Landlord fraudulently changed contract

caela_2

CIS wrote: »

It can help your case but not all licensed HMO's are Council Tax HMO's

Oh no, I thought this was my 'piece de resistance' as it were! I'm going to have to pick your brains here if you don't mind lol and ask if you could tell me more about this (I'm going to make the most of your inside knowledge while I'm here hehe as cheeky as it is!).

Cheers!

musey

Ah well maybethat does provide you with a get out. "My contract reads Pay for all electricity, gas and phone bills,water charges and Council Tax relating to the property that apply during theperiod of the tenancy." So I would still expect the tenant to pay, thequestion would be to whom.

caela_2

Just a quick update, I have spoken to the council and they are getting back to me this morning but said something about possibly reporting him for fraud investigation. Will have to see what happens!

caela_2

Ok heard back, unfortunately they cannot prosecute him but have put a note on his file that he's up to these tricks and sent him the full council tax bill to chew on. Not sure what else I can do... he's a very naughty man.

princeofpounds

Did they say why they weren't prosecuting?

At least they seem to have made the right decision on the bill itself.

You should try to get a written account of the decision, at least as it relates to you, in case it rears its head in future somehow.

Oh, and for the posters worrying about liability for council tax in contracts- nothing in the contract affects the council's official schedule of liability. They will collect from, and prosecute, the person who is supposed to pay under law.

If the contract suggests a different person is responsible for paying the bill, then they could try to recover the money in court, but that is a civil contractual dispute between the two sides. Doesn't affect the tax liability.

Agreeing to pay council tax isn't necessarily an unfair term. Depends on what the clause specifically demands.

CIS

Oh no, I thought this was my 'piece de resistance' as it were! I'm going to have to pick your brains here if you don't mind lol and ask if you could tell me more about this (I'm going to make the most of your inside knowledge while I'm here hehe as cheeky as it is!).

Sorry about the late reply -

As a simple guide:

A licensed HMO is at a statutory minimum required on a 3 storey (or greater) property with more than 5 tenants who form more than 1 separate household. A local authority can have tighter rules of they wish.

A council tax HMO looks only at whether the property is rented to individual occupiers (e.g each pays their own individual rent for part of the property) and /or the property being adapted for use as a HMO.

A property occupied by , say, 1 person is unlikely to be a licenced HMO but it could be a Council Tax HMO if the occupier only rented part of the property.