Got a letter from my landlord this morning...

clutton_2

i have a tenant like you who thinks that buying her children birthday presents is more important than keeping a roof over their heads........ priorities - get them right girl...

if you were my tenant and you offered me £500 by july - i would consider keeping you on...... - but the first time you did not pay arrears after that i would take you to court for possession

kev1n3

clutton wrote: »

i have a tenant like you who thinks that buying her children birthday presents is more important than keeping a roof over their heads........ priorities - get them right girl...

if you were my tenant and you offered me £500 by july - i would consider keeping you on...... - but the first time you did not pay arrears after that i would take you to court for possession

A bit harsh on the lady considering...

kev1n3

Your benefit does seem a little low, It may be worth getting in touch with Income Support to query this. However, as an emergeny measure you could apply for a interest free loan from the Social fund. You will have to pay back but it’s better than being evicted. Why isn’t the Father of your children helping out? Shame on him.

Good Luck.

Wee_Willy_Harris

kev1n3 wrote: »

A bit harsh on the lady considering...

I think it was pretty spot on. The OP has mentioned gas. electric, childrens birthday presents, tv license, water rates, all as debts she feels are higher priority than keeping the roof over her head (without which the gas/elec/water are pretty useless). Sometimes, a quick reality check is a necessity.

tbs624

clutton wrote: »

i have a tenant like you who thinks that buying her children birthday presents is more important than keeping a roof over their heads........ priorities - get them right girl...

Come on Clutton - although you are right that the OP must prioristise her rent payments if you look again, the OP is not saying that birthday presents are more important than her rent - she says that even if her kids went without presents she still couldn't clear the arrears.

As the T Alasia , it's *your* responsibility to keep track of what rent you have paid, and when, whether you are paying it out of your own funds whilst working or getting it paid via LHA.

If your LL has not previously contacted you and given you a statement of rent payments then he's been slow off the mark but the fact remains that you have a legal obligation to pay the rent under the terms of your tenancy.

Even if the LL hadn't provided you with a formal tenancy agreement you presumably have exclusive occupancy of the property and have been paying some rent. Your tenancy would, by default, be classed as an AST (Assured shorthold tenancy) even without the piece of paper and ,as someone else has pointed out, for LHA to be paid the local office generally need evidence that there is indeed a tenancy in place.

A rent book is only required by law (E/Wales) if you are obliged to pay your rent weekly and ,as you refer to monthly payments, it seems this is not the case for you.

Why have you paid the LL in cash? Did he specifically request that? Did you ask for a receipt or keep any sport of record?

If you are owing 2 months rent, both at the time the LL applies to the court for repossession of the property and at the time of the actual hearing, you will lose your home. Court costs will be added and the LL can look to any tenancy deposit you have paid to cover repairing the wallpaper if your kids have been tearing it up the wall.

As others have said , being evicted for rent arrears is classed as making yourself "intentionally homeless", and you will have a CCJ on your credit record.

Get someone to babysit the kids and go and get some local advice from an experienced LL&T adviser at the local CAB as well as ringing Shelter as suggested in a previous post.

There are boards on this website where other posters can "talk" you through ways of keeping your living costs down whilst you get to grips with the arrears. Get your benefits checked through at the CAB too or here

clutton_2

i do not apologise for sounding harsh... this tenant knew she had not paid rent for 2 months at the end of the last year and has made no attempt to come to a repayment programme with her landlord and is now upset and distressed that he has taken the only course open to him...

its called ostrich syndrome and its quite common with LHA tenants - a small number of them assume that because someone else pays their rent that they need take no further interest in their rent....

Once you have signed an AST YOU the tenant are responsible for taking whatever steps are necessary to make sure money is obtained to pay the rent - putting your head in the sand now means that you will probably end up with a CCJ which will make your life significantly more difficult than if the LL had evicted you on a Section 21 notice....

actions... or lack of actions ... have consequences....

clutton_2

Kevin3 says ""
Originally Posted by clutton
i have a tenant like you who thinks that buying her children birthday presents is more important than keeping a roof over their heads........ priorities - get them right girl...

if you were my tenant and you offered me £500 by july - i would consider keeping you on...... - but the first time you did not pay arrears after that i would take you to court for possession

A bit harsh on the lady considering...




