rent arrears over 10 years old

beaniebabyuk

hi all, i desperatly need advice. I have been on urgent banding to be rehoused, my local council offerd me a house but then withdrew the offer because of rent arrears from a property i was in 10 years ago. They have now said that unless i repay the arrears in full they will not consider me for housing, even though i am due to be made homeless because my current private landlord is selling the property i am in. My query is, are the council within their right to claim these arrears from 10 years ago, even though this is the first ive heard about the arrears? please can ANYBODY help me??????:(

RAS

I think you need specialists for this. Contact Shelter urgently.

lincroft1710

Starting a 2nd thread will only confuse the issue.

RabbitMad

If they are genuine arrears (i.e you did not pay fully at the time) then I for one applaud the council. Too often people shirk their responsibilities and feel that there is no come back / they've got away with it.

If however the arrears are an admin error then you need to point this out to the council and they should alter their stance.

Which is it in this case? I get the impression from the way you phrase your question as you did owe money but the council have never chased for it / caught up with you until now.

lincroft1710

I posted this on OP's original thread.

Just because the debt is over 6 years old doesn't mean you are absolved from the debt. All it means is that you cannot now be pursued through the courts and thus cannot have a CCJ against your name nor bailiffs instructed to seize your goods.

If you owe the money, then you should pay. Clearly at present, in the council's eyes, you are not considered a responsible tenant and this justifies them refusing to offer you permanent accommodation.

If this is a mistake then obviously this can be sorted out by discussing it with them.

anselld

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Starting a 2nd thread will only confuse the issue.

But the OP was asked to start a new thread because they posted on someone else's thread initially.

lincroft1710

anselld wrote: »

But the OP was asked to start a new thread because they posted on someone else's thread initially.

It was suggested she did so, rather than asked. On reflection the poster who made that suggestion should have told OP to delete her post on the old thread.

beaniebabyuk

omg.... first off i did not no how to post a new thread, but after learning how to thats exactly what i did. Secondly, im not trying to "shirk" the facr
t i have arrears, as i am currently payint the council back!!!! When i left the property,my husband, now my ex,was still in the property but was never on the tenancy! Since leaving the property i was housed privately, hence why ive only just learned about the arrears. So how dare people assume i am trying to shirk my reponsibilities!!!! But thanx to all those who had offerd me friendly advice!

SuzieSue

beaniebabyuk wrote: »

omg.... first off i did not no how to post a new thread, but after learning how to thats exactly what i did. Secondly, im not trying to "shirk" the facr
t i have arrears, as i am currently payint the council back!!!! When i left the property,my husband, now my ex,was still in the property but was never on the tenancy! Since leaving the property i was housed privately, hence why ive only just learned about the arrears. So how dare people assume i am trying to shirk my reponsibilities!!!! But thanx to all those who had offerd me friendly advice!

Don't take it personally, unfortunately some people judge too quickly, but most will offer good advice.

If you are not getting anywhere with the Council, you need to contact Shelter urgently and ask them to speak to them on your behalf.

Did the Council know you weren't living there after you left?

beaniebabyuk

Thankyou Suzie, I appreciate yr comment....

Don't take it personally, unfortunately some people judge too quickly, but most will offer good advice.

I have contacted housing, who have arranged for an appointment with them next week, to discuss my current situatiuon, as regards to being rehoused, so hopefully they will help. I did inform the council I was leaving the property, but my ex on the other hand didnt and just abandoned the property! Therefore this is why the council are now asking or telling me the arrears are down to me, and will not rehouse me until they have been cleared, which hopefully should be cleared by May this year!. But once again, Suzie, thanks for your comments about some people judging too quickly.

lincroft1710

beaniebabyuk wrote: »

im not trying to "shirk" the fact i have arrears, as i am currently payint the council back!!!! When i left the property,my husband, now my ex,was still in the property but was never on the tenancy! Since leaving the property i was housed privately, hence why ive only just learned about the arrears. So how dare people assume i am trying to shirk my reponsibilities!!!! But thanx to all those who had offerd me friendly advice!

But your original post asked quite clearly

are the council within their right to claim these arrears from 10 years ago,

Which implied you didn't believe you had to repay them, which is why some posters (not myself) may have thought you were trying to avoid paying them. My viewpoint was that you thought the council couldn't ask for this money to be repaid as you believed it was statute barred as the debt was over 6 years old.