You may not have encountered a situation where your renter vanishes without paying their rent if you’re a private landlord who is new to the business of property rental. However, it does happen from time to time, especially if the original inspections were not thorough enough. And when it happens, dealing with it is a challenging task.
When tenants are in arrears and believe there is no way out, they usually vanish. If the tenant has lost their job or owes money to others, tracing them may not even be able to help you reclaim your losses.
Alternatively, you may discover that they are merely untrustworthy tenants with whom you will grow to regret ever letting your house.
Landlords were not allowed to evict tenants during Covid-19, even if they owed rent. That embargo has since been lifted, and we’ve received several calls to our tenant tracking service since then, indicating that some landlords are dealing with outstanding arrears.
Locating a tenant who owes you money
So, if your tenant has vanished, what should you do? What method do you use to locate them?
To begin with, figure out how much money you owe and whether the property has been damaged. You may need to consider taking legal action against the renter in a small claims court if there are significant repairs to be made as well as debt to be recovered.
You may also need to consider how much of the tenant’s deposit you hold on their behalf.
It can be pricey to hire a solicitor to assist you in locating your rogue tenant. As a result, many landlords do their own searches, and tenants can sometimes be located via social media platforms such as Facebook or other online platforms.
The most effective and cost-efficient way to find a tenant who owes you money is by using a professional tracing agent, like Vilcol. Tenant tracking companies have the in-house expertise and have the right tools at their disposal to locate the tenant. They do require a fee, but will using deliver results 85% of the time, unless they have skipped the country.
It’s critical to double-check that the debtor tracing firm you’re working with has the proper credentials. When it comes to debt collection, the last thing you want to do is hire an untrustworthy tenant and debt collection agency.
If you’re not sure who to hire, look at their website’s references and testimonials. This should include a list of verifiable prior clients as well as consumer feedback that will give you an indication of the tenant tracing agency’s professionalism.
How do agencies find rogue tenants?
Professional tenant tracing, persons tracing, and debt tracing firms use methods not widely available to the general public, such as specialised software programmes.
Tracing agents ask for as much information as possible in order to locate a renter who owes them money. The more, the better, as this greatly aids in the speeding up of the service.
Tracing those who have gone missing can take a long time, but if enough information is given, it can be completed quickly which means recovering the debt is made somewhat easier. When conducting their investigations, detectives are meticulous and careful not to raise suspicions, your privacy will never be compromised.