Advice on paying overdue rent.

LB29

Hi, this is my first post so I hope it is in the right place and someone can give me some advice.

I am currently renting a council house. Over a year ago I had problems with applying for benefits and was taken to court because of the rent I owed. I set up an arrangement through the court but found that the housing officer was dishonest about the occasions that I had been in contact with him. This was not a major problem but I am now quite wary of him.

After Christmas this year my partner was again out of work due to the weather and lack of work. We have again struggled to claim benefits as his boss claims he is self-employed. I rang the housing officer in February and he told me that I needed to clear the amount I owed before the end of the financial year. I have worked out that we can pay this amount but the majority would need to be payed in lump sums, out of our tax credit money, which I explained to him.

Today the housing officer has turned up at my door. He is now saying that if I don't make a substantial payment by the end of the week he will be arranging the eviction papers on Saturday. I told him that I can pay £600 as this week I will be receiving the tax credit money. He has arranged for another housing officer to collect £300 tomorrow and himself to collect £300 on Friday.

However I feel that he has lied again. I didn't get the arrangement in writing which I regret. Now my main concern is handing over this money, he has said that he can give me a receipt but will this be ok? If the money were to disappear then I can't afford to make it up to clear the rent account.

Thank you to anyone who has read this, any advice will be welcomed,

LB29

poppysarah

Put everything in writing.

HO do not collect rent nor should they door to door. Take it to an office and get a proper receipt for it.

I wouldn't trust any HO who I knew had already lied to me. Ring the council and find out where you can pay the money. You might be able to pay it at various offices or post office etc.

LB29

Thank you, he has said that the reason for collecting it at my door is so that he receives it immediately rather than next week, which would be the case if I payed at the post office as I normally do.

benoit

He shouldn't be collecting money at the door. Just go to the post office and tell him you paid it. If you are already in arrears then it doesn't really make much difference what day they get it as long as you pay it.

Fire_Fox

You need to deal with this in writing by recorded delivery and NOT by telephone, you need a paper trail if this goes to court. Ringing once last month is not enough you need to keep the housing officer fully informed, preferably on a weekly basis. Being self-employed should not affect housing benefits only Jobseekers Allowance, I don't understand why your partner's boss is 'claiming' he is self-employed, either he is or he is not??

All the free debt charities (e.g. CCCS, Payplan, CAB, National Debtline) consider rent and council tax to be priority debt - you MUST pay these before anything else except food as the consequences for non-payment are very serious. Please contact one of the charities for support and advice as a matter of urgency. Please also pay any money via an official council office getting an official council receipt. AFAIK just like any other tenant you have the right to quiet enjoyment so the housing officer should not be showing up at your door - have you received any letters about the arrears?

Jowo_2

Get support and advice from Shelter who are experts and can tell you your rights and how best to handle this.

Despite your feelings about the Housing Officer and the reasons you cite for the arrears, the long and short of it is that you are contractually obliged to pay your rent on time and it looks like the Housing Association is able to demonstrate persistent arrears on your part if they do decide to take legal action against you once again.

There was a post on here a month or two ago about a housing association tenant who had a suspended possession order against them that was triggered when they once again defaulted on their rent. I'm not sure that they would have had any opportunity to provide a defence in court to prevent it if the HA hadn't withdrawn it, since breaking the terms of a suspended possession order can be sufficient for a landlord to regain the property.

You and others may claim the Housing Officer had no right to call round the property to discuss your arrears. I have no idea whether or not this is permitted. However, just a few weeks ago on this forum, a social housing tenant complained when she was contacted by letter about being evicted who insisted that her social housing landlord should have tried to speak to her in person about the matter rather than sending her a letter out of the blue...

LB29

I did receive a letter but this was back in February, not about him visiting. I only rang the once because he stated that if the overdue amount was payed before the end of the financial year then everything would be fine. I have spoke to the national debtline and they did explain that the rent was a priority which we are treating it as.

