Letter of Claim for Rent Arrears – Joint Tenants
This Letter of Claim for Rent Arrears – Joint Tenants can be used when tenants have failed to pay their rent, despite having received a reminder such as the Rent Arrears Letter – Joint Tenants. If the landlord intends to take court proceedings, a Letter of Claim must be sent before proceedings are started.
The letter complies with the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims which applies where the debtor is an individual (as will be the case with most residential tenancies). If there is only one tenant the landlord should use the alternative version of this letter, the Letter of Claim for Rent Arrears – Single Tenant.
This letter sets out details of the arrears and encloses an Information Sheet, a Reply Form and a template Financial Statement Form. These documents are all included in the Letter of Claim template. If the landlord has produced a Statement of Account for the rent arrears, this should also be enclosed.
The letter must be posted on the date it is dated or, if that is not reasonably possible, the following day.
The tenants have 30 days from the date of the letter to respond, using the Reply Form and (if relevant) the Financial Statement Form.
If the tenants do not reply to the Letter of Claim within 30 days the landlord is free to start court proceedings. If the tenants return the Reply Form within 30 days, the landlord must not start court proceedings less than 30 days from receipt of the Reply Form or from the landlord providing any documents requested by the tenants, whichever is the later. This gives the tenants the opportunity to take debt advice and allows the parties to try and reach agreement.
If a dispute remains about the existence, enforceability, amount or any other aspect of the rent arrears, the Protocol requires the parties to take steps to resolve the dispute without starting court proceedings. In particular, they should consider Alternative Dispute Resolution.
If the landlord does decide to take court proceedings, they must give the tenants at least 14 days’ notice of their intention to do so. See the Notice of Court Claim – Joint Tenants.
Optional phrases / clauses are enclosed in square brackets. These should be read carefully and selected so as to be compatible with one another. Unused options should be removed from the document.
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