AST Tenancy, Impact of none paid rent

[j4ck]

I have an assured shorthold tenancy for 12 months signed with a company based in Luton. The house I rent out is based in Leicester. The tenant has not paid the rent for November as their Leicester LTD company has collapsed both owned by the same people. The Luton based company which the tenancy was signed with is still trading but the owner of the Luton based company refuses to pay the rent.

The side issue is that because we are now having to cover the mortgage and not receiving any profit from this house, we have had to cancel the remortgage and purchase of another property due to cahs flow. (2 valuations, two solicitors fees, two Product fees, loss of a good deal on a house)

My questions if anyone can help is...

I know I can chase the Luton business for the unpaid rent. However, could I chase them separate for the impact of them not paying the rent (costs and losses)?

How can I ensure that the director, whos seems very crafty doesn't close .up his Luton business without paying?

[R0b]

You need to check the contract as to whether you can claim consequential losses resulting from the failure to pay rent. You may also want to consider whether their refusal (rather than a failure) to pay the rent constitutes a repudiatory breach which also allows you to recover consequential losses, though will be subject to any limitation of liability agreed in the contract.

As for the director winding up the company, you would need to keep an eye on companies house to see if he makes an request to dissolve the company in which case you can lodge a letter with Companies House saying you have ongoing litigation and that it shouldn't be wound up until the conclusion of those proceedings.

What's more difficult, is ensuring the director doesn't do anything with the Luton company's assets or cash whilst proceedings are happening. One option is to seek an freezing order which prevents the company from disposing of its assets until proceedings are concluded and you can enforce judgment. Freezing Orders can be expensive and may not be appropriate to the sums you are claiming.

I would suggest you do some investigatory work on the Luton based company before doing anything because issuing proceedings might be worthless if the company has no assets. A business credit check, review of their latest accounts on companies house as a minimum should be considered. You can also instruct third party companies to carry out financial checks on the business. For example Vilcol (I have no affiliation with them) offer this type of service starting from £65. https://www.vilcol.com/financial-enquiries