landlord's Rights

The landlord has a common law right to seize any goods found on the premises. The right was abated by the law of Distress Amendment Act 1908 which gave certain categories of goods protection against the landlord providing he / she served a declaration in the correct format prior to the sale. nb. Section 4 of the Act excludes from protection some goods eg. goods subject to hire purchase agreements.

Rent is normally one of the first bills paid, therefore the tenant who is not paying the rent is probably not paying other bills and it is most important for the landlord to consider what action others owed money may be taking to recover their debts. Tenants with cash-flow problems will prioritise payments and the landlord must ensure that he/she stays at the top of that list come what may.

Amicable Resolution

By instructing elliottdavies it does not necessarily mean that the tenant’s goods will be seized and sold and that the landlord will have to find a new tenant. In the vast majority of our cases the rent is collected amicably in a lump sum or by instalments leaving the tenancy intact.

Forfeiture

The ultimate sanction is of course forfeiture.
Peaceful re-entry can be effected without the necessity of a court order and we can arrange for notices to be posted and locks changed.

WHEN CASH-FLOW BITES, DEBTORS WILL ‘ROB PETER TO PAY PAUL’. PUT YOURSELF AT THE HEAD OF THE QUEUE BY CONTACTING US TODAY.