DSS tenants. Yes or No?

deary65

BobProperty wrote:

The two replies on this link say

"where there has been an act of fraud to retain HB/CTB"
and
"An LA official error overpayment is only recoverable when the claimant, person acting on their behalf, or any other person to whom the benefit was paid, could, at the time of receipt of the payment, or any notice relating to that payment, reasonably have been expected to realise that it was an overpayment."

I suspect that the problem for landlords is that the decision is taken by a housing benefit officer, not a court. In the first quote any possibility of collusion between landlord and tenant or a bad track record by the landlord and the possibility of fraud exists in the mind of the benefit officer, therefore issue clawback procedings. In the second quote I can see the landlord being told "it's obvious it was wrong" therefore hand it back. Can readers understand the problem here? It's a double negative for a landlord. Take the first quote again. It is not interpreted as the landlord can keep the money unless and until he is convicted of fraud. It's interpreted as proceed to claw the money back until he proves there isn't any fraud.

The link I give is where benefit advisers and benefit officers come together to discuss benefit issues, none of whom are lawyers. The people who interpret primary legislation in the form of rules and regulations are civil servants again they are not lawyers.

Such people cause endless amounts problems, not only for themselves but everyone who has anything to do with the benefit system, and is a destructive weakness in the implementation of benefits to those most in need of it.

BobProperty

Deary - excellent point. The problems are further compounded by benefit staff on the one hand being there to give out money to claimants and at the same time not be open to abuses of the system by claimants or landlords and to recover the same where possible. All this to be done under the pressure of local departmental targets and without working any overtime.
From the landlords' side, no one has the money or resources to take these issues to a sufficient level in the courts to establish the legal correctness of the policy implementation they are suffering under.

black-saturn

I always wonder why would anyone not on benefit want to be in a rented house. If you are in a stable job wouldnt it be best to buy your own house and be paying that money into a mortgage instead of some !!!!!! landlord who wants to squeeze every penny out of you and get you to pay his mortgage for him.

superscotsman

black-saturn wrote:

I always wonder why would anyone not on benefit want to be in a rented house. If you are in a stable job wouldnt it be best to buy your own house and be paying that money into a mortgage instead of some !!!!!! landlord who wants to squeeze every penny out of you and get you to pay his mortgage for him.

Finance is a funny business. As you say, it is better to pay a mortgage than pay rent to a scumbag landlord. When you own the property outright (no mortgage), it can in many cases become more economical to sell up and rent.

Just finished reading "The Art of the Deal" by Donald Trump. Were he in the UK, I don't think he'd have much truck with DSS tenants!

hobo28

I always wonder why would anyone not on benefit want to be in a rented house. If you are in a stable job wouldnt it be best to buy your own house and be paying that money into a mortgage instead of some !!!!!! landlord who wants to squeeze every penny out of you and get you to pay his mortgage for him.

I used to think that too but now my GF's dad rents a few properties out. Generally its to people who are new to the area perhaps and not settled yet or as a stop gap during a house move (eg. to break the chain) or something else I hadn't thought of at first, a new couple testing out living together or someone following a recent breakup.

frugglewump

black-saturn wrote:

I always wonder why would anyone not on benefit want to be in a rented house. If you are in a stable job wouldnt it be best to buy your own house and be paying that money into a mortgage instead of some !!!!!! landlord who wants to squeeze every penny out of you and get you to pay his mortgage for him.

Well from my experience it's not difficult to be on too high an income to qualify for benefits and too low an income to be given a mortgage. We've been renting this flat for 6 years. It's only in the last year that I've had a high enough income to stop my debts rising.

the_blue_angel

hi was a caretaker for 10 years taken in dhss i found them to be less hassel then people paying money there is a lot of decent people on dhss not all are scum bags you just have to pick the right ones other wise you have to call in the big boys

Mehullakhani

Ok, maybe I am being silly here, but if you get an agent to manage the property, surely most of these problems wont be relevant.

They would collect the rent, they would deal with the housing benefit people etc etc. They would collect the references, and a deposit etc etc

Or am I mistaken ?

R

Mehul