Dealing with an eviction case

Remember, however, that an application to the tribunal will likely be in two parts: an application for payment of the arrears and one for repossession and eviction. The client must convince the tribunal not to award repossession when the arrears have been dealt with.

The first step is to contact the landlord and get their point of view and what they would like to happen. You could try to negotiate writing some of the debt off if the client restarts full payments or ask them to reduce the rent for a few months if the client is going through a difficult patch. You could ask them to defer payment of the arrears until the client’s situation improves, or if the client is on benefits, arrange for the landlord to have a managed payment direct from the client’s benefits.

Try to negotiate before the landlord decides to go to a tribunal.