Landlord not declaring me living there!

j3ayy

Please Help Me!
What sort of legal ground do i stand on, i have just moved out of my flat that i lived there for 7 months with another flat mate! The problem is that i owe my landlady back rent as i got laid off from my last job i owe over £1000 to her.
I have not signed a tenancy agreement we lived there on the hush hush we even paid her council tax but never declared us living there.

She is threatening me with legal action i have told her i will repay her but i have had to move back to my parents to stop this massive ammount getting out of hand!

THANKS FOR READING!

theartfullodger

A tenancy does not have to be written. If she can show evidence you were there (eg bills, letters, what-other-people-say, photos...) and that you paid (regular payments into bank... but if cash and sneaky then difficult...) then most judges would say you have a tenancy, you owe rent, she has responsibilities...

She may not know this: Getting any money out of you would be tough, but possible.

Next time she asks for money, ask her if council know what is going on, if the lender (if she has a mortgage) know what is going on (they have the power to repossess if they try really hard), does she have a gas safety certificate, did she have an EPC, does HMRC know about this income... then ask does she really want the money or would she agree to let you go..

You've probably been guilty of, at the very least, deception and, many would suggest, stupidity... No doubt they'd be wrong.....

Cheers!


Lodger

BASFORDLAD

If you have no tenancy agreement i think it would be very difficult for her to get a ccj against you.
Tell her that you will see her in court!

00ec25

the fact you paid rent has created a tenancy contract notwithstanding the lack of written agreement

however, if you were genuinely hush hush then the usual reasons for that is things such as:
- LL may not have been declaring you for many things, chief of which would be Income Tax,
- if you lived there as your only home were you on the electoral roll, if the LL did not declare you that is an offence,
- also LL did not have permission to let,
- was your deposit protected,
- did you have gas certificate,
- did you have an EPC
- ie was everything done by the book?

yes she can sue you but it would be messy in court and cost her £

yes you can threaten her with informing taxman and making trouble over whatever other "evasions" she has done

your choice

Jowo_2

Did the landlady live in the same property? Did you pay a deposit to the landlady and if so, did she notify you which scheme she protected it in?

To whom did she not declare that you were living there? Are you indicating that she's illegally subletting it when she does not have permission from a private or social housing provider? Or that she is the owner but doesn't have permission to let from her lender? Or are you suggesting she isn't paying tax to the HMRC?

If it's the latter, it's not actually your business, its between her and the HMRC, it doesn't affect the rent that you owe one jot but there is a tax evasion hotline you can report her to where around 2% of the reports are investigated.

By the reference to paying 'her council tax' - was it not part of your agreement to do this (its common for tenants to pay this) or do you mean that she kept the council tax bill in her own name for you to pay?

The acceptance of rent creates a valid tenancy even in the absence of a contract, verbal agreements are binding (though hard to prove, 'worth the paper they are written on' it is said).

There are a few occasions when a tenant can legitimately wriggle out of paying the rent they owe but only a few and you would have to provide more info on your tenancy.

To me, with the initial info you've provided, it just sounds like you owe her rent and hope the lack of formality with the tenancy means you can evade it. By the sounds of her dealings, she probably won't want to take it to court anyhow.

j3ayy

Thanks for the response, there is no evidence that we live there, the house is split up into three floors the landlady lives on the bottom floor,another lass lives on the next floor & me & my friend live on the top floor.
we give her cash into her hand & she as a little black book that she crosses off when we've paid her.
As for certificates & stuff i dont know what she has but my boyfriend keeps asking me to ask her for a copy of the Gas landlord safety certificate!

I have every intention of paying her back but i dont like how she keeps saying shes gonna take me to court!

McKneff

come on now. you have admitted that you owe her the rent money.
she was kind enoug to take you into her home.
you owe her the money, just pay it and move on.
That would be a nice thing to do and you wouldnt feel badly for a long time to come that you duped someone who was kind to you now would you.

j3ayy

Jowo wrote: »

Did the landlady live in the same property? Did you pay a deposit to the landlady and if so, did she notify you which scheme she protected it in?

We have NOT paid any deposit or bond money to her!

Jowo_2

j3ayy wrote: »

I have every intention of paying her back but i dont like how she keeps saying shes gonna take me to court!

Then head this off by negotiating a mutually acceptable repayment schedule with her and stick to it.

I take it that either your partner's income or the lack of a tenancy agreement hindered your applying for housing benefit (which I assume your landlady would not have been happy with anyway if she wants to be under the radar).

j3ayy

McKneff wrote: »

come on now. you have admitted that you owe her the rent money.
she was kind enoug to take you into her home.
you owe her the money, just pay it and move on.
That would be a nice thing to do and you wouldnt feel badly for a long time to come that you duped someone who was kind to you now would you.

I am gonna pay the money i owe her when i have it! She didnt just take us into her home we were in a two bedroom flat!

00ec25

j3ayy wrote: »

Thanks for the response, there is no evidence that we live there, the house is split up into three floors the landlady lives on the bottom floor,another lass lives on the next floor & me & my friend live on the top floor.

leaving aside the rights or wrongs or you paying or not this sounds worse and worse!

a 3 storey property in which 3 households live, who are not related to each other, is classed as a "House in Multipe Occupation" or HMO

your council will enforce various rules and regulations over the standard of furnishings and safety of the property, could this be why it is cash in hand and the CT bill is still in her name?
I would inform the council if nothing else as my civic duty, the property (in the eyes of the council) may be a death trap

(PS I am LL for a declared HMO and have paid to get all the jobs done the little town hall egos demanded, I and my tenants are now much safer than we were before the rgs were introduced..... I have owned the property 15 years before the regs.... me? cynical? get out of here!)

BTW - if she ever went to court, the fact it is cash payment means legally she must give you a copy of a formal rent book - failure to do so is an offence