When it comes to obtaining and enforcing a possession order, landlords in Tamworth have many options to choose from and ideally, applying for the same via the county court has been popular, yet, there is another viable option - the High Court Writ of Eviction.
HCEO's are commonly referred to as agents of enforcement, or Sheriffs in Tamworth.
High court may impose a possession order in Belgrave, Amington, or Coton in 2 ways:
When the possession hearing takes place in the Staffordshire High Court, as this is unusual because the possession order is normally transferred to the county court when a landlord in Tamworth applies for it in the High Court, however, the hearing can take place in the High Court in some exceptional situations like important points of law or complicated disputes of fact.
The landlord in Tamworth specifically applies to the county court to get the process transferred into the High Court.
The transfer of enforcement in Belgrave, Amington, or Coton to the high court is determined by the judge of the county court.
At the hearings of possession in the regional court, the owner of property in Tamworth may request for the order of possession be transferred to high court to be implemented starting from there.
Following the approval of the possession order, the landlord in Tamworth is required to apply to the county court for a transfer of enforcement of the possession order to the High Court.
The inability to make the possession order application at the county court can be influenced by an outstanding application from the Tamworth tenant, such as an appeal against the possession order.
Another scenario is recovering the debt if the overdue rent is over £600, the landlord applies for the writ of control to recover money in Belgrave, Amington, or Coton.
The writ of control is empowering the landlord to seize and sale the tenant's goods to recover his money in Tamworth, and it is called the writ of Fieri facias or writ of fi fa.
Agreements regulated by the CCA cannot be enforced outside the Staffordshire county court, so if the debt is guided by the 1994 CCA (Consumer Credit Act), it is impossible to transfer enforcement to the High Court.
If a landlord in Tamworth is applying for possession order transfer to the High Court for enforcement, it may be because:
Enforcement in Tamworth by HCEO is usually faster than the county court bailiff enforcement
Loss of rental income because delays in enforcement through the county court bailiffs in Staffordshire
Further damage to the Tamworth property and anti-social behaviours are prevented
If there are rent arrears, HCEOs are empowered to confiscate goods in Tamworth as well as enforce the possession order
Right from the transfer of the order, the interest on judgement debt of arrears will accumulate which is currently at the rate of 8%.
The eviction speed is faster and the payment of going through the HCEO is higher when compared to Staffordshire county court bailiffs, therefore, a tenant would probably wish to avoid having their possession order enforcement in Tamworth go to the High Court.
The reasons for the tenant might include:
The landlord in Tamworth hasn't provided proper evidence that a delay will result from using county court bailiffs
The costs incurred are out of balance
The tenants need extra time to get an alternative housing arrangement in Coton, Amington, or Belgrave
Extenuating circumstances such as children or rent arrears may play a major role in the court in Tamworth when considered by the judge.
In case the landlord's application to transfer is accepted, by the Staffordshire county court, then the landlord needs to get high Court's consent before the assurance of the writ of possession unless if:
If the possession order is breached, the writ of possession can be issued without permission, and the breach may include the suspension of a possession order, especially when rent arrears are a part of the breach in Tamworth.
When planning to request for permission for a possession order to be transferred to the High Court for enforcement (excluding cases such as mortgage repossession cases and cases against trespassers, the landlord in Amington, Coton, or Belgrave is required to provide the current inhabitants of the property with a notice of application.
The High Court should not permit unless each tenant in Tamworth is given such a notice as the Court considers enough.
There are no laid down rules for providing the notice in Staffordshire.
Details of the suit will decide if the order is sufficient.
In the case of a sole tenant in Tamworth, the landlord can send a reminder of the terms of the court if the tenant is already notified about the case being transferred to the High court.
In case the renter fails to give sufficient notice or fails to provide the entire information to court concerning petitions against possession proceedings or pending claims, the order of possession may be put aside although having been implemented in Tamworth.
There are cases where various HCEOs in Staffordshire trying to skip the set procedure by directly giving high court full responsibility regarding the problem as stipulated in Sec. 41 or via form N293A wrongly against leaseholders in the place of intruders.
The Senior Master of the High Court (Queens Bench Division) releases a practice note on 21 March 2016 to block these loopholes and stop the unfair practices.
It is a known fact that the process is speedier in Tamworth with the HCEOs of the High court than the bailiffs of County court.
A writ of possession can be executed by an HCEO a couple of days after the landlord's possession notice or issue of a possession of writ has expired or the possession writ is issued in Coton, Amington, or Belgrave.
An HCEO is not compelled to inform tenants in Tamworth before making a trip in order to implement the possession writ as no such provision is provided, but, in some cases, you may find some HCEOs sending the summons a day or 2 before a visit to the property.
The HCEO must give a tenant or creditor a seven day's prior notice when seeking to seize money or goods such as hearing costs and rent arrears and when seeking to repossess a property in Tamworth.
The Staffordshire High court can stay or set aside a writ of control or writ of possession.
Usually, they use the form N244 to make an application for stay or to set the writ of control aside.
If the High Court later set aside the application for writ of possession, the Tamworth tenants would have to inform the HCEOs who may not be privy to it as the High Court may not have informed them.
However, another application such as to set aside the original permission order needs to be made to the County Court in Staffordshire.
HCEOs in Tamworth are commercially paid agencies given authority by the High Court and are not actual employees of the court.
Around England and Wales, the HCEO directory contains all enforcement officers' names with powers to enforce writs from high courts.
A code of practice is subscribed by HCEOs.
A writ of possession must not be administered on a Sunday, Good Friday or Christmas Day in Tamworth, unless courts decides otherwise.
Since 6 April 2014, HCEOs and other bailiffs in Tamworth have been required to operate in accordance with a set of rules.
Requirements state that the HCEO must not:
Go inside a premise of residence in Staffordshire before 06:00 or after 21:00, unless the court has ordered it
Enter the premises in Tamworth if the only person inside is a kid aged below 16 years
To take or seize the basic household goods such as cooker, fridge or washing machine
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