pending eviction 1st Feb, council rent arrears

lighting_up_the_chalice

I would also take the paperwork you have to the councils Homeless department. They are encouraged to take practical measures to prevent homelessness of vulnerable (ie priority) applicants and have the funding to do so. They may be able to negotiate with the housing department and postpone any further (costly) action by them. However, they can only do so much so you will have to co-operate and keep to whatever arrangements are made.

As others have said, the council are still some way from securing an eviction. Possession is, ultimately, the decision of a judge and he/she will be looking for a reason NOT to evict a vulnerable young person. But you will have to ensure that he has such a reason.

bashful_lass

Do you think my first place of call on Monday should be CAB, shelter, a solicitor (I have found one locally for legal aid) or the council's homelessness department? Or should I call all or a combination of them. To be honest, Im a bit nervous to go direct to anything council at the moment without some support.

You have all been so kind even though I know deep down its really my fault. I will post how I get on.

Hoof_Hearted

Some really good advice on here and it is great that you have come to the forum for some long-distance support. Ignore Paddygirl and this kind of holier-than-thou stuff. What is clear is that you need to stay in your flat and use whatever tactics you can to achieve this. The CAB is a good place to start.

Two things to bear in mind:

If it does go to court judges can be remarkably understanding.

Don't blame yourself for falling for this rat. People who have been in care often fall for some kind words and affection.

What part of the country are you in?

BitterAndTwisted

Angel, in the first instance I would do all of them bar the legal-aid solicitor. You might need the solicitor after you've received advice from Shelter or the CAB depending on their advice. The people at the Council's homelessness section are not likely to be judgemental. Folk get themselves into a mess and it's not always completely their own fault.

Will you come back and let us know how you get on?

tbs624

Sorry B&T , going to disagree with you on this one. As time is in short supply, & there has already been a court hearing, my suggestion would be that Bashful Lass goes straight to the legal aid solicitor.

BitterAndTwisted

That's OK, I'm sure that you're right about that. I daresay Bashful has talked to anyone who would listen. I would.

squinty

lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »

I would also take the paperwork you have to the councils Homeless department. They are encouraged to take practical measures to prevent homelessness of vulnerable (ie priority) applicants and have the funding to do so. They may be able to negotiate with the housing department and postpone any further (costly) action by them. However, they can only do so much so you will have to co-operate and keep to whatever arrangements are made..

Really good advice here. The focus of homeless services have changed over the past few years, and they are now much more focussed on preventing homlessness rather than dealing with the consequnences.

Most councils have a 'Homeless Prevention Fund' and some allow this to be used to pay off rent arrears - (the rationale is that this can be cheaper than paying for temporary accommodation and the other costs). Look on the council website to see if they are rules.

Also ask the council about Discretionary Housing Benefit - this is money from the DWP that is adminstered by local councils to prevent hardship. Some councils will allow this to be used to help

lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »

As others have said, the council are still some way from securing an eviction. Possession is, ultimately, the decision of a judge and he/she will be looking for a reason NOT to evict a vulnerable young person. But you will have to ensure that he has such a reason.

Also good advice. The judge will make a decsions based on reasonableness. However, judges are individuals and makes thier own decsions based on thier understanding of the facts / their relationship with the council / thier own views / their mood on the day - it is far from predictable.

It would be much better to come to an arrangment with the council beforehand. If you need help with this, speak to Shelter / CAB / solicitor (probably in that order - many solicitors have little expertience of this type of case). Even if it is not possible to amke an arrangment you will be able to say to the court that you have tried.

Finally if you do make an offer to the council it is essential that this is realistic and you make this your absolute priority and never miss a paymrent. If is much better to pay rent plus£5 every week, than to offer rent plus £10 and miss a payment each month.

Good luck

tbs624

Good post Squinty, however,

squinty wrote: »

... If you need help with this, speak to Shelter / CAB / solicitor (probably in that order - many solicitors have little expertience of this type of case).

If the OP has obtained the solicitor's name via the Community Legal Advice helpline as suggested earlier in the thread,and given them her basic background info, it is usual that the solicitor *will* have expertise in the client's type of case.:)

JacobY

If you haven't already completed the N244 and handed it in to the court, please do it on Monday. If the eviction is scheduled to take place on 1 Feb, it will go ahead unless you get that in to the court. It is common for courts to suspend eviction warrants, but it almost never happens that a council voluntarily withdraws it. So you need to go to the County Court which issued the warrant and submit the N244 so it can go before a district judge. Time is short.