Got a letter from my landlord this morning...

alasia

It was sent recorded delivery, and when I opened it, it was typed letter from my landlord saying that I owe nearly £900 in rent - my rent is £495 a month so its nearly 2 months rent that I owe, and due to the arrears and "poor state of the above property" I have to leave by 31st July or he will give me a notice to quit.

Now I am panicking. I didnt get a tenancy agreement when I moved in, the 2 months rent that I owe are from Oct and December last year before I claimed housing benefit - I was struggling to pay the rent as a single mum on benefits (trying to get work but not getting interviews) and as I only get £120 a week I just couldnt afford to pay off the arrears.

I eventually got my landlord to give me a tenancy agreement at the start of this year but its just free one he printed off the internet; and my copy has now disappeared!

I also dont have a rent book - my silly fault for not insisting on these things I suppose!

So...where do I stand and what do I do next!?

I wont get another private property and am on the council list but no joy so far, and its my 2 LOs birthdays on 21st August and 6th Sept; even if I forget about their biorthdays (:() and save every penny I have, I will only have around £500 by the end of July...

I have no clue what to do...as far as I know the landlord is getting my rent paid as he applied to get the HB sent to him directly, so why is he suddenly asking about the rent I owe from months ago??

Advice appreciated...

GEEGEE8

Can you ask him about paying it off extra each month? Maybe he's annoyed that you haven't made moves to get back up to date.

BitterAndTwisted

Although the landlord is getting the rent paid direct now that doesn't mean that they don't expect the arrears to be paid off. You absolutely do need to clear the arrears down to less than two month's rent immediately or they can and probably will issue you with a Section 8 Notice. If they do so and you're 2 months in arrears on the court date the Section 8 will succeed and you will be evicted.

Being evicted for rent-arrears is treated by Local Authorities as making yourself "intentionally homeless", so it's unlikely that you will be rehoused by them.

I don't believe that the lack of a rent-book or a formal tenancy agreement is material

MrsManda

Can you check whether you can have the HB backdated to cover those two months? If you were entitled to HB but you didn't claim/the claim took longer than expected it may be possible to get it backdated.

Have you had him come round to do an inspection? - just wondering how he can describe the property as being in a 'poor state' and use it as a reason to evict.

Catherine_Johnson_2

alasia wrote: »

......as far as I know the landlord is getting my rent paid as he applied to get the HB sent to him directly, so why is he suddenly asking about the rent I owe from months ago??......

Are you serious? You owe him several months rent and you're questioning why he's asking for it to be paid?

The rent you owe doesn't suddenly go away. It's still owed.

Jowo_2

Your contract obliges you to pay £x rent on x date - the obligation to pay arrears don't evaporate with the passage of time. Did you not offer a repayment schedule to tackle this or did you hope that it would just go away of its own accord?

Look into 'intentional homelessness' on the homeless section of the Shelter website. Local councils are obliged to prioritise homeless households with children but are not obliged to do so if they deem that the tenants behaviour led to their eviction, such as not paying the rent or breaching the contract in other ways.

Most landlords send a formal document, such as an S21 or S8 (sometimes the S21 is served at the outset of the tenancy), the notice to quit that he refers to rather than an informal letter upfront. Perhaps your landlord is giving you a window of opportunity where you apologise, offer a repayment schedule to clear the arrears, offer a guarantor for a renewed contract, and offer to sort out whatever hygiene issues that is troubling the landlord? Or do you dispute that the property is a state due to your lifestyle? Do you think he may change his mind if you offer him the £500 and then offer to clear the remaining arrears at £100 per month for the next 4 months.

Can you remember when your tenancy was scheduled to end and if it had a break-clause or notice period in it? Ask the landlord for a copy. Only tenants who pay on a weekly basis are required by law to have a rent book. Do you mean to say you paid him in cash and don't have proof of payment? Do you dispute these arrears?

