eviction and bankruptcy

gem4

Son has an eviction order to get out of his flat in early Sept unless he pays £4000 rent arrears before then. He has no way of doing that and doesnt know which way to turn. He has other debts and fines etc which have built up over years with him burying his head in the sand in the hope they would go away. He hasnt a hope in hell of paying them.

He is on income based JS allowance and is in the process of fighting for his kids thru court. If he loses his flat he wont have anywhere for them to sleep. I think his only way out of this mess would be to go bankrupt. He has no assets, no savings, no job, basic bank acc, cant get credit cos of bad debts and is in way over his head.

Will bankruptcy suspend or prevent the eviction or will he still have to leave? I think the eviction had already been suspended previously to this to allow him to pay money off the arrears gradually but he hasnt kept it up, hence the reason for the eviction notice now.

I've spent days worrying and scouring these pages to try to find out what he needs to do but my head is in a spin and time is running out.
Should he approach the council to be rehoused as the eviction order states or should he apply for bankruptcy and hope he can keep the flat.....or will he have to leave the flat regardless? Its a housing association flat.

If he has to leave and gets sent to a hostel I dont know what will happen to all his furniture and his childrens beds etc, or if he's likely to be rehoused somewhere suitable for the children to stay too. Will the council even find him somewhere to stay or will he be homeless and living on the streets? Thats why I'm hoping that there is a way he can keep the flat. They are only young and have their own room and stayed there every weekend until last year when his ex turned on him and stopped contact, thats the reason for having to fight thru court for them now.

I dont know enough about how bankruptcy works to be able to advise him so if anyone can offer any help or advice I'd be very grateful.

dalip

Hi i rang my HA on behalf of another poster on here and was told the HA is governed by law. I was told to contact shelter who could put the person in question in touch with a solicitor who specialises in housing law. Not sure if thathelps at all but maybe a start. Also get your son to call one of the debt charities in my sig or to contact his loacal CAB and ake an app with a debt advisor.Let us know how he gets on please.D

blind-as-a-bat_2

If he is in private rental then no BR probebly wont stop the eviction at all, im not even sure if he is in council it will stop it but arnt sure of that

Dez-Titute

gem4 wrote: »

Son has an eviction order to get out of his flat in early Sept unless he pays £4000 rent arrears before then. He has no way of doing that and doesnt know which way to turn. He has other debts and fines etc which have built up over years with him burying his head in the sand in the hope they would go away. He hasnt a hope in hell of paying them.

He is on income based JS allowance and is in the process of fighting for his kids thru court. If he loses his flat he wont have anywhere for them to sleep. I think his only way out of this mess would be to go bankrupt. He has no assets, no savings, no job, basic bank acc, cant get credit cos of bad debts and is in way over his head.

Will bankruptcy suspend or prevent the eviction or will he still have to leave? I think the eviction had already been suspended previously to this to allow him to pay money off the arrears gradually but he hasnt kept it up, hence the reason for the eviction notice now.

I've spent days worrying and scouring these pages to try to find out what he needs to do but my head is in a spin and time is running out.
Should he approach the council to be rehoused as the eviction order states or should he apply for bankruptcy and hope he can keep the flat.....or will he have to leave the flat regardless? Its a housing association flat.

If he has to leave and gets sent to a hostel I dont know what will happen to all his furniture and his childrens beds etc, or if he's likely to be rehoused somewhere suitable for the children to stay too. Will the council even find him somewhere to stay or will he be homeless and living on the streets? Thats why I'm hoping that there is a way he can keep the flat. They are only young and have their own room and stayed there every weekend until last year when his ex turned on him and stopped contact, thats the reason for having to fight thru court for them now.

I dont know enough about how bankruptcy works to be able to advise him so if anyone can offer any help or advice I'd be very grateful.

Hi Gem,

Your son is lucky to have you as a mother and a friend but it would seem like the only person who can sort this mess out is himself.

If he ends up homeless and you can give him a room thats great but as for anything else I think your probably wasting your time.Your son now needs to take stock of his situation,getting the kids back for the time being would seem a lost cause.

If nothing else at least get him to contact one of the debt charities,
National Debtline - Tel: 0808 808 4000 | The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) - Tel: 0800 138 1111 | local Citizens Advice Bureau

blueopal5577

I only know for my council, if you are evicted due to rent arrears and not complying to repayment plans (unless theres good reason... did he get housing benefit that wasnt paid or something? as hes on job seekers?) then you are 'intentionally homeless' which means the council wont rehouse you. Although housing associations arent council houses in the old way of thinking about them, they are linked and I doubt he'd get housed again because he has chosen to get evicted. That said, its can only be worth applying and saying he has got kids... that usually makes a difference. Though if he didnt pay first time round... could another flat just incur more debt? I know what its like to be an ostrich, sometimes you need an Elephant to kick you up the bum to get your head out the sand. Being evicted may be what is neccessary to sort it out, either with a debt management plan or bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is good for one thing, a clean slate.

HE needs to contact the CAB.

Surely if hes on job seekers he should get 100% housing benefit? Sometimes you can claim in arrears... look into it.

Sorry cant be of more help to you

gem4

Thank you for your responses, I'll try to answer them as best I can.

His rent arrears are due in part to being messed about with benefits. Whilst in work he got into arrears and was paying back extra, then losing his job and waiting for JS to be calculated caused a further month or so arrears because of the delay. This would be ok because of being backdated.....except the council said they hadnt received a claim for HB from the Job Centre and the Job Centre said they 'couldnt find it'. He had to fill in another claim. The delay is approx 2mths which caused more delays.

