Advice please DSS tenent has never paid rent

Mum_of_3_3

Hi!

Not sure of the intricate details as it's my partner's parents that are letting the house not me, but here goes.

My partner's parents own a 3-bed semi that has been in the family for decades & for the last 10 years has been lived in (rent free!) by my partner's sister, however she wanted to move in with her boyfriend so the house became empty and they decided to let it rather than sell in this climate.

One of their friend's children (I'll call her S), her partner & their young family wanted to move in as she said her landlord wanted to sell the house she was in.

It seemed to be a perfect match as my in-laws wanted a long-term tenant & S was fed-up of being moved on every 6-12months & wanted somewhere to lay down roots for her children. They even agreed to rent it to her for £560 which is way cheaper than the going rate around here, as they wanted her to stay in place for years to come.

My in-laws were aware of her claiming DSS and the fact that it would be paid straight to S, but she gave assurances that she would pass it on. S & the in-laws then signed 6-month tenancy agreements drawn up by local solicitors and everything seemed fine.

However, after they didn't receive the first months rent they asked her where it was & she said the council were dragging their heels & that she would pester them.

Now it's 4 months on & they still haven't received any rent :eek:

S keeps saying it's the council & the council won't give out any information as it's contra the data protection act or something :rolleyes: :mad: Also S is also complaining because the in-laws told the council that her partner is living there (they honestly thought he was as he's been at every meeting etc) and apparently he's not & now she may get into trouble (as if this is their fault she's being dishonest with the council as well!).

They have served her with a notice that says she has to be out at the end of the 6 months. This again was drawn up by a local solicitor at a considerable cost.

After all that rambling what we would really like to know is can he do anything to get her out aftger the 6 months if she doesn't go? She has 4 children in total the eldest is 6, the youngest 6 months so will the council demand he keep her there because of the children's age??

More importantly will he ver get back the lost rent from the council as my in-laws seem to think that the council reckon they won't pay them as they've already given it to S :eek:. If so this seems very, very unfair.

Thank you so much for reading this post, I truly hope someone can help my in-laws with some fab advice.

M_o_3

silvercar

Step one is to write to the council and inform them that the tenant is not paying rent and you understand that she is in receipt of housing benefit. The council should immediately stop paying the HB to the tenant and start paying direct. I followed this path and it took less than a week before I had a letter saying they would pay direct and the rent from that date started to be paid, but in arrears as that is the council's way.

Now you need to look at the arrears. The council won't pay the arrears if they have already paid them to the tenant. So you need to come to an arrangement with the tenant. If she wants to pay she needs to agree a repayment schedule.

Although tempting to evict, once the council start paying direct, you have a council paying you regular as clockwork. Evict and you can kiss goodbye to the arrears and you have to find a new tenant, who may or may not be reliable, cope with a void etc.

I would leave the status of S's partner well alone. The benefit definition of who is and who isn't living with someone is a grey area and not your concern.

silvercar

Reading it again you want her out.

So you serve the section 21 to give notice to leave at the end of the term. Then you go back to court and the court will be sympathetic and grant possibly 28 days. Then you go back to court and she should be told to leave within 7 days I think. Then you go back to court and they appoint baliffs. When the baliff is free they literally turn up and push her out on the street.

At some point in this she will apply for council housing. The council usually advise people to stay as long as possible. She will have to do this to keep her status of involuntary homeless. Somewhere near the last court case or baliffs they will give temporarily housing while they assess. At that point you can either be grateful to have your property back or take revenge for the rent arrears by informing the council that (a) the eviction was due to non payment of rent and/ or (b) she has an undeclared partner.

Mum_of_3_3

Thanks for the prompt response Silvercar.

They never meant to land her in it, it's just that whilst speaking to the council they said S & her partner haven't handed over the rent & they then said "But she lives alone" If they were aware she was claiming as a single parent they wouldn't have bought it up.

Unfortunately, I think there's no chance of letting her stay as my in-laws are very very fed up about all of this

I will explain what you have said though & maybe they will change their minds

We just find it incredible that they pay the tenant who then doesn't pay the LL and there seems no come-uppance for the tenant at all. I think that the council should pay the LL the arrears & then chase the tenant for it saying they can't get anymore HB until they clear the arrears.

Seems like if you're a DSS tenant that doesn't mind moving every 6-months it's an easy way to make a lot of money, with no comeback!

M_o_3

Mum_of_3_3

Was posting reply whilst you did your second post

But at the end of the day they still don't get their money unless they chase her??

