What should i do? What are my rights?

amberowl28

Hi,

I've been a tenant for the last two and a half years and moved into current home in January 2007 on a 6 month assured agreement (renewed every 6 months). I had to leave my job in March to look after my mother who has MS, unfortunately my job couldn't be kept open for me. I'm now job hunting and waiting for benefits to come through (JSA and HB). I'm in real financial difficulty with absolutely no money other than a £50 crisis loan. Parents simply cannot help me. This means i have absolutely no way of paying my rent. Here's my rent payment history

March - paid as normal on time and in full.
April - paid late but in full and within the 14 days allowed by agreement.
May - a month late, had to sell washing machine, tv, comp (using friends) and printer) but managed to pay in full.
June - as yet unpaid
July - due on the 20th June

Before this i had always paid on time, have been a good tenant and kept the place looking nice and looked after it.

I feel so bad for not paying my rent and my landlady has been so understanding, she could have served me with an eviction notice by now.
But i don't think her patience is going to stretch much further and she is expecting me to be up to date by paying £700 on the 20th June, though i've said this may not be possible.

Last tenancy agreement was signed in Jan and runs out in July (this payment on the 20th would be last of current agreement. Unfortunately she has the only copy of this. I requested copy last week to show coucil as evidence for benefit claim but have so far had no word. She was supposed to come round last week to inspect property as she does periodically but she never showed. My claim cannot move forwards until i have a tenancy agreement. Do i have rights to a copy of this?

Thinking i may have to simply move out as there is no way i can afford to pay the £700. Even when i get HB its extremely unlikely to be backdated to pay for missed rent. This would mean sleeping on friends/parents sofas and i would still somehow owe landlady money i don't have. No housing benefit either if i was living with friends/parents - so no way to pay her unless i magically got a job. Is there anyway my deposit (one months rent £350) can be taken into account to make me uptodate if i left by June 20th? I guess i'd still owe Julys rent?

What can i do? I feel so bad and wish desperately i could give my landlady the money i owe i've done nothing but jobhunt for ages with no luck. Any advice greatfully recieved. Please no nasty comments i really want to pay everything i owe landlady asap but am unsure how to do this.

thecableguy12

cant you get the dss or dwp to give you housing benefit?

amberowl28

Claim going through at moment but obviously they need to see tenancy agreement or filled in form from landlady, which i so far haven't been able to get off her. Last time i saw it was January when i signed renewal. Didn't even get time to read it properly - dumb i know. But it looked same as previous ones, which i do have a copy of.

Fire_Fox

What are you living on now? How are you eating? Are you paying any other bills - utilities, council tax, mobile phone?

amberowl28

Had to cancel all DD's to prevent further bank charges as overdraft and credit card are at limit. So currently paying nothing on anything and racking up costs on credit card. Have £35 of emergency crisis loan for food and thats it until benefits come through which could be two weeks for JSA and even longer for HB depending upon when my landlady decides to respond to my request for copy of tenancy agreement. Really in a mess and don't know what to do. Can't even sleep for worry which is why i'm on here now.

tbs624

Have you *written* to the LL yet? If not then do so, setting out your rent situation to her and ask her to call round. If she seems to be avoiding you currently it may be that she is intending to give you notice and/or pursue you for the rent arrears and finds it hard to face up to it. Some LLs do.

Even if you managed to get a claim for HB or LHA (local housing allowance), as it is now, you will only be entitled to a specific rate which is unlikley to come anywhere near 700pcm if you are by yourself. If you are single and under 25 you will only be entitled to the local amount for shared accommodation.

Get an urgent appointment with a benefits adviser at the local CAB. If you were/are looking after your mother to such an extent that you had to give up your paid employment then she may well be able to claim attendance allowance, and you could perhaps claim for a carers allowance. Is there room for you to move back in with your parents, even if only temporarily?

amberowl28

Yes I have written to LL and left messages on answering machine, rent is £350. £700, would be £350 for June's rent and £350 for July's rent (due on 20th June). Last time we communicated i told her i was applying for benefits and should be able to pay £700 owed on the 20th as long as benefits come through to which she agreed. Also requested copy of agreement which she said would send. I am single and 23 so yes that would be the applicible amount which does just cover it.

If i move back with parents then i'll be on the sofa but thinking thats my only option, but won't really help as will still owe landlady and won't get HB. CAB were plain unhelpful and lady was quite frankly rude when i went in and tried to explain my situation. Cause claims are still going through there is nothing they can do until i actually get a letter or there is a problem with my claim and wouldn't give me an appointment to see someone.

Unfortunately i'm not eligable for attendance/carers as she doesn't need it most of the time - need to care 35 hours per week. Planning to go back to CAB tom and try to actually talk to someone or at least get an appointment. It'll be too late by then i suspect.

Morglin

Have you tried Shelter? - they can sometimes help with advice on getting things moving on the LHA front, and what your rights as a tenant are.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/

Lin

silvercar

Give the housing benefit people the old tenancy. That should be enough as, if that continued on a periodic tenancy, it would be all you had. In the same letter give the housing benefit team permission to contact your landlord, that way if they want more info they can contact direct.

Something to consider is that with 8 weeks of arrears the landlord can apply to be paid direct from the council. This should supply some security to the landlord that the rent will be paid.

amberowl28

I'm so depressed, went to CAB and waited for it to open only to be told all appointments were gone and i'd have to come back next week and try my luck then on either wens or fri.

I showed them previous agreements but they wouldn't accept them as it had to be current - have given them permission to contact landlady and am willing for any money to be paid straight to her.

Going to call shelter thanks for the link.

amberowl28

Managed to get through to Shelter who were very understanding and said they couldn't understand why council wouldn't accept old tenacy agreement? Or why landlady hadn't yet returned form as it's in her intrests (enables her to get paid). Other than the fact that if i owe more than two months rent, which i will effectively from the 20th June she can start legal proceedings and have me out in two weeks. I'm very afraid this is what she intends to do.

Also got letter from council - about evidence required for my claim but addressed to previous tenant who hasn't lived there for 3 years. Only know this as still occassionally getting letters for car insurance quotes and debt collection agencies (which i always return after writing on them no longer lives here). Went to council to clear this up but comps were down and she made a note on a little piece of paper. Will be going back on Mon.