Tenant on Housing Benefit

skintsue

somethingcorporate wrote: »

+1
Unfortunately you have gone into business without doing much research or having the thick skin to deal with the kind of tenants you have got. Don't take their behaviour personally because it isn't. They obviously know how to play the system and you don't.

Join a LL association and benefit from the experience of others.

Good luck.

Thanks for the tips. I wasn't trying to go into doing this as a business. I had to move out, went to what I thought was an experienced Letting Agency for advice, and followed their lead.

I only wanted to have the house occupied for 12 months while things got back onto an even keel after a couple of very traumatic years so I could step back and assess things objectively.

I followed the advice I was given by people who are charging me a percentage of the rent (when and if it arrives) as I knew I couldn't act on my own, and was totally inexperienced.
I didn't even meet the tenant, they arranged the accompanied viewing. They said it was better not to be involved with the process as it becomes personal, and they would be objective.
They arranged everything - previous landlord references, bank account checkups, gas safety and electrical checks,inventory, the lot.

The trouble now is that they are not being proactive at all. They wait until no rent arrives, wait for me to ring 3-4 days later, THEN leave messages for the tenant who probably just deletes without listening to them, then wait for me to ring back asking if they have heard anything.

I admit I have been naive, gullible, trusting, fooled, scammed, a first class idiot - call me what you will, but when you trust and pay the professionals for their help and advice, and they either don't know, or don't bother giving you the right information, how far do you go?
Do you double check them? Check the checkers who are checking them?
I did do as much research as I could, realised I was in over my head if I wanted to do it myself, so I went with what was supposed to be a reliable, national firm with experienced staff in multiple branches.
If I didn't know they were meant to have picked up on something, but didn't, how could I know they should have told me about something they didn't?

RAS

Can we get some perspective on this. There are thousands and possible hundrends of thousands of LL lettig without permission.

The mortgage providers may be a bit peed off but the Op did not realise there was a problem. And on realising intends to sort it out.

And the mortgage provider would far rather she got the tenant out and sold, so the mortgage can be paid off. There may be some additional interest/fees to pay but at least it will be sorted. They would much rather she did that than leave them to sort it.

terryw

It is also worth your while to have a look at "Third Party Deduction" from her income support as soon as she is a month in arrears. It is only £3.40 per week but again shows that you mean business.
Here's a link:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/creditor-handbook.pdf

Next time that she is 8 weeks in arrears make an immediate application to the HB people for the HB to be paid direct to you.

skintsue

Thanks to everyone who is giving such helpful advice. It does make me feel that there are people out there who understand, even if they don't always tell me what I would like to hear, as opposed to what I need to hear .
I hope she already knows I mean business, but I don't think I could cope with another 8 week delay. My finances are already stretched to the limit. The 3 month fall back savings are almost depleted, so I'm already looking for stuff to bung on e-bay to raise some more cash.
Anyone want an original Concert for Bangladesh set of LP's, or some 70's platform shoes that I came across recently?

I am now going to plough my way through all the links you have very kindly sent me, and see what/how/if any of it applies to me.

Thanks a bunch. I may be some time!

somethingcorporate

RAS wrote: »

Can we get some perspective on this. There are thousands and possible hundrends of thousands of LL lettig without permission.

The mortgage providers may be a bit peed off but the Op did not realise there was a problem. And on realising intends to sort it out.

And the mortgage provider would far rather she got the tenant out and sold, so the mortgage can be paid off. There may be some additional interest/fees to pay but at least it will be sorted. They would much rather she did that than leave them to sort it.

Hardly the point though - amateur landlords give the good ones a bad name just as crap shops give the good ones a hard time. Just because a lot of people do it, it makes it right does it? There are plenty of shops out there screwing the customers on contracts but hardly means we should condone another one popping up!

I understand from the OP they thought they were covering what they needed but a quick google would have told them about their responsibilities as a landlord. The LA are there to make money from managing an asset, not to make sure the landlord knows what they are doing. Joining a LL association or getting a book on the subject would have been a starting point. Or posting on a forum!

As you have discovered OP, there are plenty of people willing to make a buck out of your lack of experience (your tenant and LA are two that spring to mind) and they treat it very much as a business at your expense.

I do wish you luck, we are reluctant landlords too and would love to get rid of our other property if the price was right but in the mean time we need to make sure it works best as it can for us like you need to do for yourselves.

skintsue

somethingcorporate wrote: »

I understand from the OP they thought they were covering what they needed but a quick google would have told them about their responsibilities as a landlord. The LA are there to make money from managing an asset, not to make sure the landlord knows what they are doing. As you have discovered OP, there are plenty of people willing to make a buck out of your lack of experience (your tenant and LA are two that spring to mind) and they treat it very much as a business at your expense.

I do wish you luck, we are reluctant landlords too and would love to get rid of our other property if the price was right but in the mean time we need to make sure it works best as it can for us like you need to do for yourselves.

I got in touch with all the letting agencies in the area to get ideas of prices, what they suggested to make it more marketable for rental as opposed to selling, followed all their instructions regarding contracts etc. Went through the ticklists they provided for things that were needed such as safety checks, inventories, energy ratings, central heating serviced, council tax banding, landlord insurance, you name it, if it was on the list, I got it.
I made a list of what was on each list and made a mega list so nothing was left out. NOT ONE of the lists, or agents ever mentioned, even in passing, anything about the permission letter.
They all knew I didn't know the first thing about letting and spent ages asking them what if's and should I's and I thought I'd been very thorough. If one agent said one thing, I'd query it with the second, then go through the lot with the third etc. I had 14 different agents through the house within 8 days and spent hours going through the bumph they left. I am going to go back through it all one day and check if any mention is made in the 'you must have' list, but I doubt it.