Some of the arrears are also due to the changes between employment and unemployment as he joined an agency so work was erratic. When he got his last permanent job he assumed the job centre would notify the council and stop the HB since he'd always had to fill in the claims at the job centre and thought the two were linked. They didnt, consequently he ended up in court for overpayment of benefit £300 and was ordered to pay it back at £10 a week. Then he lost his job again. This meant that although he was on benefit it was reduced by £10 a week which he should have been making up to the landlord in addition to the already running rent repayment.

Then more recently his JS didnt arrive and when he questioned it he was told that his 'contribution based JS' had run out and he had to apply for 'income based' JS. When he said he didnt understand it all and why hadnt they told him.......they said they had written to him. So he ended up going thru all the claims again. He now has so many repayments that are supposed to come out of his benefit that he cant cope. I dont know how much benefit is but rather than ask for a reduction in his payments, he just doesnt pay.

He also has a court fine of £20 a week which he cant pay but hasn't asked for a reduction or even told them he's unemployed. He just ignored it, now he's back in court again this month because of that.

He really does need a great big kick up the !!! and I've been far too soft, because he's my son and because I worry about him and my grandkids. AT 33 he should be more responsible. However, that isnt getting him out of the mess he's in now. I've bailed him out so many times before I've got to a point where I cant do anymore. It's not teaching him to stand on his own two feet.
He's already been back here on at least two previous occasions when relationships have broken down and I dont want him here again. I told him when he moved into the flat he had better keep it as he wasnt coming home again. I've a life of my own. Maybe I should have been tougher much earlier.

Just a question about being 'intentionally homeless' as someone mentioned. Is there anything he can do at this late stage which will stop him being considered as being intentionally homeless?
If he pays any off the rent arrears he will have to borrow it or just be given yet another hand-out since his promises to repay never materialise. £4000 is a lot of money to hand out. It cant be done and he shouldnt expect it.
Will any payments he makes help or is it just feeding money to a lost cause?

I'm so sorry to keep posting long posts. He says he's scared.......I'm more than scared, I'm at my wits end with it.
He is supposed to be going to see someone today about the debts and although I've been telling him to see CCCS for months now, it's someone a friend has told him about. I told him to be careful who he's seeing or he could be getting into a worse mess.

I will keep you informed of whats happening, I've always had some good advice from the people on this website.....most of it to do with him unfortunately.

blueopal5577

I would contact the council and actually ask, how do I stop myself / my son being intentionally homeless. They'll tell you whether to continue with token payments, or start saving to rent a room.

Do not lend / give him the money. The fact is if your son is 33, you will have retirement in your sights and you do not want to start it by joining this board.

I know the problems involved with benefit delays all too well, I too incurred rent arrears waiting 3 months for housing benefit.

He should look into recieving a crisis loan, their maximum is £1000 but its repaid at an achieveable amount and can in some circumstances be paid the same day. I wasnt eligble but I'm sure that 1 of the things they can pay towards is council / HA if it will prevent eviction. He will need to contact his local job centre to apply as soon as possible as it can take a while depending on who you get.

If I was in your situation I would try to make contact with the ex girlfriend/wife. Whilst tensions may be strained (you can probably see that he's not acting very responsible so is probably a difficult person or her to be linked with) it might be good for you to have a civil relationship with her, so you can see your grandchildren and they can keep some consistancy. To be honest what he does is up to him... you can lead a horse to water but you cant make it drink.

One thing that may be a kick up the bottom is if he loses his place and has to be living in 1 room in a houseshare, and you have a good relationship with the children. I have the idea that the ex will be more receptive to you once she realises you've got the apron strings to your son.

debt_doctor

Hi, what really matters here is the 'grounds' for possession that the HA has cited. HA are social landlords and should not go for 'mandatory grounds' at first court appearance, but they have been to court once.

Bottom line is if ground 8 is cited ( usually along with grounds 10 and 11 ) then the court will have NO CHOICE but to grant possession if arrears are more than two months on the court date.

Get some advice,fast.

DD

gem4

Ok. Spoke to him this morning and he said he had spoken to the HA last week, and they said he still needed to pay £3.05 a week. They are still getting rent money from the council HB less a £10pw overpayment, but if he should be paying £10 and they are only asking him for £3 the arrears are going to get higher. Debt Doctor, how do we find out what grounds have been cited and what are 8, 10 and 11? Where can I find out info?

Today he went to the court to get forms N244 and EX160 (I think) and I told him to go there first on the way to seeing CAB. When he got to CAB it was full and they said they werent seeing anyone till after 1pm. When she spotted the court forms he was holding she asked if that was what it was about and said she needed to speak to him urgently so to make sure he came back. At 1pm the waiting room was full again but he was given a ticket straight away to go in and see the advisor and she was already on the phone to the court when he went in.

They have fixed a date for him to see someone at court on 12th Aug and he has to take the forms with him and proof of his JS allowance and he was told this court person would go thru the forms with him.
Thats it. Still not sure what the outcome will be but its a step in the right direction.

Although I love my grandkids and miss them like hell I couldnt undermine him and grovel to his ex just to see them because I know how much he misses them and they would want to see him too. She's been just as funny with me. I just dont want to speak to her.

debt_doctor

Hi gem,

The grounds will be cited on the Notice of seeking possession (NOSP). This will have been served by the HA solicitors.

If it states ground 8 that means that if on the court date more than 2 months rent is owed then the court has no choice but to give the property back to the HA.

If it is just grounds 10 and 11 which means there are some rent arrears and that the rent has been persistantly late then the court has 'discretion' which means the court can decide to allow the tenant to remain subject to a satisfactory payment plan.

If you dont have the paperwork then ask the HA, with signed authority from your son.

Good luck

DD