council tax / landlord issue

avfc78

Please help / advise as best as you can forum members!

I moved into rented accomodation in September 2002 and stayed there for three years. The property was a new home as an extra storey was placed on tiop of an existing property, and i believe this may not have been registered wityh the local authorities.

I paid £700 per month and this was to be inclusive of bills. Duruing this time, i never paid councuil tax, water, gas or electricity, and there was no problem with this - and i continued to pay my rent each month.

Shortly after moving home and registering for council tax at my new property (in the same borough) i was sent backdated bills for the previous property. I explianed the situation and have swapped emails etc but am being told that as tennant, the onus is on me to pay up - and to try to recover the mioney from the lettings agency.

I am being threatened with bailiffs etc if i do not pay. The local authority have sent bills also to the landlord, but these are being ignored.

The landlord is still advertising (on websites like gumtree) for all inclusive rental properties.

The contract that was signed does not specifically mention council tax in the list of uinclusive items, but that was verbally stated when moving in.

Another issue is taht we only signed a 12 month lease when moving in even though we stayed for three years. The landlord / letting agency have supplied false forged supposed contracts signed by us. I do not know if this is relevant - but again is indicative of their impropriety.

I seem to be hitting a brick wall as the council say that i am liable, i do not have the money (£3,000 or so) and i am getting stressed by the whole affair.

I would REALLY appreciate any advice/help/suggestions.

David.

Jamz

unfortunately if it's not listed as all inclusive in your contract you are !!!!!!ed mate.. Get some proper advice from the CAB though

avfc78

I will contact the CAB as you say...... it just seems really unfair that it looks i will have to pay the tax twice over... any further advice on how this can be avoided would be apprecaiated. i don't want to break the law, but i feel ethically and morraly i should not pay!! please help!

Astaroth

As the person living in the property you are legally liable to ensure that council tax is paid even if it is specifically mentioned in your tenancy agreement that the landlord will pay it (assuming it isnt a multioccupancy dwelling)

If however you have a contract which says the bills are inclusive you would then be entitled to recover the money you paid to the council back from the landlord.

Clearly what you need to do is get the contract looked over properly, ideally with the original advert you responded to though current adverts would be possible evidence but clearly not as strong.

Verbal contracts are legally as binding as written ones, the problem is that they are very difficult to prove. The "advantage" however is that civil courts work on the balance of probability so backing up your arguments with current adverts etc all help tip the scales towards the required 50.0001% likely you rather than the landlord is telling the truth required.

I am curious why you mention about forged subsequent contracts you have said the landlord produced.... when did they produce them and to whom?

avfc78

wow! thanks a lot for the detailed reply. basically the landlord has produced to the local council tennancy agreements for years two and three of our residency - that were never produced to us or signed etc - basically they have fabricated them and submitted them to the local authority. These have been produced in recent months by the landlord but have nothing to do with us......

Voyager2002

Did your partner hear the landlord say that the Council Tax was included in the rent? If so, you have a very good chance of claiming the amount back from the Landlord via the Small Claims procedure.

Anyway, assuming that the flat was self-contained, you were liable for the tax, and even if the landlord agrees to pay it, s/he would do so by giving you the money in order to do so. I once lived in a flat like that, and when I moved in I tried telling the Council to bill the landlord. They said that this was impossible and advised me to reclaim my tax payments, which is what I did.

rosysparkle

Have you seen these contracts that have been sent to the council?

Because you do not need to sign a further agreement after the initial 12 months fixed term, you either go on a statutory periodic tenancy (which does not require you or the landlord to sign a new agreement) or a further fixed term (which only requires you to sign a letter agreeing to a further fixed term on the same terms and conditions as the original fixed term).

However, if you have seen these contracts and your signature has been forged, that's a different matter! I'm not an expert in such matters but I'm sure someone here will be able to advise you further.

Mikeyorks

It's not helpful that you have 2 identical threads running on this .. as it causes confusion and spoils continuity?

As on the other thread - get yourself down to the CAB. And read their website first - particularly if you were in a multi-occupancy property, as it potentially switches onus to the owner :-

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/tax/council_tax.htm#Whohastopaycounciltax

avfc78

thankd for peoples advice so far.... i will keep you posted