Council seeking possession order

sefton

My cousin is a council tenant and some time ago his council won a possession order against him for non payment of rent. It was agreed that he would pay the rent plus £10 a week. However at the hearing it was also found that the council owed stamp on his rent which they had to pay before a certain date or the case would be struck out.

Sadly he did not record how much the council owed but it was several thousand pounds and his arrears were just over a thousand pounds. He didn't keep up with the agreed payments and was summonsed to a meeting with the council a few months after the hearing. It was agreed he would pay the extra debt he had incurred since the court case within a few weeks and then resume paying his rent plus £10.

He received a letter from the courts informing him that the council had not paid the stamp and so the case would be struck out but the council had a set period to appeal. The council did not appeal so the case stood struck out.

Last week he sent the council an email asking them to remove the court costs from his debt as the case had been struck out. Today he received a letter informing him they were seeking possession of his flat.

He emailed his bank statements to me and I've cheked them against his rent and since his last meeting with the council he has not only paid off the extra arrears as agreed (I know he did this because I paid it direct from my account in a lump sum) but also paid his rent plus about £35.00 a week not the £10 as agreed. I might add whilst doing this he has also paid me back.

From what I understand councils are encouraged to make an agreement with a tennant to clear arears and only when the tennant fails to comply with the agreed payments should they seek legal remedy. Considering he is clearly exceeding his agreed shedule to pay off his arrears and the council are clearly reacting to his request to have the costs from the struck out case removed from his total bill would these proceedings be considered a malicious waste of the courts time.

Running_Horse

How much are the current arrears?

I would concentrate on the debt, rather than looking for loopholes.

Seanymph

I can only look at this logically - he WAS in arrears - he was provided a home he didn't pay for. If he was in private rented he'd lose his house, because it's LA he gets another go and another go and another go - but anyway, he was in arrears.

He was taken to court, that cost the LA money, presumably they did this because he wasn't paying his bills.

It being struck out is, to me, irrelevant. That is about the stamp duty, and I'm not even sure what it means. But what it doesn't mean to me is that they weren't entitled to take him to court in the first place. Of course they were. So he may have a benefit from the judgement being struck out - but I dont' think that should mean that the local tax payers should foot the legal bill because he didn't pay his rent.

I would suggest you, and he, armed with bank statements, proof of payment, and the original agreements, go have an interview with a housing officer.

sefton

Seanymph wrote: »

I can only look at this logically - he WAS in arrears - he was provided a home he didn't pay for. If he was in private rented he'd lose his house, because it's LA he gets another go and another go and another go - but anyway, he was in arrears.

He was taken to court, that cost the LA money, presumably they did this because he wasn't paying his bills.

It being struck out is, to me, irrelevant. That is about the stamp duty, and I'm not even sure what it means. But what it doesn't mean to me is that they weren't entitled to take him to court in the first place. Of course they were. So he may have a benefit from the judgement being struck out - but I dont' think that should mean that the local tax payers should foot the legal bill because he didn't pay his rent.

I would suggest you, and he, armed with bank statements, proof of payment, and the original agreements, go have an interview with a housing officer.

You do not seem to be looking at this very logically. As he wasn't in private rented accommodation. The case being struck out is at the heart of this so if it is an irrelevance to you again I do not understand your logic.

I wouldn't have advised him to ask about the court costs but he did and he was within his rights to ask. As for the local tax payer footing the bill for his costs well the case against him was effectively dismissed so it's not his costs.

As for an interview with the housing officer you again seem to be missing the point. He had a meeting with the housing officer and has been paying off his debt at more than 3 times the rate agreed with the housing officer.

I started this thread looking for some advice but if you wish to moralise fill your boots.

Matt1977

The 'stamp' issue confuses me too. Surely that just relates to property that is sold for over £125,000? :huh:

I would have considered it not to be a good idea to be in arrears with a Local Authority landlord. If the cousin was struggling with paying the rent, he could have applied for Housing Benefit (is this now Local Housing Allowance?).

Should the LA evict him, then his options are severely limited - maybe a neighbouring LA or a more expensive private rental...which defeats the object if he is unable to pay the rent on the council flat.

EmRayMarRhys

I'd say go to Shelter for advice

ILW

Have all arrears been repaid now?

Running_Horse

How much are the current arrears?

sefton

Matt1977 wrote: »

The 'stamp' issue confuses me too. Surely that just relates to property that is sold for over £125,000? :huh:

I would have considered it not to be a good idea to be in arrears with a Local Authority landlord. If the cousin was struggling with paying the rent, he could have applied for Housing Benefit (is this now Local Housing Allowance?).

Should the LA evict him, then his options are severely limited - maybe a neighbouring LA or a more expensive private rental...which defeats the object if he is unable to pay the rent on the council flat.

Trust me I was confused about that as well but there is stamp/land tax payable on the the rent recieved from him and the council had never paid it.

sefton

Running_Horse wrote: »

How much are the current arrears?

The arrears are at a level where now he finally seems to have some fiscal

responsibility

I am quite happy to pay it off in one lump sum and have him pay me in installments. I will do this at the end of the month
That would be more than 5 weeks before the date of the hearing. Would that

necessarily

put an end to it.

princeofpounds

He needs to speak to CAB and Shelter. Then he needs to speak directly to the housing office. Because it's quite an unusual case and we don't know all the details I don't think anyone can tell you with confidence what will happen.

I assume that they are seeking a NEW possession order, because it seems the old one was struck off. If the arrears are removed before the court date then I doubt one would be awarded, although I am not intimately familiar with council tenancy rules I would assume they are even more leniant than private ones. There may be some kind of ground concerning persistently late rent payment but if he has been keeping to a pre-arranged plan I doubt that would work either. If he wins in court then the council is likely to have to pay the costs.

But I don't *know* that is the likely course of action - that's built on a lot of guesses. That's why he needs proper advice.