Council tenants & bankruptcy

wherediditallgo

Hi, I hope you can help. I've looked through the threads & have found info about those who pay mortgages or rent privately, but I can't seem to find any info on how bankruptcy affects existing council tenants.

I've got a secure council tenancy. Once I have been decreed bankrupt, would the OR or other bankruptcy-related people inform the council that I am bankrupt? I can prove what my rent is as I have letters from them stating it, plus I can get a rent statement printed off which will show it. Though my rent & Council Tax have been in arrears in the past, I've managed to clear them both up, so the council isn't a creditor. But would they still need to know about it, & what could be the affect on my tenancy if they're told? I don't want to lose my home.

One minute I'm all set to go to the court with loads of reasons why, the next I'm back down in the dumps with yet another reasons not to do it. Fear is at the top of both lists.

Thanks.

tight_jock

As always,the first piece of advice is to get yourself in contact with one of the debt advice agencies eg. CAB money advice unit, CCCS, Payplan, National Debtline , and get good professional advice. If you do go BR then the judge will ask you if you have done this and will expect you to have done so.

No idea on the council tenancy, but we rent privately and the landlord has not been informed as to our status. No arrears and no clause in our agreement.
Best of luck
:beer:
TJ

Richard_S

wherediditallgo wrote: »

Hi, I hope you can help. I've looked through the threads & have found info about those who pay mortgages or rent privately, but I can't seem to find any info on how bankruptcy affects existing council tenants.

I've got a secure council tenancy. Once I have been decreed bankrupt, would the OR or other bankruptcy-related people inform the council that I am bankrupt? I can prove what my rent is as I have letters from them stating it, plus I can get a rent statement printed off which will show it. Though my rent & Council Tax have been in arrears in the past, I've managed to clear them both up, so the council isn't a creditor. But would they still need to know about it, & what could be the affect on my tenancy if they're told? I don't want to lose my home.

One minute I'm all set to go to the court with loads of reasons why, the next I'm back down in the dumps with yet another reasons not to do it. Fear is at the top of both lists.

Thanks.

Hi wherediditallgo,

I really don't know the answer to that. Have you got a tenancy agreement that might give you the answer?

Otherwise, why not ring your local authority's housing department; you could always pose as a neighbour that you don't get on with (only jesting)

My guess is that different councils have different policies and you really need to speak with your council's housing department. Having said that, I'd be surprised if nobody else on this forum had experienced similar concerns.

Richard

wherediditallgo

I'll dig out the tenancy agreement this week - hopefully, there'll be something in it. Failing that, it'll be time to don the fake accent & address. Thanks.

angel1533

Hi, I am a housing society/council tennant, and declared BR April 2006 (BR discharged Sept 2006), and as far as I know they are not informed.I never heard anything from them whatsoever, but I never had any arrears.

wherediditallgo

Thanks for that, angel - that's good to hear. My rent account is in credit (might make an extra rent payment this week, just to make sure it stays that way), & my Council Tax is fully paid up to end March 2007, so that makes me feel a bit better.

plumduff-2

If you are in credit then there should be no problems..

With arrears councils differ, some just write off the arrears, but there is some recent caselaw which states that they can terminate the tenancy or make you continue to pay the arrears if legal action has been taken previously...

wherediditallgo

Just thought I'd let you have an update, in case anyone else has this come up.

I spoke to the council this morning, & the woman said that if someone is already bankrupt & wants to go on the housing list, they have to declare their bankruptcy on the application, whether the application is in their name or that of their partner.

If you are already a council tenant & have arrears, either for rent or Council Tax, you have to tell the council if you become bankrupt because they are a creditor.

However, if you have no arrears to the council, then the Official Receiver wouldn't inform them and you don't have to tell them either, as "it's not really any of our business, as long as we're getting the rent". She said that occasionally they have found out at a later date a resident has become bankrupt, for instance if a resident falls into arrears at a later date, & the council seeks possession because the arrears aren't being dealt with satisfactorily, but there is no obligation for someone who doesn't owe them money to inform them.

Also, they have never evicted someone who doesn't owe them money simply because they have become bankrupt, as that would then make them homeless purely because they've told the council something they didn't need to know. They would have to go through the normal processes to obtain a possession order, and they would have no grounds to get one when the person doesn't owe them any money and hasn't breached their tenancy in any other way that could have put their tenancy at risk. Obviously, I got her name.

I've also read up some case law on the subject - Harlow District Council v Hall (2006). My understanding is that, provided the tenant keeps to an agreement to clear any arrears, they take on the status of 'tolerated trespassers' rather than secure tenants under a suspended possession order. It's therefore very important that anyone who is a council tenant under a suspended possession order realises that the order hasn't been postponed, & can therefore be enforced if the agreement to pay the arrears is breached at any point. Becoming bankrupt after the possession order has been granted won't allow you to get the possession order discharged, so you still have to pay the arrears off if you want to keep your home (& they may still want the money even if you give up the tenancy). It would seem to be better for a tenant facing legal action for arrears to get a postponed order of possession rather than a suspended one, as that would keep a secure tenancy alive provided the terms of the postponement aren't broken.

If there are any legal eagles around, please feel free to correct me on that as I don't want to mislead anyone.