court delays

Court delays cost landlords dear

Under-resourced county courts are still struggling to cope with the number of possession claims being put forward, resulting in costly delays for landlords and agents, according to Landlord Action. Most residential possession claims are dealt with in the county courts and enforced by county court bailiffs. But with a lack of trained staff available, the tenant eviction service claims that many county courts are now operating call centres where temporary members of staff, with little or no experience, are being appointed to process claims and correspondence, resulting in further possession delays. In a recent routine phone call to follow up a case, an operator informed Julie Herbert (left), Head of Legal at Landlord Action, that there were just six people in one call centre dealing with calls and paperwork relating to 55 different courts. “It is evident that those at the call centre are not qualified to be able to differentiate between correspondence that can sit on a file, and correspondence that needs the urgent attention of a Judge in order for a case to progress. We have had numerous incidents where court staff appear to be opening post, filing it and doing little about it, adding to the problem…