unpayed council tax

lukosius

Just wonder if anyone can help. I rented a house with other 5 people. In 2003 I have bought my own and informed letting agency and landlord that I have moved out. And now after 5 years I received a letter from Council tax office that I have not paid tax from 2004 till 2007! £2012!!:mad: I went to agency I rented with and checked all my tenancy agreements and the one we signed in 2003 was not canceled but in fact wasn't renew and stayed there for 3 years! They told me I had to handle a keys to them. But I told them there were other people still living there...And I have informed them that I moved out. What should I do??Please help me. Council tax bill was not in my name, was in landlord's name and I have all my tax slips on that address. They didn't inform agency or landlord.

vet8

Whose name was the tenancy in?
Who paid the council tax originally?
Does this bill represent all of the the council tax? If so why is it all down to you and not divided between the other tenants as well?

We need more information.

simone83

hi,

were you all listed in the tenancy or did you each have your own agreements?

if you were all joint tenants then the bill should be in all five names and then have yours removed when you left (you will need to provide proof to the council of the date you left). if this is the case then you are all jointly and severally liable and the council can chase any one of you for the whole debt.

Should you all have seperate tenancies and shared communal areas, then the property should be classed as a HMO (house of multimuple occupation) and the landlord would then be liable for the council tax.

Either way, if you moved out in 2003 and the bill is for 2004 - 2007, the prove you were paying council tax elsewhere and the council should remove your name from the bills!

CIS

As Simone83 has stated, if you left the property and can prove when you left then any remaining tenants are liable for the council tax. They only way you would be liable after you left is for any period where you jointly held the tenant agreement and all of the tenants had vacated (and the tenancy was still held), whilst any of them remained in the property you are not liable.

If your new property is with the same authority then you should be able to provide them with the details of your account for confirmation otherwise you'll need to get your new Authority to provide you with confirmation of the dates of your liability.

lukosius

Thank you for all your answers. Tenancy agreement was on my name from 2004-2007 for 3 years. I told them to replace my name as I don't live there anymore but they didn't. As I was out of the country that time I did not email or send them a letter asking to change agreement, I just phone them instead and told them that I have left. Agency did not tell me that I have to write or give them a keys as there were 5 people in the house. And when I came to check my name was there till 2007! But they said they never saw me bringing the rent money. Stupid me!!!Council tax was in my friend's name who lived there till 2005 and on landlord's name till now. So I told them they don't read landlord's letter's and if you send one to landlord he was responsible to inform people who lived there to pay. But he never did! Council told me bailiffs came once but could not get in to the house. Just once??And they showed me photocopies of some council tax slips for 2005-2006 which they requested. So if you chased these payslips for 2005-2006 why you didn't ask for previous years??It's so complicated and it's obviously their mistake. Just want to find a stupid one who will pay.:mad: