Possession Proceedings & Counterclaim help please

brightonbelle62

Thanks for your input so far guys. So would it be better to forget the counterclaim and deal with the disrepair as a separate issue? I would then just have to defend the possession claim.

brightonbelle62

PayDay wrote: »

If they are taking the tax credit overpayment off you in one go, can't you sit down and talk to them and ask if you can pay it off installments? That way you might get some tax credits soon.

I don't have the tax credits overpayment now - it went into my bankruptcy. I have a new claim in which has gone to 'compliance' which is going to take ages to process.

brightonbelle62

PayDay wrote: »

I have looked back over your posts and you have said that the council sent a surveyor to your house and he said that it wasn't damp. What evidence are you going to produce to prove that it is damp? A report from another surveyor?

At the moment I only have photos - the only way I can get an independent report is to ask for a damp survey from a company. Even then, I'm aware it probably wont be independent as they'll want me to buy a damp course!! If I had the money for an independent survey it would go on the rent account. I'm stuck really

tbs624

Brightonbelle -

How many months were you in arrears with your rent prior to the BR, and on which specific grounds is the council seeking repossession?

Who advised you over your BR? You also mention a business via ebay in other posts - what's happening there?


Have you talked to these people? Link

brightonbelle62

Yes, they tried to get an independent survey for me but CLS wouldn't fund it - not sufficient benefit.............

I still have my business but the peak selling is over for now.(I don't make a lot from it but because I home educate it allows me to make some income and claim tax credits) I have to get my 3 month accounts to the official receiver after 14 Feb (went br 14 Nov). I also need to give him an updated SOA but can't do this till I get my income in place.

I had 6 weeks rent arrears before the bankruptcy and the claim is for rent arrears, nothing else. Trouble is I haven't paid any rent since my bankruptcy so it's a further 12-14 weeks in arrears now. I'm owed approx £150 pw tax credits for the last 14 weeks and have just had my CB put back in payment including the 3 months they owed me. HTH

silvercar

Even if the 6 week rent arrears are written off in bankruptcy, any rent arrears for the time after you went bankrupt won't be written off. So it looks like there are 12-14 weeks rent arrears that need paying!

You say this hasn't been paid because you are waiting for your tax credit to be sorted, could you have used the rest of your income to pay at least some rent?

I then made a fresh claim for TC which still hasn't been paid - in fact, I have now received a letter stating my claim has gone to the compliance team which means I won't receive any money for a while.

There must be the danger that the compliance team will decide that you are not working sufficient hours to get tax credits (is it 16 per week?) and that you are inflating your hours worked in order to make a claim. If they find out that you are also home educating they could well think this. I don't know the links between the bankruptcy people and the tax credit calculators but there must be a risk that your tax credit claim will be disallowed.

Presumeably then you can claim HB. It may be worth calculating which is more beneficial to you.

In the mean time, I think your priorities should be sorting out your income and where you are going to live. If the council evict for non payment of rent, you will need to sort out private housing. As a bankrupt this may prove difficult.

brightonbelle62

I haven't inflated my hours to claim tax credits - I do run a business on ebay but also have my own website - as I'm home educating and work from home I can be flexible about when I work my hours. There's nothing to say I have to work between 9 and 5. Sometimes I can be working in the middle of the night.

silvercar

brightonbelle62 wrote: »

I haven't inflated my hours to claim tax credits - I do run a business on ebay but also have my own website - as I'm home educating and work from home I can be flexible about when I work my hours. There's nothing to say I have to work between 9 and 5. Sometimes I can be working in the middle of the night.

I'm not disagreeing, just thought a query on the hours worked may be a reason why the compliance team are looking at your case.

Whatever the reason. I guess there is the risk that your claim will be rejected - rightly or wrongly.

GDB2222

Just a quick word to say that I don't think you need to issue a counterclaim at all. A counterclaim would exist if, for example, someone had been injured as a consequence of the disrepair. All you are doing is saying that there should be a deduction from the rent because of the disrepair, which can be argued as a defence without going to the expense or trouble of issuing a counterclaim.

brightonbelle62

Thanks, I'd sort of decided that I don't really need to counterclaim. I think the rent/defence to possession should be dealt with separately from the repairs issue - mainly because I don't have the rent put aside to pay when the repairs are done.

For injury I would have to 'prove' that my asthma and chest problems are a direct result of the damp/disrepair in the property - very difficult.

Thanks for all your thoughts, much appreciated.