CRAR Enforcement Leads to 3.1k Recovered and Weekly Payment Plan in Leeds
Related Services
Team Members Involved
The Situation
A commercial landlord instructed us through their managing agent to recover substantial rent arrears from a business tenant occupying office space at a commercial premises in West Yorkshire. The total sum outstanding stood at £28,722.47, made up of £24,750.00 in rent arrears, £1,783.18 in accrued interest, and compliance and enforcement stage fees.
The tenant had previously been paying the landlord directly under an informal monthly arrangement, but those payments had stopped some months earlier and the arrears had continued to build. With direct contact no longer producing results, the landlord signed a warrant authorising enforcement under the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 – the statutory route that allows a landlord to instruct certificated enforcement agents to recover commercial rent arrears without first going to court.
After searching for commercial rent arrears recovery in Leeds, the client contacted Strikes Property Services Group.
Our Approach
Our enforcement agent attended the premises at 11:00am and asked to speak with a director. He identified himself, explained the authority under which he was attending, and set out the sum outstanding in full – arrears, interest and fees itemised, so there was no ambiguity about what was owed or why.
The director stated that the business had only £500 available in its account. Rather than moving straight to the removal of goods, our agent explained plainly what escalation to the next enforcement stage would mean in terms of further fees and the potential loss of business assets, then gave the director time to make calls and organise funds. That approach paid off: the director returned with an offer of £1,000.
Our agent contacted the office to relay the offer and agree a position. Escalation would have added cost to a debt the tenant was already struggling with, and removing goods from a trading business would have reduced its ability to generate the income needed to clear the arrears. The workable outcome was a payment on the day covering our fees in full plus a contribution off the arrears, followed by fixed weekly instalments. After a further 90 minutes of negotiation, the director raised the £3,189.29 required.
With payment made, the director signed a controlled goods agreement. This placed the business’s goods formally under our control while leaving them on site and in use, so the tenant could continue trading and meet the weekly payments. No inventory removal was necessary and no police attendance was required. Our agent left the site at 1:40pm, once the office had confirmed the funds had been received.
Outcome
We collected £3,189.29 on the first attendance, clearing our fees in full and applying £1,000 directly to the arrears. The remaining balance of £25,533.18 is being repaid at £500 per week under the signed controlled goods agreement, with a formal review of the arrangement at three months. The matter was resolved at the first enforcement stage, with no goods removed and no escalation required – securing an enforceable route to recovery of the commercial debt while keeping the tenant trading and able to pay.
The case was managed by Nathan Hoole (Enforcement Agent) and Chris Bane (Managing Director), ensuring the landlord’s position was secured on the day while a realistic and monitored repayment structure was put in place for the balance.