I must stress though that I am not a bad landlord. I left the house professionally cleaned from top to bottom, including carpets. The whole house had been repainted the obligatory magnolia, as advised.
I gave permission for the rooms to be painted another colour if they wanted, as long as they were returned to any magnolia at the end of the tenancy. I gave permission for them to have cables for TV installed in the rooms where there wasn't one, again as long as they made good at the end of the tenancy.
I left a list of the local amenities, social activities, mother and toddler groups, buses, bin collecting days, the window cleaners, doctor, dentist, local reliable repair men etc to make it easier for her.

The only thing I did insist on was no smoking in the property, which js going on and, allegedly, is not always tobacco.

All she had to do was keep the place clean and tidy, and pay the rent on time, which she doesn't.
The mess I can excuse,up to a point - young children and single handedly trying to keep on top of things is not easy. Anyway if it's really bad the agents will arrange for a cleaner to go on and sort it out at the end of the tenancy from the deposit.

It's the refusal to hand over the money that I am angry with. The HA have confirmed she is getting the money, but she is not handing it over. I don't think that telling someone to get out because they are not paying for something they agreed to, and are being given the money for, makes me a bad landlord. Gulible? yes, In trouble with the mortgage company? possibly, For relying on professionals for full and correct advice and to do what they are being paid for properly? Totally guilty Mulud.

If she is claiming Housing Benefit, and then not using it for what it was given to her for, is that not in some way cheating? If she was claiming Sickness benefit, or Job seekers allowance, but wasn't sick or she was working, wouldn't they be down on her like the proverbial ton of bricks. I can't see the difference - but they will claim there are exceptions no doubt. Probably the HRA (it seems to cover everything else). Goodness I'm beginning to sound like Richard Littlejohn from the Daily Mail. Must be time for my medication and nap!
Goodnight Nurse!

Soniclord

skintsue wrote: »

I must stress though that I am not a bad landlord. I left the house professionally cleaned from top to bottom, including carpets. The whole house had been repainted the obligatory magnolia, as advised.
I gave permission for the rooms to be painted another colour if they wanted, as long as they were returned to any magnolia at the end of the tenancy.

This I can never understand! Why is it when someone moves into a house and wants to repaint/wallpaper the house to a good quality and a good shade of wallpaper that benefits the house should they be forced to repaint potentially the whole house in magnolia just so someone else can move in and then redecorate if they want to and then if they leave redo it in magnolia etc etc etc, one massive vicious circle if you ask me!

If the house is done to a good standard in a different paint or wallpaper and you can see the end result AND agree it looks good then why should anyone upon termination of existing tenancy agreements have to strip the walls bare and redecorate again right at the end of the tenancy! Or even say a week before! Won't they have enough on moving in the 1st place! To me it's unfair to expect every single tenant that wants to redecorate to a good standard to force them (which deep down is exactly what it is!) to decorate in a 'NEUTRAL' colour... God I hate that word!!!!!!

skintsue wrote: »

I gave permission for them to have cables for TV installed in the rooms where there wasn't one, again as long as they made good at the end of the tenancy.

So you gave permission for them to have cables for TV installed in the rooms where there were no cables, so they could watch TV, as long as they made good at the end of the tenancy!! Made good what?? Remove the cables?? So the new tenants (if any) would then have to install cabling again just so they could watch TV! What is your problem?? Not just yours but other landlords as well!

Surely having existing cabling left in wouldn't only benefit the tenants but you as well, you then wouldn't constantly have to give permission for the same things over and over again.

And I'm uninterested in anyone's comments about what I've posted as I know how I feel about all of the above and couldn't give a rats !!! what anyone else has to say. Oh and the fact I'm right. Some people just love to make others lives a misery.

I feel for you OP but you and other landlords need to sort yourselves out!!

neverdespairgirl

skintsue wrote: »

I accept that I did, in error, not realise that I had to notify my mortgage company.

You don't need to tell or notify them - you need to ask them. You aren't entitled to rent it out under the terms of a normal domestic mortgage, and they can and might refuse permission.

dancingfairy

Hi Sue - it sounds like your hands are tied to a certain extent.
O.K you need to get in touch with the mortgage adviser but it sounds like you thought you'd covered everything else.
I guess there are always people out their determined to take advantage by not paying their rent properly, causing issues with neighbours etc. I can understand that you thought you'd protected yourself from this but if a tenant really wants to cause trouble... and anybody can set themselves up as a letting agent without any training or anything so it's not obvious whether the tenant was just extremly devious and no amount of checking would have found anything or whether your letting agent failed to do proper checks, but what can you do?
I'm not sure there is much you can do apart from make sure all the relevant notices are served at the correct time and carry on as best as possible until you can get the tenant out.
You might want to have a chat to the neighbours and point out that you understand their concerns but unfortunately you are bound by the law and your hands are tied. I suggest the neighbours keep a diary of any antisocial behaviour, call the police if any crimes are being committed etc.
Oh - you signed a years contract - did it have a break clause - I'd be surprised if not and you may well want to use it.
Best of Luck - hope you get it sorted soon.
df

somethingcorporate

Ignore Soniclord, he is full of hot air and generally goes on long rants and is ignorant to any replies given - he needs to get out more .

It sounds like you were a pretty considerate first-timer so overlooking one thing is somewhat excusable. Unfortunately it's not just about having a "letter" - as neverdespairgirl suggests you have to ask for permission. You have signed a contract that does not allow you to let out your house without their express permission first.

We are where we are and my first few posts were perhaps a little too harsh on you. I am glad you took them in the spirit they were intended however. Ask the bank nicely and I am sure you can get the situation dealt with.