A bailiff (Certificated Enforcement Agent) here at Alpha 1 Legal Services specialise in commercial rent arrears recovery (CRAR) and forfeiture of leases.
We have bailiff regional centres in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Bristol, Nottingham, Liverpool, Derby, Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle, effectively covering the whole of England and Wales.
If you have accounts with your tenants that are in arrears, and that are proving difficult to recover, then contact us here at Alpha 1 Legal Services. We will instruct a Bailiff or Bailiffs (Enforcement Agents) to attend within 24 hours of instruction, if not the same day! Our success rate is over 97%!!
All this is completed without any cost to you the landlord, as all our fees are charged to the tenant who is in arrears, except in the case of lease forfeiture (peaceable re-possession), which incurs a charge to landlords for a Bailiff or Bailiffs (Enforcement Agents) to attend.
Please click on the relevant link below, and fax or email the instruction back to us.
The following must be adhered to: –
- CRAR ONLY applies to rent owed, pus any interest & vat which was payable under the agreed lease. In essence, this means that any items that are not directly attributable to your tenants possession and usage of the premises, ie, ‘service charges’ are NOT recoverable using CRAR. There MUST also be a written lease in force, and, any other contract or lease that aims to amend or avoid the provisions of CRAR, will be deemed to be void.
- The rent due, must be able to be calculated with certainty, and it must be 7 days of rent owed. This is referred to as ‘net unpaid rent’. This will be the amount owed when any vat, interest and anything that is permitted deductions wise are made.
- CRAR is ONLY to be used for premises which are solely commercial. Other premises which are partly commercial but which also have living accommodation attached (pubs etc) MUST have a totally separate entrance to the living part and, a separate lease in force. If this is the case, then CRAR may be used on the commercial side, a Court Order is not necessary. If this is not the case and the lease covers both commercial & residential, the landlord will need to obtain a Court judgement to recover the rent arrears.
Lease Forfeiture
If matters have deteriorated to a point that you wish to end the lease with your tenant then you can instruct us to forfeit the lease. In most commercial leases, the landlord has the right to terminate the agreement without going to Court. In this case the rent must have been in arrears for a certain amount of time as detailed in the lease. We can take possession of your property anywhere in England & Wales for a single fixed fee (plus locksmith costs, as applicable).
There are certain specific rules regarding the methods of possession. Please telephone for details and prices, then simply download the possession warrant, complete it and fax/email it back to our office. A Bailiff (Enforcement Agent) will normally visit and take possession of your property within 24 hours (1-2 working days maximum).
Please note: –
The laws relating to the methods described above allow us to either recover rent arrears through CRAR or take possession of your property through lease forfeiture. We are however unable to apply both tactics together. But remember that recovering your rent arrears costs you nothing, on the other hand, instructing us to forfeit the lease will incur a fee.
