rent arrears & county court letter

brummylad_3

i have no idea on my type of tenancy (or any other type for that matter) as my tenancy agreement is lost.....i might find it lying around somewhere in all her rubbish.

I thought about sueing her but as there was no written contract its highly unlikely i will be successful unless i get a confession from her.

princeofpounds

I think someone needs to be better organised in future!

No matter. Your housing association will probably have a copy of the agreement anyway you can ask for, though they might charge you an admin cost.

A written confession (email?) would probably help your case.

Key things here - clear the arrears and be in court if required. Can you pay the arrears right away?

brummylad_3

Yeh my resolution for 2010 was be more organised!!!

Could i email them my confession and propsed terms to help recover the rent?
there is no way i could pay all the arrears right away but i can pay £500 towards it (loan off sister & brother in law).....looking at the latest statement dated 23/11/09 the arrears were at 983.92 and i dont think she paid December's either.

I have booked the day off work to attend court if required.

squinty

brummylad wrote: »

i have no idea on my type of tenancy (or any other type for that matter) as my tenancy agreement is lost.....i might find it lying around somewhere in all her rubbish.

I thought about sueing her but as there was no written contract its highly unlikely i will be successful unless i get a confession from her.

From what you have said, and the HA using Ground 10 you probably have an assured tenancy - this could be an assured shorthold tenancy - but for this purpose there is little difference for HA tenants.

Your proposal to pay £500 (ie 50%) plus a regular payment should be acceptable but you need to ensure that no further payments are missed. I disagree with what princeofpounds has said - although judges are reluctant to evict families, they are less concerned about evicting single people. This is why it is so important for you to attend court - even if the HA do not accept your arrangment it is a chance for you to demonstrate to the court that you are bothered about the tenancy, and are making the effort.

Good luck

Sparky67

Housing Associations usually use Assured Tenancies, and are generally discouraged from using Ground 8 (mandatory grounds). Ground 10 is discretionary.

I would get in touch with your Housing Officer prior to the hearing and explain the situation, make the offer to pay the £500 and then direct debit/ so for the current rent plus an amount off the arrears. They might then agree to either adjourn the proceedings, or more likely attend the hearing and tell the judge you have reached an agreement to pay xx off the arrears per week/month. You MUST make sure you keep to any agreement though, or they can issue a warrant for eviction.

Generally Housing Officers don't like being ignored, but if you contact them and apologise etc etc, they may show a little leeway.

Good luck.

BitterAndTwisted

Please contact your HA by phone asap. In my experience they are generally pretty cooperative if you can make an immediate payment and they are often quite lenient about how quickly they expect you to pay off the arrears. I'm almost certain that they will agree for you to pay back at something like £10 or £20 a week as long as you make all your future payments on time.

Confirm any agreement made on the phone by letter as already advised.

Can you come back and let us know how you get on?

princeofpounds

I disagree with what princeofpounds has said - although judges are reluctant to evict families, they are less concerned about evicting single people.

I think it's more a matter of emphasis than anything... I wasn't saying they will look for any excuse to keep a tenant in place, just that they usually want to ensure that reasonable alternatives have been tried.

brummylad_3

Thanks guys for all your help......i offered to pay the £500 and told them i would pay £80 a week as opposed to £67.84 to help reduce it and they accepted. they are also sending me standing order details for me to setup & a rent statement.

no news on the court details yet as to wether i would still have to attend but at least i wont be homeless so thats good news to me.

princeofpounds

good stuff. despite the lack of organisation I think it's good you have taken it on the chin and dealt with it.

remember to get confirmations on paper and be careful with the court going ahead or not.

DVardysShadow

princeofpounds wrote: »

remember to get confirmations on paper and be careful with the court going ahead or not.

Just quoted the above for emphasis. This is important. If they won't confirm in writing, after your first payment, you need to detail the agreement in writing [don't forget to keep a copy] with your second payment.