HA tenant and growing rent arrears!!

tabskitten

Trollfever wrote: »

How many properties do you own?

tabskitten
MoneySaving Stalwart


Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Helmshore, Rossendale
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ok can i have some honset opinions here please?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-15040098.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-29025005.html

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/377554

Thank you!!

Three, why does this make a difference. One is my first flat which the tenant has just vacated so is empty and on the market, the other is the house we live in which is also one the market as we are emigrating.
Buying property seems to be the biggest mistake I ever made at the moment and what does the others that I own have to do with this?

Trollfever

what does the others that I own have to do with this?

You are running a business, not a charity.

tabskitten

Trollfever wrote: »

You are running a business, not a charity.

Thank you for your support.

The biggest mistake I have made is trusting people.Trusting the agent to do their job and the tenant to pay their rent. I will not be buying property or trusting anyone to help me with anything in this country again that is for sure.

Everyone is out totally for themselves here now- even on forums people seem to love nothing more than to gloat at another's mistakes and ''advice'' often seems to be very supercilious.

Not all and thank you those who have helped and I will be on the phone to the agent, tenant, and council tomorrow. For what it is worth.

bitsandpieces

Assuming your tenant is given LHA to cover a 2 bed place, looks like LHA should mostly have covered this - http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Advice-Benefits/Benefits/benefits---2010/housing-benefit-and-council-tax-benefit-local-housing-allowance.en;jsessionid=21E9978D909D5925A806013E9EAD5E22.tcwwwaplaws3 I think there may have been some months earlier in 2009 than listed on the Bristol website where there would have been a shortfall - which could explain a little (just a little!) of the arrears.

If you're having the tenant stay, would strongly suggest arranging for LHA to be paid straight from the council to you. Otherwise, your tenant can keep underpaying whenever she wants (which will also make it harder to sell to another landlord: rent non-payment isn't a good selling point!)

tabskitten

bitsandpieces wrote: »

Assuming your tenant is given LHA to cover a 2 bed place, looks like LHA should mostly have covered this - http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Advice-Benefits/Benefits/benefits---2010/housing-benefit-and-council-tax-benefit-local-housing-allowance.en;jsessionid=21E9978D909D5925A806013E9EAD5E22.tcwwwaplaws3 I think there may have been some months earlier in 2009 than listed on the Bristol website where there would have been a shortfall - which could explain a little (just a little!) of the arrears.

If you're having the tenant stay, would strongly suggest arranging for LHA to be paid straight from the council to you. Otherwise, your tenant can keep underpaying whenever she wants (which will also make it harder to sell to another landlord: rent non-payment isn't a good selling point!)

will be on that first thing !
thank you for the link and advice.

Geenie

tabskitten wrote: »

Thank you for your support.

The biggest mistake I have made is trusting people.Trusting the agent to do their job and the tenant to pay their rent. I will not be buying property or trusting anyone to help me with anything in this country again that is for sure.

Everyone is out totally for themselves here now- even on forums people seem to love nothing more than to gloat at another's mistakes and ''advice'' often seems to be very supercilious.

Not all and thank you those who have helped and I will be on the phone to the agent, tenant, and council tomorrow. For what it is worth.

tabskitten, you haven't made clear what role the LA had in this tenancy agreement. Were they just providing tenants or should they have been managing the property?! If the latter, then you should come down hard on them for the arrears and make them sort out the tenat.

It does appear that you have let this go on far too long. Do not ever think about letting out a property without grasping the law on renting....even if you are using agents to do the work.

The fact you state the tenant has a "partner" rings alrm bells to me. Do you know that if said partner has been living in your property they can claim squatters rights even if you evict the named tenants on the AST?

Your agents if supposedly managing this property have done badly. If you have been managing it, you have been lazy and neglectful . No tenant of mine would be owing £2000 without action long before this stage.

Good luck OP

tabskitten

Geenie wrote: »

tabskitten, you haven't made clear what role the LA had in this tenancy agreement. Were they just providing tenants or should they have been managing the property?! If the latter, then you should come down hard on them for the arrears and make them sort out the tenat.

It does appear that you have let this go on far too long. Do not ever think about letting out a property without grasping the law on renting....even if you are using agents to do the work.

The fact you state the tenant has a "partner" rings alrm bells to me. Do you know that if said partner has been living in your property they can claim squatters rights even if you evict the named tenants on the AST?

Your agents if supposedly managing this property have done badly. If you have been managing it, you have been lazy and neglectful . No tenant of mine would be owing £2000 without action long before this stage.

Good luck OP

The LA are meant to be fully managing the flat for me- in a way i thought that they would look after me and trusted them what they said that they would sort the arrears out .........

As far as I can see they realy have done nothing for me at all!!

Jowo_2

mortgagenewbee wrote: »

Just for my purposes can we ask the tenant this question or go direct to LHA to ask about the entitlement?

It's up to a landlord to ensure that they undertake thorough tenant screening to understand how the tenant intends to pay the rent and if they can afford it.

A local council will generally not discuss an LHA claim with a landlord(unless the tenant is deemed by them to be too vulnerable to manage their financial affairs or the tenant has significant arrears and the landlord wants the payment to switch to them).

There is a government run LHA calculator that provides a guide to claimants about their bedroom entitlement, and then the rate they could get locally (broad rental market). However, this is just a guide since the full amount they actually receive will depend on their income and various factors.

https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/Secure/Default.aspx

Jowo_2

tabskitten wrote: »

So if I evict her have I defiantly lost the arrears? She has been in the flat 12 months. I do not know how much she gets from HA but the rent is £600pcm
She is over 25, with ''partner'' and child.

Sounds like she is entitled to have the 2 bedroom rate LHA. The calculator here will show you potentially the maximum LHA she could receive from the property though this will depend on factors such as any savings she has, her partner's income, etc. In fact, a tenant can keep £15 per week from the LHA if the rent is lower than the LHA rate.

https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/Secure/Default.aspx

She owes nearly 3 months rent, therefore hasn't paid around a quarter of her rent and is not remotely doing you a favour. The rule of thumb is that no tenant is better than a bad tenant. A non-paying tenant or one that trashes the property can take many, many months to evict.

If she does receive sufficient LHA to cover the rent, then she's simply spent the other £2k on other things. Most landlords would have sent a warning letter on the first occasion and commenced eviction proceedings on the second.

Realistically, it will be impossible to recover the sum owed from someone on benefits. You can get a CCJ (which will flag up an alert in checks undertaken by future landlords/agents) but it will be difficult to enforce. How on earth can you get the equivalent of 3 months rent out of someone who has no income other than subsistence benefits?

If you feel overwhelmed by the S8/S21 process and your Letting agent is incompetent, look at the Landlordzone website for info on this or engage Landlord Action to do this. A minor mistake in the issue of these docs will invalidate them, which you'll only find out some months later at the court hearing, thus having to start from scratch.

You can probably expect some sob stories from your tenant to try and dissuade you from this action, since she'll know it will be difficult for her to find a new landlord because her tenancy was ended because of rent arrears and she'll know the local council will give her short thrift if she applies to them as homeless, or perhaps will put her in a hostel or B&B.

tabskitten

I have applied to Bristol council both by phone and now in writing and any rent now will be paid direct to me - I hope.

Tried CAB wrt the arrears but not very helpful, looking for some advice on taking it to court if need be......