what would happen if we didn't pay our last month's rent and council tax

sophlowe45

barnaby-bear i feel soooooooooooooo much better Thank you for all that!!

yep some post is mortgage related as ALL their post comes to our address!!

initially i thought they might possibly be committing some kind of benefit fraud but as its our names on the council tax bill, i presumed they couldn't be...

The annoying thing now is as per usual the agency are not picking up the phone and whenever someone has usually got there in person they've been shut!!! And when they occasionally arrange to turn up at 8.30pm in the evening lots of tenants with problems turn up!! I guess a letter send by recorded delivery would work....

Thanks!!!

barnaby-bear

sophlowe45 wrote:

barnaby-bear i feel soooooooooooooo much better Thank you for all that!!

yep some post is mortgage related as ALL their post comes to our address!!

initially i thought they might possibly be committing some kind of benefit fraud but as its our names on the council tax bill, i presumed they couldn't be...

The annoying thing now is as per usual the agency are not picking up the phone and whenever someone has usually got there in person they've been shut!!! And when they occasionally arrange to turn up at 8.30pm in the evening lots of tenants with problems turn up!! I guess a letter send by recorded delivery would work....

Thanks!!!

The council tax is your responsibility - pay that as revenues support local services you use.

Usually I'd recommend paying last months rent.

However in this case I'd be tempted not to because your tenancy is probably null and void, it's ILLEGAL to rent out a property without a gas safety certificate and HMO registration if necessary. Plus if on residential mortgage as suspected your tenancy is completely *worthless*, the bank can repossess in 10 days regardless of notice etc as tenancy effectively wouldn't exist.

rjm2k1

As mentioned above, the house sounds like it should have been registered as a HMO, and afaik in a HMO the landlord is responsible for paying the council tax (check it out yourself though). If that's the case, then though I don't advocate not paying for things, I would suggest that the LL covers the last bit of the CT, the rent however is a different matter, I would suggest offering your share only, but it is likely the LL will keep the deposit to cover it.

lynzpower

sophlowe45 wrote:

barnaby-bear i feel soooooooooooooo much better Thank you for all that!!

yep some post is mortgage related as ALL their post comes to our address!!

initially i thought they might possibly be committing some kind of benefit fraud but as its our names on the council tax bill, i presumed they couldn't be...

The annoying thing now is as per usual the agency are not picking up the phone and whenever someone has usually got there in person they've been shut!!! And when they occasionally arrange to turn up at 8.30pm in the evening lots of tenants with problems turn up!! I guess a letter send by recorded delivery would work....

Thanks!!!

Soph,

by any chance did you rent through Londons People?

sophlowe45

nope not londons people...are they equally as crap?

i'm never ever trusting other people again as some people i knew had already found this property through this agency and they needed one more person, the offices are really dodgy as well so why they used this agency is beyond me...

called up council re: HMO they said as we signed a joint contract (rather than 5 contracts) its not a HMO regardless of how many people live there)...

prudryden

sophlowe45 wrote:

nope not londons people...are they equally as crap?

i'm never ever trusting other people again as some people i knew had already found this property through this agency and they needed one more person, the offices are really dodgy as well so why they used this agency is beyond me...

called up council re: HMO they said as we signed a joint contract (rather than 5 contracts) its not a HMO regardless of how many people live there)...

Yet again, another council with confusing regs. I am totally bemused. That doesn't sound right at all. Which council is this, if you don't mind me asking? I would like to read the regs for myself, if they have them online.

sophlowe45

its tower hanmlets council...

lynzpower

nope not londons people...are they equally as crap?

they are literally the worst. I would never recommend nor use them again!

sophlowe45

i've been trying to call the agency to give them forwarding addresses, check what information they need from us before they can give our deposits back, but no-one picks up....if i write them a letter, should i mention that we don't have a gas safety certificate etc. so should i just leave the letter as please let us know what information we need to provide you with...

Thanks!

And also, should i report this agency to anyone? I don't think they should be allowed to operate as a lettings agency....do you think i can ask for the fee we paid to them at the start to be returned to us as they haven't provided a gas safety certificate, have not ensured that the landlord has a but-to-let mortage, no inventory, no HMO registration...

Ebany

Tower_Hamlets_Council_Website wrote:

What is an HMO?

A House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) is a house, which is occupied by people who do not form a single household. Examples of this include:
A house let as individual bedsits or rooms
A group of rooms on each floor let to single occupants
Hostels, some hotels, guesthouses
Lodgings and shared houses
Houses converted into self-contained flats

Looks like it should be registered, though it is still possibly ambiguous. Your landlord and agency still have enough problems elsewhere though, so it doesn't matter that much if this one doesn't come to anything.