Landlord's guide to tracing a former tenant who left owing rent or damage

The situations that lead a landlord here

Four situations bring landlords and letting agents here, often together: arrears the deposit does not cover, damage beyond anything the scheme can award, a property that appears abandoned while rent still accrues, and a guarantor who is as hard to find as the tenant.

Abandonment needs care. A tenancy does not end because the tenant has stopped answering; unless they have clearly surrendered it, you still need to end it lawfully, usually with a notice under the Housing Act 1988 (a section 8 notice on grounds such as arrears; the section 21 route has been reformed in England and replaced in Wales, so check the current position) and, if necessary, a possession order. Changing the locks on a running tenancy can be an unlawful eviction, so take advice first. The rest of this guide assumes the tenancy has ended, and the legal detail is for England and Wales.

What to do before you trace anyone

Several things cost nothing and may resolve the matter, or at least sharpen the case.

The deposit scheme

For an assured shorthold tenancy, the Housing Act 2004 required the deposit to be protected in a government-approved scheme, and the prescribed information given to the tenant, within 30 days of receipt. Each scheme runs a free dispute service where an adjudicator decides deductions on the evidence, and each has a procedure for claiming when the tenant cannot be reached, usually a formal declaration and a waiting period. The scheme can only award up to the deposit; anything beyond it is a County Court matter. If the deposit was never protected, expect that to be raised against you.

The tenancy file and the guarantor agreement

The application form and references should hold the tenant's full legal name, date of birth, previous address, employer, next of kin, phone numbers and email address, which is exactly what a trace needs. Read any guarantee before relying on it: it must be in writing and signed, and its wording decides whether it covers a periodic tenancy after the fixed term, damage as well as rent, and rent increases the guarantor did not agree to.

Why a current registered address matters

Every step in recovering money from a former tenant depends on writing to them at an address that is actually theirs.

• The letter before claim. Where a business claims money from an individual, which usually includes a landlord claiming from a former tenant, the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims applies: a letter of claim in the prescribed form and 30 days for a reply before you issue.
• The County Court claim. The claim form must give an address for service, and the Civil Procedure Rules require reasonable steps to find the defendant's current address if you have reason to believe the last known one is out of date. A judgment on a claim that never reached the tenant is liable to be set aside.
• Enforcement. Enforcement agents need a current address, an attachment of earnings order needs the employer, and a charging order depends on whether they own property. We can add the employer where it is on file, for £35, charged only if found.

The Limitation Act 1980 gives six years from the date each sum fell due, but every month makes the trail colder. One honest caveat: a trace reports the address at which the person is currently registered according to the records. In the great majority of cases that is where they live; occasionally it is a partner's or parent's address used for post, which is why every report carries a rating of Confirmed, Probable or Possible. Our guide to serving documents when the address is unknown covers the court side.

Tracing the guarantor as a separate trace

A guarantor is a separate person, so finding them is a separate trace with its own fee, charged only if found. It is often worth running alongside the tenant's, because guarantors are usually settled and a letter before claim to both tends to produce a response from one of them. Give us the guarantor's full name and the address on the guarantee, which counts as a previous address.

What information from the file makes a trace succeed

The minimum is the tenant's full legal name plus at least one of a date of birth or a previous address, and the let property is a previous address, so almost every landlord meets it. Other names or spellings, a partner's or co-tenant's name, a date of birth or approximate age, phone numbers and email addresses even if unanswered, the employer at the time, and the date they left and where they said they were going all raise the chance of a Confirmed result. You do not need the tenancy agreement to start; if the purpose looks unclear we may ask for it before releasing a result.

Letting agents instructing on behalf of landlords

A firm account gives a letting or managing agent a shared case list, bulk upload, a matter reference on every case and invoice line, and one monthly invoice; ten or more traces a month brings the price to £85 per trace. The agent instructs under the landlord's legitimate interest, so keep the authority to act on file.

The lawful basis, in plain terms

Tracing someone means processing their personal data, which needs a lawful basis under Article 6 of the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. For a landlord that is legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f): recovering rent, a deposit shortfall or damages under a tenancy. We record it on every instruction, and the tenant is not told who instructed us. Use the address only for the purpose you gave: correspondence, a claim and lawful enforcement, not a visit to have it out with them. Our page on whether address tracing is legal sets out the framework.

Checklist for landlords

1. Confirm the tenancy has ended, or take advice on ending it lawfully.
2. Claim from the deposit through the scheme, using its absent-tenant process if needed.
3. Pull the application form, references, guarantee, inventory and check-out report, and ask the guarantor, referees and any co-tenant for a forwarding address.
4. Instruct a trace for the tenant and, if there is one, the guarantor.
5. Send the letter of claim to the traced address and allow 30 days.
6. Issue the County Court claim if there is no settlement, keeping the dated report on file.

When to instruct a professional trace

Instruct once the deposit route has been used or ruled out, a shortfall worth pursuing remains, and the free avenues have produced nothing. A Standard trace is £100 in 3 to 5 working days; Express is £150 within 48 hours and Priority £195 within 24 hours. Your card is saved at instruction and charged only when we deliver a Confirmed or Probable current registered address; a Possible result is offered at half price and the choice is yours. If we cannot find the tenant, you pay nothing. Instruct online in a few minutes, or read the former tenant use case first.