You think me harsh for saying i would considering keeping her as a tenant if she offered me £500 rather than the nearly £900 debt in the original post ??????



Her LL could well have evicted her last December.... but didn't - and has given her nearly 7 months to pay back the arrears - with no result....

landlords just can NEVER get it right can they ?

alasia

Thanks for the advice everyone - and no, I dont think anyone has been unneccesarily harsh.

As stated previously I have no contact number as he just uised to text me when he wanted me to pay some of the arrears. Stupidly, I would forget his text was there and delete my entire inbox - hence, I would lose his number. And his house got flooded in January and he moved house, not giving me his new address. I have been paying him £50 when I can and intended to give a lot more, but couldnt.

As to what I spend: no luxury washing powder here, its always whatever is cheapest - I tried the basics ranges and they left my 2 and 3 year old with a rash, so I tend to go for Daz which is £2. This time though I did buy one of those huge boxes for £6 which I hated doing, but its lasted me a month and a half.

I dont NEED a tv but I have one, so while I do (cant sell it) I HAVE to pay the tv license.

No sky or other cable tv, my mobile is PAYG and I never top up unless I need to phone up about a job, my internet is mobile broadband pay as you go.

I CANNOT feed 3 of us for £10 a week, if someone thinks they can then feel free to put a list on here!

I buy basics nappies for £1.54 for 20, wipes are 50p basics ones,my cleaning cloths are 12p (basics), I buy mince for 97p per pack, sausages - ok theyre £4 but for 36, basically what Im saying is I buy NO brand names, everything is sainsburys basics and my shopping bill last Monday still came to £42.
Some people may not believe that but its true.

My little boy needs shoes as his are too tight, but I am trying to make them last - I havent even got him into a nursery yet as it would cost me £18 a week minimum - £30 is the first payment and I cant afford that yet, so Im going to have to wait til he turns 3 just to get him a free place.

They have 4 toys - a little musical chair thing, a toy jcb (small), a Roary diecast car and a peppa pig ball.
Oh, and a set of finger paints!

THATS why I wanted them to have a decent birthday, they deserve it but of course a roof over their heads is more important; if I could defer their birthdays til after I have the rent arrears paid then I will. But I just have no money to pay the LL!

He has threatened me with eviction before; got a text 2 months ago saying if I didnt pay the full rent arears by 3 wks time I would be out, I phoned him the next day and he said he had only said that as he was having a tough time with his girlfriend.

Brb

I truly feel for you I do. I am on same income as yourself with similar rent. I unfortunately hit upon an accidental landlord who didn't have a clue with what they were doing and I ended up having to move home when I least expected it. This coincided with my daughter's birthday and christmas, which were both effectively cancelled (although I do buy throughout the year so she did quite well gift wise but no party/decorations weren't up as packing house).

I suggest you need to ring the social fund people and explain that you need a budgeting loan. They will take a few pound from your benefit. You do need to get your rent caught up and get things on a firm footing with your landlord. Rent first and then it's bills/food (are you paying off a debt on utilities because they do seem high!).

Please don't worry about your children missing out. The currency in my home is kisses and cuddles. My daughter has actually missed out on two christmasses and birthdays in a row. Previous year our rented house flooded and we lost downstairs completely. Both years I made it up to her by having a little garden party for approx 10 - 14 friends (hot dogs, home made chocolates they had to win by getting hoops (£1.50 from "It's a gift" shop) round empty coffee jars).

Don't worry about nursery yet either and wait for your free-place. Enjoy your time with your children and maybe look at local mum's and tot's group instead. Great way to meet friends and hear about local bargains

Also google freecycle - ppl want to get rid of their childrens' old stuff and you go pick it up

sausageandmash_2

OP!

First off you don't need to justify anything you do! But i would ditch Sainsbury's and try Asda's.. lol

You need to contact the benefit agency and find out what your entitled too! You are on to little, and i don't understand why. As per my last post!

Are you in England? Because the government pay for 15 hours a week for play school aged 2.5 - 4.

Sorry can not help with the LL, Except contact CAB and your council, BUT you do need to communicate with him. (perhaps a social loan would help).