I am confused about the self-employed thing as well. The points made on the government website indicate that he is not self employed ie he doesn't look for his own work. But his boss claims he is and only pays his tax not national insurance. There were other problems with his claims as well, he actually went back to work before the claims were fully set up and he was out of work for 7 weeks. I have been in contact with housing benefit who have said no payment will be made as we haven't given them the information they needed in time. His boss hasn't given him a P45 and we couldn't tell them what benefits we were receiving as jobseekers didn't get set up properly.

I have only received the one letter about the arrears which was before I contacted the housing officer in Feb.

LB29

Jowo wrote: »

Get support and advice from Shelter who are experts and can tell you your rights and how best to handle this.

Despite your feelings about the Housing Officer and the reasons you cite for the arrears, the long and short of it is that you are contractually obliged to pay your rent on time and it looks like the Housing Association is able to demonstrate persistent arrears on your part if they do decide to take legal action against you once again.

There was a post on here a month or two ago about a housing association tenant who had a suspended possession order against them that was triggered when they once again defaulted on their rent. I'm not sure that they would have had any opportunity to provide a defence in court to prevent it if the HA hadn't withdrawn it, since breaking the terms of a suspended possession order can be sufficient for a landlord to regain the property.

You and others may claim the Housing Officer had no right to call round the property to discuss your arrears. I have no idea whether or not this is permitted. However, just a few weeks ago on this forum, a social housing tenant complained when she was contacted by letter about being evicted who insisted that her social housing landlord should have tried to speak to her in person about the matter rather than sending her a letter out of the blue...

I am not claiming that he shouldn't have come round to my house. I am completely ok with this. It's just the issue of handing over the money to him when I don't feel he is someone I can trust.

Fire_Fox

LB29 wrote: »

I did receive a letter but this was back in February, not about him visiting. I only rang the once because he stated that if the overdue amount was payed before the end of the financial year then everything would be fine. I have spoke to the national debtline and they did explain that the rent was a priority which we are treating it as.

I have only received the one letter about the arrears which was before I contacted the housing officer in Feb.

Sorry if this sounds patronising but .... the correct way to reply to a formal letter is another formal letter. Please please start dealing with this in writing, as Jowo says on paper this is persistent arrears without any evidence of you taking it seriously. The housing association only need to send one letter, it's one more than you have sent! You are in breach of contract whereas they have done things by the book, one more late payment and you could be evicted.

princeofpounds

The housing is the most urgent issue, but it looks like your partner's boss is acting illegally in an attempt to avoid taxation. This is a complicated situation that will be hard to resolve without risks to your partner's job, but it is something your partner will need to address sooner or later if he ever wants to have a stable employment situation. The employment board here will be able to help with that.

As for the rent, I don't know the council system enough to advise specifically, but you have a very cheap and secure tenancy and you would be mad to risk this through non-payment.

The sound of him turning up to collect rent money does sound odd. You should probably be going to the housing office as a matter of priority and speaking to a manager there, if for no other reason than to figure out exactly where you stand and if possible to arrange payment through a formal channel. Whatever you do, get a signed receipt.

LB29

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Sorry if this sounds patronising but .... the correct way to reply to a formal letter is another formal letter. Please please start dealing with this in writing, as Jowo says on paper this is persistent arrears without any evidence of you taking it seriously. The housing association only need to send one letter, it's one more than you have sent! You are in breach of contract whereas they have done things by the book, one more late payment and you could be evicted.

Hi, no it doesn't sound patronising at all. In fact I feel really stupid for not doing everything the correct way from the start, if I was dealing with a debt collector I would have done so, so I'm really sure I didn't in this case.

I have spoken to shelter who have advised me to pay over the phone, this will be an immediate payment and I will then have my bank statements as proof. I have contacted the housing officer and explained this to him. He actually laughed and said this was rubbish, a receipt from him would stand for the same but he has agreed to let me pay this way. I have also asked him to send a letter stating the amounts that need to be payed and when. I will follow this up later in writing, recorded delivery and keep copies of everything.