Notice of seeking possession help

mandy130

I am a council tenant and I have a notice of seeking possession in place for outstanding rent arrears. My arrears are about to be cleared and I will then be applying for a mutual exchange with a tenant on the same council. Will the NSP be withdrawn once the arrears are cleared, or will this remain on me for the 1 year duration, also will I be turned down for the mutual exchange because I have this?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Regards

Mandy

BitterAndTwisted

Councils never withdraw their NSPs, they just decline to act on them and therefore it will be hanging over your head like a Sword of Damocles for a while, just in case you fall into arrears again. Dunno about the exchange business, why don't you ask them?

mandy130

I will on Monday, just found out about this today and there closed now....so just looking for some info.

Thanks for the reply

Mandy

mandy130

I was just thinking though, if the rent arrears are cleared....surely the current order becomes null and void and should I fall into further arrears in the future (which I wont) a new NOSP would have to be implemented? I know I will have my answer on Monday, but this is playing on my mind something rotten

BitterAndTwisted

No, it won't be null and void the Local Authority will just choose not to progress with seeking possession at this time. Fall a tenner behind with the rent again and they probably will. Sometimes this is the only way to make some tenants sit up and take notice.

mandy130

I get what your saying....I only fell into arrears when my husband left me and I was struggling to cope with rent and other bills 8 months ago, i put in a claim for housing benefit, but they came back and told me I was not entitled to anything despite there own housing benefit calculator telling me I would be, it took them 3 months to sort out my claim, but which time I had fallen in to debt big time with the rent. Anyways, its about to be cleared and I really want to move, I just hope this doesn't go against me, I cant see if I have cleared my rent arrears my mutual exchanging to another of there properties would be a problem? but knowing my luck.......

silvercar

Is the rent on the new property lower?

If they suspend this repossession order then they may not allow a transfer for a while just because if you fell into arrears again and they needed to repossess they could act on the existing repo order, whereas if you moved they would need a new order.

tomitma

A lot of councils state that the tenent must have 6 clear months with no rent arrears, before they will consider a transfer, my niece has just been refused a transfer, as the person she is transfering with had rent arrears in October 2010, even though they have now been paid up to date.

mandy130

The rent on the new place is slightly lower....we are both with the same housing group and housing manager. I will know for sure on monday, its just waiting till monday to find out
Its no a repossession order, they said that even though i have a repayment agreement in place, it was policy for them to serve a notice of seeking possession until the arrears were paid. I have searched everywhere on the Internet and on every site it says if you have a NOSP order you will not be able to do a mutual exchange....im just hoping that as it is with the same HA group then they will look past that, its not like I'm running away owing money, I will owe nothing. Also its not like the arrears were down to me missing payment here and there, it was done whilst waiting for HB to come into effect that never did, once this matter was sorted out the arrears only ever went down, not up. Sounds like I am practising what i will be saying to them on monday

boo1

I work for a HA and we do let people move if they have previously been served with a NSP )Notice of Seeking Possession)providing the arrears are cleared, we don't make them wait a specified time (perhaps we are too lenient).

Our solicitors also told us that technically if someone clears arrears then falls back into arrears a new NSP should be served. We tend to use the same NSP for the year and go to court on that, however if you get a Judge that knows their onions (very rare) then they could say the NSP is invalid if they can see see that the account went into credit during the year the Notice was served.

I'm not sure whether or not the Notice you have been served would remain valid for the remainder of the year, as this relates to the address you are at now. I think a new one would have to be served at your new address if you fell into arrears again. That's how it works with us anyway. Hope this helps.

mandy130

Thank you boo1, this was what I was thinking too....I will find out and Monday and then let you know what they tell me, at least then if anyone else is faced with the same situation....hopefully my info and yours will help them.

Mandy