Problem with new tenant and housing

holistic2009

Hi

I had new tenants move into my house in England at the beginning of July and was fully aware they were receiving housing benefit and it should just have been a change of address and tenancy.

Anyway 2 months on I have still not received any rent, I am having major issues with both the council and tenant, they paid my first rental payment to the old landlord which immediately put the claim on hold. Secondly my tenant wants payment to come directly to me as she has no bank account, but this is not common practice unless there is arrears of at least 8 weeks, and even then it may not be considered.

I have emailed and spoke to the council several times (and told different stories each time), currently I had to email a schedule to show non payment, which considering they had not sent the tenant any money seemed a bit strange! Again told it is under review.

The issue I have is that I need the monthly payments to pay the mortgage, and in fact there is a shortfall so each month I make up the mortgage payment to cover this.

Can anyone advice why the hold up and/or is this common practice? I live in Ireland and HB is dealt with a bit differently here.

As a member of the council staff said to me when I explained my situation "I really dont care".........:(

G_M

1) Running a rental business with no contingency fund for issues like this is asking for trouble.
2) Taking on a benefits claimant when you have no contingency fund is just compounding the risk!
3) The council, indeed, "don't care". Your tenancy business is none of their concern
4) Your issue is with your tenant. If the arrears are now in excess of the equivelant of two months rent, issue a S8 and seek possession. Then take it from the deposit and/or sue for the arrears, and seek a new, more reliable, tenant.

Are you sure you should be running a letting business? Do you have an agent?

If not, which part of Ireland are you in? If Eire, then you must either expect your tenant to deduct 20% tax from your rent (see HMRC non Resident [= overseas] Landlord Scheme) or get exemption from HMRC.

And whichever part of Ireland, you must have provided your tenant with an address in Eng/Wales "for the serving of notices".

Of course, if you have an agent, neither of the above are issues, but then the question is why is the agent not resolving your rent arrerars issue....?

tbs624

Of course a Council Officer won't care about *your* problems in covering your mortgage if the T fails pay the rent/get their LHA/HB claim sorted out.

Am surprised that your T does not have bank account if she is a benefit claimant as the majority of benefit payments (JSA etc) are made direct to the claimants personal account. There are basic bank accounts which are open to those on limited incomes and your T should be showing some measure of personal responsibility for ensuring that the rent gets paid on time.

As G_M says, if more than two months rent is currently unpaid then serve the T with a S8, Grounds 8, 10 and 11 Notice (see Housing Act 1988) and send a copy to the LHA/HB officer.

Don't get indignant about their request that you provide a Rent Statement by the way - that should have been your own action anyway ( to both T and HB office) as soon as you were aware that payment was not forthcoming.

As a back up, I would also send a S21 notice timed to be actioned after expiry of the Fixed Term ( because a S8 can be defeated if a T can pay down all/some of the unpaid rent prior to the actual court hearing ).

Note, however, that if your T paid you a tenancy deposit and you have not scheme registered it and served the T with the scheme's prescribed information then any S21 would be invalidated.

If you take on a new T who relies on LHA to pay the majority of the rent then in future make sure that you get a referenced guarantor as a back up.

Do take note of G_M's comment about the provision of an address in Eng/Wales for the "service of Notices" - this can be a relative/friend/accountant/solicitor - because under S48 of the LL&T Act 1987 unless you have done so, the rent will not be viewed as being due from the T