Really doesn't seem fair does it? I bet she's spent it all by now & doesn't have it left to give back :rolleyes:

It's cost my in-laws over £1k already :eek: and all they've had back is hassle. No wonder all the adverts say no DSS if S is anything to go by.

Rant over

M_o_3

clutton_2

you are in an even more difficult position now - because you told the council that she is living with someone - the council may now decide she is committing benefit fraud - they legally will then claw back the rent that has been/will be paid to you directly and will take you to court to do so if you do not repay it.

any solicitor who did not advise you 3 months ago that he could have got them out using a Section 8 notice - a "no rent" clause is not worth his salt - dump him

Jowo_2

Mum_of_3 wrote: »

We just find it incredible that they pay the tenant who then doesn't pay the LL and there seems no come-uppance for the tenant at all. I think that the council should pay the LL the arrears & then chase the tenant for it saying they can't get anymore HB until they clear the arrears.

Seems like if you're a DSS tenant that doesn't mind moving every 6-months it's an easy way to make a lot of money, with no comeback!

M_o_3

Many threads exist on this forum from HB/LHA claimants that are frustrated with landlords not granting tenancies to them.

All the points here demonstrate why landlords have a significant aversion to HB/LHA claimants who can actually hop from tenancy to tenancy without paying a penny, nor ever be made to account for the money they've squandered.

The scenario has all the classic signs which show why tenants that belong in this category are deeply unpopular

*targeting novice landlords with sob stories
*not passing the rent on not taking ownership for the HB payment (the council doesn't owe the rent, the tenant does. A HB officer who is a member of this forum says that claims are frequently delayed because of the slow and poor quality of the application, not because the local authority is bad at processing them).
*the gatekeeping policy of council housing departments who routinely tell tenants who have squandered the rent to stay in the property until the landlord has gone through an expensive legal process to evict them, even though its a foregone conclusion that the judge will find in their favour (they don't have any discretion when 2 months rent is owed).
*not being able to claw back any owed rent because its a waste of time for the landlord to take legal action against a person who has low income and the state never does.

SouthCoast

targeting novice landlords with sob stories

Just to add to the above.

Producing fake long term partners.

The stories highlight the risks of running a small business.

clutton_2

just to add to the above

suddenly producing a horse they own which they then have to rent a field for it to live in and hay for it to eat - AND its the biggest flaming horse in the county.. so eating up all my rent.....

lets see - what ARE their priorities - pay for roof over childrens heads or feed horse ? .... beggars belief........

lemonjelly

I don't agree with what the council are saying here.

If rent arrears are above 2 months, they have to switch payment of the benefit to the LL. This is written into the benefit legislation, and also should form part of the councils tackling homelessness strategy.

I also don't agree that they can't tell the LL anything. They are allowed to exchange a limited amount of information.

I would suggest trying to find out if the council have a dedicated LL liaison officer (many councils do).

If not, speak with a benefits supervisor, particularly advising that rent arrears are over 2 months, and request payment be made directly.

Seperately from that, I'd advise issuing a notice to quit. Regardless of the council taking time, it remains the tenants responsibility to ensure the rent is paid - be this via benefits or whatever other means!

As an aside, is it worth talking to the parents, seeing as they are freinds?

barnaby-bear

Mum_of_3 wrote: »

Thanks for the prompt response Silvercar.

They never meant to land her in it, it's just that whilst speaking to the council they said S & her partner haven't handed over the rent & they then said "But she lives alone" If they were aware she was claiming as a single parent they wouldn't have bought it up.

Unfortunately, I think there's no chance of letting her stay as my in-laws are very very fed up about all of this

I will explain what you have said though & maybe they will change their minds

We just find it incredible that they pay the tenant who then doesn't pay the LL and there seems no come-uppance for the tenant at all. I think that the council should pay the LL the arrears & then chase the tenant for it saying they can't get anymore HB until they clear the arrears.

Seems like if you're a DSS tenant that doesn't mind moving every 6-months it's an easy way to make a lot of money, with no comeback!

M_o_3

LHA can take 3 months to come through normally, it is very possible this woman hasn't received (or spent/squandered) any LHA; a query as to her claim status single/living with could easily have caused the claim to be suspended/restarted. If her boyfriend isn't resident she might rightly be peeved that the LL has told the council wrong information causing her to be suspected of fraud and receive no rent leading to the possibility of eviction.