Months rent in advance means?

BigAunty

Charityworker wrote: »

It's a month in advance on the 1st. So am I thinking right that it needs to be in credit by 1 month on the 1st of each month?

Yes - the full months rent credited to the landlord's account at the start of the month. Boo2410 can tell you if the HAs have a tolerance for clearing time.

EDIT - check if your bank and the landlord's bank belong to the Faster Payments system. This has been implemented to reduce the clearing time of payments which used to be 3 or 4 working days.

For example, a tenant who has been offered a new tenancy that commences on the 1st of the month has absolutely no hope of receiving a key from a landlord or a signed tenancy agreement until their first month's rent has been paid and cleared. It's not the case that they move in and then on the 31st pay retrospectively for their stay.

Charityworker

Thanks. People keep talking about arrears. The issue here isn't about arrears. I'm not in arrears now. I'm actually in the plus and as of 25th march I will be in the plus by over £400. That's why I can't understand her nasty tone and court threats when I'm actually in the plus!

But thanks for all your advice. I shall make sure my rent account is always in advance by a month on the 1st of each month.

BigAunty

Charityworker wrote: »

Thanks. People keep talking about arrears. The issue here isn't about arrears. I'm not in arrears now. I'm actually in the plus and as of 25th march I will be in the plus by over £400. That's why I can't understand her nasty tone and court threats when I'm actually in the plus!

...

Sorry, I assumed that she took umbrage at the point when you notified her originally while you were in arrears and were proposing to pay your rent on a weekly basis, not understanding the monthly in advance/4 weekly in arrears distinction, rather than when you were out of arrears and in credit.

As for discussing court action when you are back in the black, I guess she wants to impart in you how serious they consider arrears to be and what their legal options are if you end up in arrears again, I don't know, I'm just musing. Failing that, she's just a cow.

Charityworker

Sorry am I also right in thinking that they can only start talking about eviction etc if your in arrears? Not just for having less than 1 months rent in credit? Sorry for all the questions. Like I said, before we were on 80% HB and I would just pay the shortfall of £20 every week by DD. my account with them then was always at a balance of equilibrium (for want of a better word). Not in the plus or minus. It's been that way for 4 years! Suddenly we stop getting HB and they start asking for a month in advance.

anamenottaken

Charityworker wrote: »

Unfortunately we don't qualify for the 4 week run on as my husband wasn't signing on. I work so he didn't sign on

If your husband was out of work, what does your working have to do with his not signing on?

cr1mson

Charityworker wrote: »

Sorry am I also right in thinking that they can only start talking about eviction etc if your in arrears? Not just for having less than 1 months rent in credit? Sorry for all the questions. Like I said, before we were on 80% HB and I would just pay the shortfall of £20 every week by DD. my account with them then was always at a balance of equilibrium (for want of a better word). Not in the plus or minus. It's been that way for 4 years! Suddenly we stop getting HB and they start asking for a month in advance.

You are not in credit as the rent is due on 1st of month for following month.

silvercar

To serve you an eviction notice, for rent arrears, you would have to owe 8 weeks rent. At the time of the court hearing you would also need to owe 8 weeks rent for the landlord to stand a chance of evicting you.

Note that I said "owe 8 weeks rent" not rent arrears. If you didn't pay any of your rent in advance in one month, then of the 1st of the next month you would owe all of the previous month's rent and the rent in advance due on that date, so would owe at least 8 weeks rent. Assuming of course you paid nothing during the month.

mrschaucer

I got a bit lost in the arrears and catch-up payments there, so I would suggest that when your husband gets paid you contact the nasty woman and get her to confirm exactly where you are re rent payments. If you can, try to pay off any outstanding rent due for March if there is any, and then set up a DD or standing order for the full amount of rent to hit their account on the 1st of each month. You might have to do April manually as it takes a bit of time to set up. Am I right in thinking that the full amount would be £433.16 per month? (£99.96 x 52 weeks divided by 12 months.)

BigAunty

Charityworker wrote: »

.. I'm not in arrears now. I'm actually in the plus and as of 25th march I will be in the plus by over £400. That's why I can't understand her nasty tone and court threats when I'm actually in the plus!

Okay, and perhaps it doesn't help that I don't have your rent statements in front of me and I don't know if you are building up any arrears in the meantime again until the 1st... Apologies in advance if I confuse you but...

Do you know you won't actually be in the plus for very long if you make this payment on 25th March (especially if there are a few working days for the payment to clear) because £433.16 (99.96 x 52 weeks/12 months) is actually due on the 1st April.

You are apparently now around £80 in credit, so paying £400 then, will mean a small credit of around £46, not £410 in credit like you've mentioned before.

BigAunty

silvercar wrote: »

To serve you an eviction notice, for rent arrears, you would have to owe 8 weeks rent. At the time of the court hearing you would also need to owe 8 weeks rent for the landlord to stand a chance of evicting you.

....

In social housing? Apologies for any potential confusion but I thought that is grounds for private tenancy eviction? Does it apply to the other sector, too?