section 8

slim1982

she owes 1065 she has bin chasing it every week

slim1982

oh and she s lived there nearly 4 years and never missed any payment

Jowo_2

Your friend should ask for an interim payment from the HB office. My understanding is that the HB office is obliged to pay this out after 14 days if they haven't processed an application in time and it looks like the person is eligible. This is something she needs to apply for, it doesn't automatically happen. LHA is paid to the tenant, not the landlord - I'm sure he doesn't care about the source of the rent as long as he gets it.

She should keep all contact with the landlord in writing, keeping copies, including the offer of £500 that was refused by the LL.

She should contact Shelter to understand her rights, the court process and how to prevent homelessness in the interim period.

The landlord will only be given possession of the property on a mandatory basis by the judge (i.e. the judge has no discretion) if at the time of serving the S8 AND at the time of the court case, she owes 2 periods of rent (so if paid on a monthly basis, this means 2 months rent). Many tenants thwart this by paying down the arrears to less than 2 periods of rent. I wonder if the landlord is trying to improve his chances of getting possession of the property awarded to him by refusing to accept payment in the interim. She should ask Shelter about this strategy and how she can reduce the arrears before the court case when the LL is not cooperating.

Even if the court finds in the LL favour, she should be able to ask for the date of eviction to be delayed so should bring along proof of the next tenancy to see if the judge will award possession back to the landlord after she is due to leave.

A tenant does not have to leave a property until a landlord has a court order, it can take weeks, if not months to get a court date, so she might very well be able to stay in the first property in the meantime, simply because the legal process for eviction is so slow.