If a tenant owes 2 months rent (you are just shy of this) and the landlord serves an S8, then if it is still owed at the time of the court case, the judge has no discretion and must award possession to the landlord. Same with S21 notice to quit, known as a no fault notice. So long as the landlord serves it correctly, the judge must give the judgement in the landlord's favour.

Are you receiving CSA? This doesn't affect your benefits. Is the father(s) of your child/children aware that their kids face homelessness?

GEEGEE8

I would think you must have a tenancy agreement to be paid Housing Benefit, so the HB people would have a copy of it.

You need to contact him asap, apologise for the error of your ways, offer the £500 and a repayment plan. Get it in writing though and stick to it for God's sake.

alasia

I have NO money spare. And thats not me being awkward...I get £120 on Monday and £70 has to go towards paying bills as my gas/elec is due on the first of the month at £111, water is due the same time and so is the tv license. So I have to put £50 a week away to cover it all, couldnt last week as charges were taken out of my bank so have to put more away this week. The rest has to go on food including nappies, washing powder etc.
Its the same every week, I usually only have £10 spare if that.

I dont drink, dont smoke, have no pets and dont even buy clothes for myself unless absolutely necessary or the kids outgrow them!
I physically cannot stretch my budget anymore and did explain that to the landlord - Im not expecting the rent arrears to go away, but I dont have his phone number and have only just got his address with this letter!
Before that I had no clue what it was as the tenancy agreement had an address he has since moved from.

Abnd as for the poor state of the property...he means that the brass fixing things have come off the fire and the wallpaper has peeled off the wall behind the sofa - it peeled away above the radiator cos of the heat then my kids ripped it up a bit further...was going to repaper it next week if I could spare the money to get wallpaper paste, but I dont see that as a reason to evict me...or one of the reasons anyway!

ETA: the childrens father doesnt know yet but he is living with his sister and has just lost his job so I doubt he will be able to help - or would want to!

And yes, I paid the landlord in cash so I guess technically, cant prove I ever paid anything!

GEEGEE8

If dad is out of work then can he or someone else look after the children so that you could get a part time job? If only for a short while until you can pay the arrears off?

I know it's not easy, but you have to think of a solution to this one way or the other.

I would write a letter to the landlord with what you have said above. You are sorry for the damage to the fireplace and you assure him that you are looking to repair it as soon as possible. Could he please advise you what other issues he deems to be at fault and you will try and make a plan of how to repair them.

You HAVE to communicate with him if you are to stay there, if he see's you are in a difficult situation but are prepared to fix it then he may let you stay.

phlash

I agree with GeeGee

Open and honest dialogue is needed.

It may be worth your while speaking with Shelter and getting advice from their team, they should be able to help you take the best action.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/how_we_can_help/housing_advice_helpline
Ring 0808 800 4444
8am-8pm Monday-Friday
8am-5pm Saturday-Sunday
Calls are free from UK landlines and main
mobile networks (Virgin, Orange, 3, T-mobile, Vodafone and O2).

I understand that at the moment you may well feel absolutely swamped with stress etc. I can only encourage you to talk to people about it, and open dialogue with the Landlord. I'm a Landlord, and given the situation re rent arrears would be taking similar action, but if my tenant sat me down and talked me through how it could be resolved I could be pursuaded to let you stay - not all landlords are heartless - they just need to know what's going on half the time!

I think you should still approach the father/grandma for help even if he lost his job, but understand that this may be a difficult situation depending on the back story.

I wish you the best of luck.

sausageandmash_2

You only get £120 a week for yourself and kids? How many kids do you have?
Sorry but that is not enough money, my friend gets nearly £200 for her and her 2 children income support plus £33 week for child benefit! My other friend gets £156 for her and her son on income support plus i think £16 child benefit! You need to find out what your entitled too, because that amount is rubbish and way below what the law states you are entitled too!

As for the arrears, you need to call housing benefit and ask them about having it backdated, you can provide proof of when you were out of work? And started claiming such a low amount?

I feel for you and at the same time your land lord too!

Don't worry if you are served with an eviction notice, The council have to re home you as you have kids! Whether it be in a temp home (which they always have) Or a b & b..