The court system sets a date and time to listen to you and Magna and decide what order, if any is appropriate.

The court and Magna will write to you to advise you of the date and time. We will also try to reach an agreement prior to the hearing. We strongly recommend that you attend court.

There are a number of different decisions that the court can make:

• They can award an immediate (absolute) Possession Order. This will mean that you have an agreed number of days, normally 28, to pay your arrears in full and legal costs. If you do not pay the arrears in full, we can apply to the court for a warrant to evict you or you may return the keys to us giving us possession of the property.
• If you have made an arrangement with us to reduce your rent arrears and the court thinks that you will keep to these payments, then the Possession Order may be suspended. This means that you have to pay your rent, plus the agreed amount, to reduce your arrears and comply with the order. As long as you keep to this agreement, we will not apply for a warrant for your eviction.
• The court may choose to adjourn the case, either for a given period of time, ie 14 days, to allow a cheque to clear, for example, or for a longer period of time, ie 12 months, during which time if your arrears persist or recur, a further hearing and order will be sought.

We will ask for costs to be awarded to Magna, to cover the court appearance fee we incur. We will normally ask that you pay all of our costs.

To avoid debt, contact our money matters team for help.