Evicting a Tenant? Could be a lengthy battle...

We have all seen the news stories which focus on the typical Landlord who spends thousands of pounds renovating their property, before renting it out, only to have it vandalised by the nightmare tenant, carpets pulled up, windows smashed and the kitchen ripped out.
For the Landlord it is often a lengthy court battle to get justice for their ordeal.
These cases are not isolated and we have heard much worse stories from Local Landlords.
I have over 9 years experience in the lettings industry, and this is an issue which comes up far too frequently.
One Landlord advised us that his non paying tenant had been advised from a ‘help’ organisation to remain in the property as it could take the Landlord up to 6 months to get an eviction, by which time they would be at the top of the Councils housing list.
It is shocking that tenant protection is taken more seriously than that of the residential Landlord. Landlords who are not adequately protected or those who do not use a reputable lettings agent could find themselves seriously out of pocket.
Unfortunately even thoroughly referencing your tenants does not protect you if they lose their job.
At Belvoir Portsmouth we have been able to keep our rental arrears extremely low compared to the national average and part of this is down to our excellent tenant checks. In addition we rarely need to go to court for evictions as we manage the process closely.
We also recommend that all Landlords purchase Rent default and Legal expense insurance, as a back up. This covers the landlord against non-paying tenants.
This form of protection is designed to cover the landlord against any possible arrears until vacant possession is obtained, and it also covers any legal expenses as a result of a tenant breaching the tenancy agreement.