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Council Tax & LPA Receiver
John64
Posts: 15 Forumite
Hi - wonder if anyone can help.
I went Br on 1st March and a couple of rental properties I had at the time were included. The Lender then appointed an LPA reciever to handle the properties rather than pursuing repossion orders. My understanding is that all expenses and income relating to the properties are now handled by the LPA receiver with any losses increasing the total mortgage debt and any profits reducing it.
When I advised the local council of this fact, to advise them that any council tax charge relating to the 'landlord', due to the properties being empty, should be charged to the LPA receiver they wrote back saying that Council tax was not included and that I still had a liability for it.
So effectively I now have no power to get the properties let (thus removing the landlords liability), I get no benefits from any rise in house prices (that goes to the lender in the first instance and the OR after that) but I do keep the liability for the council tax if the property is empty.
The legal precedent stated by the council seems to hang on who the 'owner' is. According to the OR I no longer have any 'interest' in the property but somehow I'm still considered the 'owner' and therefore liable.
Anybody come across this before - or got a perspective on it?
Thanks
I went Br on 1st March and a couple of rental properties I had at the time were included. The Lender then appointed an LPA reciever to handle the properties rather than pursuing repossion orders. My understanding is that all expenses and income relating to the properties are now handled by the LPA receiver with any losses increasing the total mortgage debt and any profits reducing it.
When I advised the local council of this fact, to advise them that any council tax charge relating to the 'landlord', due to the properties being empty, should be charged to the LPA receiver they wrote back saying that Council tax was not included and that I still had a liability for it.
So effectively I now have no power to get the properties let (thus removing the landlords liability), I get no benefits from any rise in house prices (that goes to the lender in the first instance and the OR after that) but I do keep the liability for the council tax if the property is empty.
The legal precedent stated by the council seems to hang on who the 'owner' is. According to the OR I no longer have any 'interest' in the property but somehow I'm still considered the 'owner' and therefore liable.
Anybody come across this before - or got a perspective on it?
Thanks
0
Comments
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are they solely owned, if so i would tell them that the legal title to the properties vests with the Trustee in bankruptcy and therefore the liability vests with them as wellHi, im Debtinfo, i am an ex insolvency examiner and over the years have personally dealt with thousands of bankruptcy cases.
Please note that any views i put forth are not those of my former employer The Insolvency Service and do not constitute professional advice, you should always seek professional advice before entering insolvency proceedings.0 -
You remain liable for the properties as far as Council Tax is concerned as you are the legal owner however if you are a bankrupt and the property was taken by the OR then a Class Q exemption is applicable until such point as the property is occupied or sold.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0
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Big thanks to you both - a glimmer of hope(!) and now that you have pointed me in the right direction I have checked the Council in question's own website and it does indeed appear to indicate that council tax is not payable in these circumstances - phew!
Thanks again.0 -
I have a similar situation with LPA receiver involved. We spoke to the council about Q exemption because we'd never know if the property was empty or not having moved across country etc.. they asked for a letter to confirm the phone call info & br ref and hopefully that will be enough for them to all sort it out between themselves.
lbm0
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