BR & rent arrears

cloverhill

Hi,

I have booked my date for my BR but I am in a pickle over my rent arrears. I am in a LHA property with an outstanding suspended possession order.

Will it be ok if I left them of as a creditor and continues to pay the arrears as per my court order? I don't want to put the arrears in the BR if I stand a chance of losing my home.

The arrears are approx £800 & I'm paying £50pm on top of normal rent.

I have sort advice but was advised to do a DMP which would take nearly 18yrs clear all my debt based on current balances - not allowing for accruing interest....

skylight

If the arrears mean eviction then I understand that yes, you can leave them off and continue to pay the arrears. You should let the OR know though as they need to account for the extra spending. The OR does not want to see you homeless.

cloverfan

Hi Cloverhill:hello:

I have my court date booked for the 2nd November, I have a LHA home that has outstanding rent arrears and a repossesion thingy that you mentioned(sorry i have a terrible memory!!) My rent arrears are going to be included in my BR as I was advised by the CAB to contact the housing or rent officer and ask if going BR would be in breach of the tennancy. Luckily in my case I now have a letter stating I can include my arrears and it wont affect my tennancy at all other than for the first time since 6 months after moving in i wont have arrears:T

I would suggest just phoning up and enquiring how you would be affected? hope this helps...

debt_doctor

Hi,

You have to put the debt in to your BR and one of two things will happen;

1) the HA will write off your arrears and not ask for any more payments.

or

2) If the HA insist, then you will continue to pay the £ 50 pm to avoid being evicted, as in the technical manual.........................

31.7.31 Rent arrears
In a recent unreported Court of Appeal hearing,[note12] the Court of Appeal held that the right of a landlord to recover his/her property from a defaulting tenant, irrespective of whether the landlord does or does not require a court order to do so, is not affected by bankruptcy.
The Court of Appeal case concerned the situation where a possession order had been obtained against a tenant in respect of rent arrears by the relevant District Council. The possession order was then suspended when the tenant agreed to pay current rent plus an amount to discharge the arrears. Subsequently the tenant was declared bankrupt and the Court of Appeal did not dispute that rent arrears outstanding at the date of bankruptcy became a provable debt in the bankruptcy proceedings.
However, the Court of Appeal determined that the possession order was not a remedy against the property or person of the bankrupt and therefore was not restricted by the provisions of the Insolvency Act section 285 (3) (with reference to earlier cases of Ezekial v Orakpo [1977] QB 260 [note 13] and Razzaq v Pala [1997] BPIR 726 [note 14]). The Court of Appeal made it clear that the local authority might have sought possession of the property both before and after the date of the bankruptcy order.
The consequence of this is, where a possession order is made in respect of rent arrears, the court may suspend that order on the condition that the rent arrears will be discharged over a period of time. Where the individual concerned is an undischarged bankrupt then it is anticipated that any amount ordered by the court to discharge the rent arrears would be taken in to consideration when assessing the individual's ability to make payments under an income payments agreement/order

DD

cloverhill

Hi,

Well I went br yesteray. Phoned up my LHA to notify them and to find out what their policy is on BR & rent arrears. They haven't a legal department so I spoke to the most senior housing officer available. I was advised that they do not inc arrears in BR and that they are still going ahead to seek a possession order poss to suspend.
I hadn't missed a payment for the last 12mths. This came about as I had to miss a payment in Oct as I had Court Bailiffs (unpaid fine) at my door, so I phoned up HA to ask if I coudl forgo rent for Oct as I had to pay bailiff or be arrested... They said no & that I had to speak to court as it was their discision (not sure why as pervious order had expired as arrears were cleared Oct 2007) - court sent back letter saying nothing to do with them. Anyway I paid bailiff, missed rent payment but have paid recently as per my letter I sent them.

Who has the final say as to whether it goes in or not? LHA or OR?

nervousmother

You have to put down the debt on the SOA but it is up you if you want to pay in or not. If you think you may get evicted then you pay, if you have a letter stating you wont get evicted then you dont have to carry on paying it.

peachyprice

cloverhill wrote: »

Who has the final say as to whether it goes in or not? LHA or OR?

Your LHA will have the final say.
The OR will let you include any payments towards the arrears on you SoA.

HTH