Landlord Harassment

SavingSomeCoin

Hello All,

The council have provided me with a letter to indicate I am not liable for council tax and that the landord is liable, as the property has been identified as a HMO (House of Multiple Occupation). The landlord has received a letter too, but chosen to ignore it.

The landlord has sent me an email demanding I pay money for council tax and that their solictor(s) will be contacting me. My rent is excluding all bills and council tax. They attempted to get me to sign a new one, so that is would be included.

I am on a 6 month fixed term contract, and they has issued me with a Section 21: Notice requiring possession. From what I am aware I have the right to remain until my contract ends at the end of September.

The landlord has become gradually nasty after one of the tenants moved out. They have been sending threatening emails and having similar conversations with the other tenants.

I have let them know I will be recording all communication, as it is my right under the Eviction Act 1977.

What protection do I have against them? I feel I am being harassed and would like it stopped.

Kind Regards,
SavingSomeCoin

marliepanda

Block their email (or divert it to your spam folder)

Ignore them, keep your correspondance including that from the council in case anything happens in the future. And look to find somewhere else to live asap!

Also in your circumstances, I would withhold the same amount of rent that is in your deposit (so if its a month, keep a month back) Its not 'right' to do it, but I can 100% see your LL trying to keep your deposit to pay the council tax, so I would be taking it into my own hands if I were you.

tbs624

SavingSomeCoin wrote: »

The council have provided me with a letter to indicate I am not liable for council tax and that the landord is liable, as the property has been identified as a HMO (House of Multiple Occupation). The landlord has received a letter too, but chosen to ignore it.

The landlord has sent me an email demanding I pay money for council tax and that their solictor(s) will be contacting me. My rent is excluding all bills and council tax. They attempted to get me to sign a new one, so that is would be included.

I am on a 6 month fixed term contract, and they has issued me with a Section 21: Notice requiring possession. From what I am aware I have the right to remain until my contract ends at the end of September.

You have the right to remain until the LL obtains a court order, and follows it up with bailiff enforcment if necessary. He can't apply for the court order until your FT has expired.

Note that if the LL has not scheme registered your tenancy deposit and given you the scheme's prescribed nformation then any s21 notice will be invalid.Don't mention this to the LL atm

If this property should have been licensed as an HMO but was not then you should seek advice about a rent repayment order.

The landlord has become gradually nasty after one of the tenants moved out. They have been sending threatening emails and having similar conversations with the other tenants.

I have let them know I will be recording all communication, as it is my right under the Eviction Act 1977.

What protection do I have against them? I feel I am being harassed and would like it stopped.

If the LL is harassing you, you should get in touch with the private sector tenancy relations officer at the local Council asap - they are always busy so you will have to be persistent.

anselld

What does your agreement say? In an HMO the LL is reponsible for payment of CT, but this is usually with the intent that they are then responsible for collecting the shares from the occupants, either by inclusion of bills within rent or as a separate payment.
The fact that the council have told you that the LL is liable is correct, but it does not stop you being liable to pay the LL if that is clearly stated in your contract.
No excuse for harrassment though. If the contract is disputed it should be resolved in court.

Kynthia

At the moment you are in the right and the landlord is in the wrong, if you withhold rent you change that. The LL can't get a possession order until a few weeks after the fixed term ends so unless you stop paying rent you are secure until then. Keep records and report harassment to the council and the police, but ignore the LL. Check whether the deposit is registered in one of the 3 schemes and report him to the council's private tenancy officer as they may help.

Has a copy if the council tax exemption been sent to the LL?

Notmyrealname

[QUOTE=SavingSomeCoin;54171421
The landlord has sent me an email demanding I pay money for council tax and that their solictor(s) will be contacting me. My rent is excluding all bills and council tax. [/QUOTE]

So you are liable for your share of the gas, electricity, water AND YOUR SHARE OF THE COUNCIL TAX.

If your rent agreement said it was INCLUSIVE of the above, then you'd not have any to pay. However you said EXCLUDING all bills.

So the LL is right. You are in breach of contract.

Golden rule with contracts is if you don't understand it, ask or get someone else to look at it or don't sign it.

Notmyrealname

Kynthia wrote: »

At the moment you are in the right and the landlord is in the wrong

Read the first post where the OP says their rent is exclusive of bills and council tax.

SavingSomeCoin

Kynthia wrote: »

Has a copy if the council tax exemption been sent to the LL?

Yes the counciil tax officer explained over the telephone they have received a letter clearly explaining they are liable.

The contract says:
"To pay promptly to the authorities to whom they are due, council tax and outgoings".

And again in my tenancy application form it states:
"I will be directly responsible for Council Tax, and for opening accounts with service providers and paying thm directly to them for all services to the property".

This is one example for a council website:
Council Tax law says the landlord, not the
occupier(s) must pay the Council Tax bill.
The rent charged to the occupier can
include an amount towards the Council Tax.
The amount included is a private matter
between the landlord and the occupier that
does not involve the Revenues & Benefits
Service. The bill must stay in the landlord’s
name – it cannot be given to the occupier(s)
to pay.

real1314

Whilst the contract you have does not align well with council tax law, the intent is clear: You have to pay towards council tax in addition to the rent you pay.

I doubt any court would rule otherwise.

You will almost certainly lose and the LL will win, assuming the LL follows the correct procedure.

Demanding payment for monies due is not harassment. :cool:

SavingSomeCoin

Hello Real 1314, paying the landlord would go against the whole principle of a HMO.

With a HMO the landlord is acruing more rent with multiple occupants than renting it out as a single property. That is why the law exists. They have also gnored my request to make repairs to some broken things in the communal area.

They said to me, "So you want to leave because you dont want to pay the council tax". For me I see this as a threatening statement for eviction. I would have paid council tax if included in the rent, which it is not. It is due to the authorities and have already covered that.

All our bills are up to date and my individual rent up to date.

real1314

SavingSomeCoin wrote: »

Hello Real 1314, paying the landlord would go against the whole principle of a HMO.

With a HMO the landlord is acruing more rent with multiple occupants than renting it out as a single property.

This is irrelevant

That is why the law exists.

No, the law exists to ensure that council tax liability falls to a defined person. It has nothing to do with attempting to determine the amount of rent charged, nor what it might require to be paid in addition to rent.

They have also gnored my request to make repairs to some broken things in the communal area.

This is irrelevant to the requirement to pay a contribution to the council tax

They said to me, "So you want to leave because you dont want to pay the council tax". For me I see this as a threatening statement for eviction. I would have paid council tax if included in the rent, which it is not. It is due to the authorities and have already covered that.

It is definitely a threat to evict; it's also entrely lawful to evict for breach of contract, therefore it is merely a threat to take lawful action

All our bills are up to date and my individual rent up to date.

Your council tax contribution is not up to date though. You are mis-reading the law and mis-construing the advice given by the local authority. :cool: