Tenant on Housing Benefit

skintsue

Latest update on the situation.
Tenant and LA both kept messing me around - just keeping the rent coming enough to avoid the 8 weeks mandatory eviction.:mad:
LA have been totally useless, not returning phonecalls, e-mails etc. Waiting for me to chase them up for information about the rent being in or not.
November's rent never arrived, December's due Christmas Day so on Boxing Day she was in the 8 weeks and could be kicked out. There were 2 more rent payments due until her 12 month contract were up.
I rang LA the first day the office was open after the break, no-one rang back. Tried twice again, and sent e-mails. Considering this woman was about to be evicted they were invisible.

I got in touch with the Housing Dept, who agreed to start paying directly to me. Sent them my banking details, first payment due 17th Jan, then 4 weekly until the end of the tenancy 24th March. This gave me time to claim the rent back via Court and taking her guarantor into the loop.

Housing rang back a couple of hours later - she had told them she was leaving to a new property 5th Jan. she was still in the contract, had not given any notice to me or the LA (apparently), so was still meant to give me the rent. The Housing Dept were not aware she was still in contract at the time. I have put them in the picture.

Popped round yesterday afternoon to see she had been shoving things in boxes and removing the curtains. Rang LA as soon as I got home, who told me she had let them know she would be paying some of the rent on Saturday, but not how much.
I informed them she was doing a runner the next day (today) and they wanted to know how I knew etc etc.
Told them from a very reliable person, but not named them. They went into panic mode and said they would look into it, and get back today. Which they haven't!

The reason for the panic - possibly!
While they were supposedly busting a gut chasing her for the missing rent and trying to get in touch with her, one of their reps was spotted with her and another potential LL at his property while they were pushing him like mad to take her on between the 2 Bank Holidays.
That doesn't seem very ethical to me, or am I missing something?
They knew she was an untrustworthy tenant, was seriously in arrears and were trying to pass her onto someone else while she was still under contract to me, and I would loose another 2 months rent if she left.

Upshot is - she has done a runner today. The house is pitch black, no curtains, or TV on the wall, and all the windows closed, even the one kept open in all weather to remove the smell of smoking.

Notified the police, who will contact the Housing Dept to get her new address, and pay her a visit. What she has may not realise is that by leaving the house, keeping the rent she owes, and not giving a forwarding address it has gone from a civil matter to criminal (theft), so they will charge her, also if she has done any damage to the house they will class it as criminal.

They are also going to be making enquiries into whether the new rental property is managed by the same LA which was meant to be working for me.
There could be some very awkward questions from the police if it is true - aiding and abetting, accessory to theft, fraud (because she has not got a reference from me, and if they have produced it, no landlord would accept a truthful one).

I am going to sue her and the guarantor for the lost rental, and any work required to bring it back to a suitable condition. Even though she has done a runner, she is still under contract and hasn't given any notice. Should I go for that too?
The guarantor has a job and house, would the Judge be likely to give an attatchment of earnings, or stick a charge on the house to recover the money?
Who should I contact to report the LA's behaviour and involvement in all this? I want someone with teeth to hit them where it hurts.

And I was hoping 2012 was going to be a quiet year after 2011.
I'm already dreading 2013.

Money_maker

Gripping thread, Sue, kept me guessing all the way through. No advice I'm afraid but hoping you can resolve this soon and get some peace.

Some of the posters on here have been amazing with their guidance - hats off to them.

clutton_2

Sue says ""Notified the police, who will contact the Housing Dept to get her new address, and pay her a visit. What she has may not realise is that by leaving the house, keeping the rent she owes, and not giving a forwarding address it has gone from a civil matter to criminal (theft), so they will charge her, also if she has done any damage to the house they will class it as criminal. "

Sue - i dont wish to rain on your parade, but every post i have ever seen of LLs complaining to the police about tenants leaving without paying rent the police always end up saying it is a civil matter, and not a criminal one - and tell the LL to take her to court, which you can do, but if she his on benefits, you cannot get an attachment of earnings on an ex tenants benefits. Legally speaking you need a court order before you can take your property back.

This is a typical scenario with tenants.. and we have all had this happen to us along the way.

Your agent is another matter.... outrageous behaviour..... but then, it is an unregulated business, and there is precious little you can do about it....

i know how angry this has made you, but at the end of the day, you need to address the current issue, of regaining your property, and getting a new tenant in first, then start to see if you can reclaim any of the lost rent.

Just because the house is empty does not mean you can take your house back... you are in a minefield position right now. If you can get a written statement from the EA that she has moved elesehwere, i would risk reclaimng the property - but until you know for sure, and can prove, that she has abandoned the tenancy, she could come back and lawfully claim she still has legal access.

welcome to the world of landlording

did you ever join a landlords body ? NLA or RLA ? they will be able to help...

