Can I sell a tenants abandoned Cars to cover debt, how can I get transfer ownership.

[JayDeeTech]

Hi,
I privately rented a flat on a ASHT, the tenant also stored two cars at the property.
The tenant could not keep up with the rent and was also causing some damage to the property, we went through the relevant process and amicably brought the tenancy to an end.
The tenant agreed to slowly pay the outstanding sum (around £3000) and cleared their other stuff.
However.. the tenant failed to repay the debt and has not responded to any communications for over 6 months.
Phone always goes to answerphone, no response to texts, no response to email, no forwarding address...
The two vehicles have been left, effectively abandoned.

Can I sell the vehicles, to cover the outstanding debt?
I assume I would need to get a transfer of keeper from the DVLA,
If the cars were sold, can I recover the owed debt and the for anything left over, attempt to contact the original owner again and hold the excess money for a given period of time?

Any advice ?
Thanks, J.

[R0b]

Yes you can sell them, but if the tenant found out then you can be liable to the tenant for what is known as conversion i.e. depriving the tenant of their own goods and using them as if your own.

I assume your tenant agreement doesn't have a clause in the contract that says any goods that have not been collect or disposed of within X days of the tenant leaving the property, then you have the right to dispose of them yourself and deduct any costs associated with the disposal, including any rent arrears or other sums owing to you as the landlord. If you did have something in there then yes you could sell and recover the arrears lawfully.

What you are suggesting is a notice of intention to sell under Section 12 of the Torts (Interference with Goods Act) 1977. You can give notice to the tenant, usually by recorded post that unless the cars are collected by X date you will consider them as abandoned and proceed to sell them. However, you can only deduct costs associated with the sale or any sums due in respect of the goods. In other words, if you go to the shop to have your phone repaired in return for X amount but then fail to collect it, the shop owner could give notice to sell (which is 3 months where monies are due like this) and then deduct his costs from the sale of the phone.

As you are claiming a debt that isn't in connection with the cars, any deduction is not authorised in law. That said, I would imagine most landlords would deduct the amount owed to them from the proceeds and if the tenant then wanted to challenge that you could argue a set off the debt against the proceeds so the tenant would be onto a loser anyway.

Another options is to ask a court to authorise the sale but you need to make an application and can be costly if using lawyers. In the same application you make a claim for the outstanding debt and then ask the court to authorise sale of the cars and deduct the debt owing to you.

Despite all of what I've said, how certain are you that the two cars are owned by the tenant? Could they be someone else's? Have you tried contacting the DVLA and making a request for registered keeper details on both cars?

[JayDeeTech]

Thanks,
I will renew my efforts to contact the ex-tenant, as I need somewhere to send any recorded delivery etc..
When back at the office I will check the tenancy agreement, that is a good suggestion.

I had a informal agreement to store the cars for a small additional cost, they obviously have defaulted on this as well. I doubt it holds any real water but I issued a document stating that I would dispose of the items if either they had not been cleared by a given date or they failed to pay the additional car storage fee. It was nothing clever and I'll need to check if I had them sign a copy (i doubt it).

Thanks, that has at least given me a better idea of where I stand.
I have contacted the DVLA but they require more information than I currently have before they will release details of the owners. But it is a very valid point, I have no confirmation they are the tenants.
I will also renew my efforts with the DVLA.
Regards, John.