Tenant on Housing Benefit

Madjock

I would imagine they are being cagey as the tenant being arrested is no guarantee that they will be evicted. What have they been arrested for? i would have thought after your experiences with Natwest you would be a lot more clued up on the legal situation and what grounds the Letting Agent's solicitors are seeking possession on.

yaubelle

Sue,

Follow Clutton's advice, she really knows her stuff.

Even though the tenant has been arrested,you must join a landlord's association be it, the RLA or NLA.

They deal with these types of situations day in day out and know exactly the correct procedure to follow so you don't end up tripping up along the way.

If paperwork on your part has the slightes mistake on it, it will very well be thrown out of court. The help line of a landlord's association will tell you exactly what your rights are and take you through the steps of what needs to be done. Don't rely on your letting agency because quite often they don't completely understand the rules.

With the help of the RLA/NLA, it should be a lot cheaper than hiring a solicitor.

Best of luck,

HappyMJ

skintsue wrote: »

Hi
A very quick update on the situation.
The tenant has been arrested. The Letting agents are arranging for their solicitors to apply for an emergency eviction order on Monday.
Any ideas how long it will be before the notice is up to get out. They were very cagey.

Cagey is bad. They should know exactly how much notice they should get. Get another solicitor or consider doing it yourself. It depends under what section you are applying. It could be 2 months. But that only means the notice is up. That doesn't mean much. You still have to apply for possession of the property and that could take a lot longer. If the exact procedure has not been followed you will not get possession. Just because someone has been arrested does not mean you will get your property back. The tenant can ask that housing benefit pay the rent for up to 52 weeks whilst they are on remand and then a further 26 weeks after they have been convicted. If you have not used the correct section and have not asked the council to pay the housing benefit directly then you will have a problem.

If you use section 8 (two weeks notice for rent arrears of more than 8 weeks/2 months) the tenant simply has to make up the payment to less than 8 weeks arrears and the case will finish with no possesion.

If you use section 21 you must give 2 months notice ending on an exact date. That date must be a rent day. e.g if the rent period starts on the 5th and ends on the 4th your notice must be given to the tenant before the 5th September to end on the 4th November. If the children are still living in the property you will then need to start possession proceedings against them which may take a further few months so you may not get possession until next year.

Be careful.

Edit: Stop paying £100 for solicitor letters. You can write your own letters for a fraction of the price or shop around solicitors and get it cheaper. I bet the letting agent is also charging a fee for outsurcing the work to their own solicitors. If you keep paying these fees you will as you say face a bill well in excess of £1,000. There are a lot more letters to be writing over the next few months.

missile

skintsue wrote: »

... They found me a tenant - single mum with kids on Housing Benefit, which I wasn't that worried about as she came with glowing references from her previous landlord and bank, and a guarantor, so I thought everything would be in order. Some Joke!:(QUOTE] Have you never seen "NO HB tenants" in adverts? Did you not wonder why many LL are reluctant to let to tenants on HB? Whilst you (and I) may sympathise with a single mum with no job living on benefit, this tenant is not reliable, your ONLY way out is to evict at your earliest opportunity.
Some LL specialise HB tenants and some councils rent properties directly from LLs. Being a LL is not easy money. There are many pitfalls and you need to get clued up, particularly so if you rent to tenants on HB.

It seems you cannot afford late payment and all the other unforeseen costs that go with being a LL? Maybe you would be well advised to sell your property at whatever price you can get:(

skintsue

Madjock wrote: »

I would imagine they are being cagey as the tenant being arrested is no guarantee that they will be evicted. What have they been arrested for?

Idenity theft - mine, plus a couple of others. Obtaining goods by deception, receiving stolen goods, handling stolen goods, and that's just the starters.
When the police went to arrest her she also had an untaxed car, which would mean the Insurance wouldn't be valid, and she had been driving the children around in it.

Add to that the non payment of rent, anti-social behaviour, breaches of contract, using false references for the tenancy - 'glowing report from previous landlord' according to LA pre-contract check.

skintsue

HappyMJ wrote: »

Just because someone has been arrested does not mean you will get your property back. The tenant can ask that housing benefit pay the rent for up to 52 weeks whilst they are on remand and then a further 26 weeks after they have been convicted. If you have not used the correct section and have not asked the council to pay the housing benefit directly then you will have a problem.
.

I have asked several times for the rent to be paid direct, but the LA tell me she has to give permission for them to do it. AS IF, there goes her ciggy money, and she does smoke, despite it being in the contract as a non smoking.

I doubt she will be in remand - not with all the children involved. The tenancy was for 12 months, so hopefully she will have to be out anyway when the date is up, even if the HB could be paid for 52 weeks.
Have I any right to refuse to allow another adult to take over, especially if they hadn't been reference checked (mind you, what good did that do last time?)

moromir

Sue,

Where I live, as soon as a tenant on HB is eight weeks in arrears, the landlord can apply to the Council to be paid the HB direct.

I suggest you speak to your Council direct and stop taking the Agent's advice so literally considering the pickle they've already got you in by not doing their jobs properly.

clutton_2

"If the children are still living in the property you will then need to start possession proceedings against them which may take a further few months so you may not get possession until next year."

when a court awards possession of a property to the landlord ALL occupants must leave when the bailiffs arrive, so i'm sorry this is just no true in England and Wales anyway.

missile

skintsue wrote: »

using false references for the tenancy - 'glowing report from previous landlord' according to LA pre-contract check.

I would ask to see this "glowing report". Why did your agency not verify the reference? No wonder agency are being "cagey"

clutton_2

skintsue wrote: »

Hi
A very quick update on the situation.
The tenant has been arrested. The Letting agents are arranging for their solicitors to apply for an emergency eviction order on Monday.
Any ideas how long it will be before the notice is up to get out. They were very cagey.

Thats good news !

Have you read your agency T&Cs to see if you will have to pay extra for their solicitors services ?