BigAunty

skintsue wrote: »

...

Notified the police, who will contact the Housing Dept to get her new address, and pay her a visit. What she has may not realise is that by leaving the house, keeping the rent she owes, and not giving a forwarding address it has gone from a civil matter to criminal (theft), so they will charge her, also if she has done any damage to the house they will class it as criminal.

They are also going to be making enquiries into whether the new rental property is managed by the same LA which was meant to be working for me.
There could be some very awkward questions from the police if it is true - aiding and abetting, accessory to theft, fraud (because she has not got a reference from me, and if they have produced it, no landlord would accept a truthful one).

...

This isn't my understanding of how the Police deal with landlord/tenant/agency matters which they usually see utterly as a civil matter, a breach of contract, something for the landlord to remedy in the small claims court. For example, suing the tenant for any damage or rent arrears, suing the agency if they've not met their terms and conditions of business. These tend to get seen as business risks to be managed.

I've rarely seen tenant and agency prosecutions for fraud or damage.

BigAunty

Here is guidance to do with abandonment of a property, where a tenant hasn't served notice or returned the keys that would indicate that the tenancy has been ended and possession formally given back to the landlord.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/legal/abandonment.htm

BigAunty

skintsue wrote: »

..
Who should I contact to report the LA's behaviour and involvement in all this? I want someone with teeth to hit them where it hurts.

.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/agents.htm

If they belong to a professional body (unlikely) then you could report them to it.

It is an entirely unregulated field and anyone can say they are a letting agent - no skills, qualifications or experience or knowledge is required.

Your options for redress with them is limited.

Perhaps you can prove that they breached the terms of their contract with you and take them to court for a refund of their fees or compensation but still a risky option.

Uk_Lover

What a nightmare !! gripping stuff and I hope you sort it out soon.
You said she took the curtains and TV, I'm guessing they were your property which is why it becomes a criminal case ?

Are you sure the LA and tenant are not friends ? sounds a bit fishy to me !! Nearly time to name and shame. I'd be tempted to go to your local paper and name the LA, as long as you only state the truth !
Good luck

jamie11

Sue says ""Notified the police, who will contact the Housing Dept to get her new address, and pay her a visit. What she has may not realise is that by leaving the house, keeping the rent she owes, and not giving a forwarding address it has gone from a civil matter to criminal (theft), so they will charge her, also if she has done any damage to the house they will class it as criminal. "

I'm afraid that isn't quite right.

Any LHA paid to the tenant becomes her money to do with as she sees fit. If it is spent on the rent then all well and good, but if it isn't then there is damn all interest from the housing department or the police because unpaid rent is a civil matter.

And the lha will not be paid twice no matter how far the tenant is behind with the rent.

tbs624

clutton wrote: »

This is a typical scenario with tenants.. and we have all had this happen to us along the way.

Silly and unsubstantiated generalisation from a poster who is quick to complain about what she sees as generalisations that tar LLs.
.
There are many LLs who have *not* had Ts who behave as the one described by the OP.

---

OP - my suggestion would be that you just log the info on the LA's actions/omissions for now. Absolutely anyone can set up in business as an LA - there is no requirement for training, specific expertise or qualifications despite them handling thousand of £££s worth of other peoples property and money. You can deal with them after regaining possession of your property and sorting out your approach to recouping some of your losses from the T/guarantor

Regardless of whether the T has moved out - if the Fixed Term still had time to run then she will remain liable for the rent due under that contract. That said, if you want to pursue the T & her guarantor you need to understand that getting a court order against either of them is the relatively easy part if they are both on limited incomes and have few assets. Try to view her early departure as meaning that there was less potential time for any further damage to be done to your property by a disenchanted T.

However, you would be best to get good proper guidance on formally bringing the tenancy to a close: you will need good clear evidence of abandonment and in the circumstances you should not, btw, have been simply "popping round" to the property whilst the T was in occupation.

Have you checked whether there is a local LL association, possibly affiliated to the NLA? You may also wish to look at the LLLaw webpages. If your Council has a private sector Tenancy Relations Officer (most do, or someone with a similar title) you may find it helpful to keep them informed.

Regarding claiming for damage to the property do you have a jointly signed inventory in place from the start of the tenancy?

BitterAndTwisted

Eh, there's nothing to stop a landlord popping round just to look at or through the windows. Still, that isn't going to help Skinty regain possession based on abandonment of the property.

I hope to God that the guarantor is a home-owner, properly sign up to a Deed not some useless bit of paper, and they have assets worth anything. Going by this agent's behaviour I'd be ready to fire-bomb their flaming offices by now.

Good luck Sue. I think nearly everyone who has read this thread is cheering you on from the sidelines.