Urgent advice needed

stephg20

Me and my partner moved into a flat on the 18/03/2011, the estate agent told the landlord that it was only me living here, that I was a student and that we wasn't on benefits when in fact we are. We moved in and got all our stuff in and lost the tenancy agreement doing that, we texted her and phoned her for a new one because we couldn't claim housing benefit without it, she kept saying she'd send one off but neglected to do so until the 6/05/2011. We straight away claimed housing benefit but they said we probably won't get backpay. We have afforded the first few months through selling personal items and savings but literally have nothing left now. We owe the landlord £400 on the 18/05/2011 but haven't been able to get it. Rang the landlord a couple of days ago, wasn't sympathetic and said either get my money in the next month or he'll send the bailiffs round and evict us. The property does not have any smoke alarms, there is a plug socket hanging off the wall in the kitchen, the bathroom is leaking into the flat below us where pensioners are living and the central heating hasn't been working in about a fortnight now. All of this we have told the landlord and he has still not been round to do anything about it. Also when I signed the tenancy agreement when we moved in, the tenancy agreement she posted to us isn't the same document which I signed and are now getting suspicious that it isn't completely legal. We are thinking of doing a runner from the flat now but are worried about repercussions, what will happen if we do? Thanks.

FraudBuster

Me and my partner moved into a flat on the 18/03/2011, the estate agent told the landlord that it was only me living here, that I was a student and that we wasn't on benefits when in fact we are.

Karma..................

stephg20

FraudBuster wrote: »

Karma..................

no i didn't tell the estate agent that it was only me living here,she knew i wasn't a student and she knew my boyfriend was living here with me, she just told the landlord something different

Hump

Get advice - the Shelter website is a good place to start. If you're lucky your local council may have a Tenancy Relations Officer or a Housing Aid Centre who will be another good source of information.

Doing a runner is rarely a great idea.......

G_M

Whose name(s) are on the tenancy agreement you signed?

When you sign a tenancy agreement you are agreeing to pay the rent due. That is YOUR responsibility. If you were dependant on benefits to do this then you should have ensured you had the documents you need to claim the benefit. It is not the LL's job to claim for you, or to wait for you to sort out your paperwork.

The repair issues are separate. You cannot withold rent, or end the tenancy, because of them. But you CAN follow the correct procedure to get the repairs done. Read Shelter's advice.

FraudBuster

she just told the landlord something different

Apologies.

Yet another incompetent letting agent appears on this Board.

Benji

The landlord can not sumarily throw you out, you have a tenancy and therefore the landlord would need a court order to evict you. Employing his own bailiffs would be illegal eviction - very silly, up to 6 months prison!

However you owe rent. It is not the LLs fault you have not paid it. It is not the agents fault - you were given a tenancy agreement.

This link will tell you what your rights are regarding eviction - but your first course of action should be to get in touch with the LL and see if you can get these arrears sorted ASAP.

http://tenancyanswers.ucoz.com/index/being_evicted/0-21

stephg20

Benji wrote: »

The landlord can not sumarily throw you out, you have a tenancy and therefore the landlord would need a court order to evict you. Employing his own bailiffs would be illegal eviction - very silly, up to 6 months prison!

However you owe rent. It is not the LLs fault you have not paid it. It is not the agents fault - you were given a tenancy agreement.

This link will tell you what your rights are regarding eviction - but your first course of action should be to get in touch with the LL and see if you can get these arrears sorted ASAP.

so do you just think he was saying about the bailiffs to scare us?

and I know we were given a tenancy agreement and it was our fault we lost it but shouldn't she have given us one straight away when we asked for it again? we have waited nearly two months for it, doesn't some of the blame fall with her too?

Wee_Willy_Harris

stephg20 wrote: »

so do you just think he was saying about the bailiffs to scare us?

and I know we were given a tenancy agreement and it was our fault we lost it but shouldn't she have given us one straight away when we asked for it again? we have waited nearly two months for it, doesn't some of the blame fall with her too?

Not really, no. It was a very important document to you. Your LL also had no idea why you needed it or the financial implications of any delay. To them, it's just admin.

Of course, had you bothered to find out these things, you would have known that you should have put your claim in as soon as you needed to. The claim may not have been paid prior to sight of the tenancy agreement, but it would then have been paid from the date of the claim and the backdating request (and its likely refusal) could have been avoided.

I appreciate that doesn't help you now, but it is handy information for the future or anyone else in your position.

stephg20

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

Not really, no. It was a very important document to you. Your LL also had no idea why you needed it or the financial implications of any delay. To them, it's just admin.

Of course, had you bothered to find out these things, you would have known that you should have put your claim in as soon as you needed to. The claim may not have been paid prior to sight of the tenancy agreement, but it would then have been paid from the date of the claim and the backdating request (and its likely refusal) could have been avoided.

I appreciate that doesn't help you now, but it is handy information for the future or anyone else in your position.

Fair enough.

But I did claim housing benefit the day we moved in, they just couldn't give it to me because I had no proof of rent (the tenancy agreement) however we have been claiming council tax benefit. They did say at the housing association that it probably wouldn't be backpaid though.

Wee_Willy_Harris

stephg20 wrote: »

Fair enough.

But I did claim housing benefit the day we moved in, they just couldn't give it to me because I had no proof of rent (the tenancy agreement) however we have been claiming council tax benefit. They did say at the housing association that it probably wouldn't be backpaid though.

I was assuming you hadn't claimed until the copy of the tenancy agreement was supplied. Can't think why I would make such an assumption..........

stephg20 wrote: »

We moved in and got all our stuff in and lost the tenancy agreement doing that, we texted her and phoned her for a new one because we couldn't claim housing benefit without it, she kept saying she'd send one off but neglected to do so until the 6/05/2011. We straight away claimed housing benefit but they said we probably won't get backpay.