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Former housemate has retrospectively created a council tax account in my name!
one_bullet_left
Posts: 16 Forumite
Hi everyone,
Not sure if this is the correct subforum for this, but as the title says, my former housemate has created a council tax account in my name without my permission or knowledge. I only found out because I just got a letter out of the blue from the council, who have used a credit check to find my current address. He also has his name on the council tax account, so I'm assuming he's trying to get a 50/50 split to avoid paying so much.
Basically I was in a house share for 4 months with 2 other people. A guy, a girl and myself. The guy was (I'm pretty sure) the lead tenant, paid all of the rent-money in to the estate agent, and paid all the deposit (although for some reason he didn't put it all in his name, and included my name on the deposit). Let's call him John, and the girl Jane. Jane and myself were subletters but with our names on the contract - in other words, we were giving him the amount of money he told us to give, and he was paying the entire amount into the estate agent's office each month.
Jane lost her job about 2 months into the tenancy, so she had to leave. She was replaced by a guy (lets call him Jim) who was friends with John. So now we've got John, Jim and myself for the remaining 2 months. Jim was paying cash in hand aswell, and the tenancy agreement was "amended" to have Jane's name replaced with Jim's.
At the end of those 2 months, John lost his job aswell, and said he had to leave. This prompted Jim to declare his intention of leaving. This would have left me with an £800 pcm flat on a £750 pcm salary, leaving me with no choice but to leave immediately.
The last contact I had with John, was him asking me to write a letter to the estate agent confirming that I agree to the deposit being released entirely to him, as some of it was in my name. I never wrote this letter, as we parted on bad terms. So I assume he has forged my signature on this - yet more fraud.
Anyone have any idea what my options/rights are at this point? I spoke to the council over the phone but they've asked me to put everything in writing and mail it to them. I'm hesitant to do so in case this goes to court, as things I say in that letter might be used as evidence against me.
Not sure if this is the correct subforum for this, but as the title says, my former housemate has created a council tax account in my name without my permission or knowledge. I only found out because I just got a letter out of the blue from the council, who have used a credit check to find my current address. He also has his name on the council tax account, so I'm assuming he's trying to get a 50/50 split to avoid paying so much.
Basically I was in a house share for 4 months with 2 other people. A guy, a girl and myself. The guy was (I'm pretty sure) the lead tenant, paid all of the rent-money in to the estate agent, and paid all the deposit (although for some reason he didn't put it all in his name, and included my name on the deposit). Let's call him John, and the girl Jane. Jane and myself were subletters but with our names on the contract - in other words, we were giving him the amount of money he told us to give, and he was paying the entire amount into the estate agent's office each month.
Jane lost her job about 2 months into the tenancy, so she had to leave. She was replaced by a guy (lets call him Jim) who was friends with John. So now we've got John, Jim and myself for the remaining 2 months. Jim was paying cash in hand aswell, and the tenancy agreement was "amended" to have Jane's name replaced with Jim's.
At the end of those 2 months, John lost his job aswell, and said he had to leave. This prompted Jim to declare his intention of leaving. This would have left me with an £800 pcm flat on a £750 pcm salary, leaving me with no choice but to leave immediately.
The last contact I had with John, was him asking me to write a letter to the estate agent confirming that I agree to the deposit being released entirely to him, as some of it was in my name. I never wrote this letter, as we parted on bad terms. So I assume he has forged my signature on this - yet more fraud.
Anyone have any idea what my options/rights are at this point? I spoke to the council over the phone but they've asked me to put everything in writing and mail it to them. I'm hesitant to do so in case this goes to court, as things I say in that letter might be used as evidence against me.
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Comments
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I fail to see how putting it in writing would incriminate you, it's your former flatmate that seems to have committed fraud and I'd give the council full cooperation in the matter. Probably would help if you have some kind of paperwork you can produce to back up that you left the property before the account was set up in your name.
I'm assuming you have no paperwork for the rent payments you made to this former flatmate, if you had that, you could also prove that you fulfilled your obligations for the duration of your tenancy as far as the law is concerned.
Probably not a bad idea to give the CAB a call and see where you stand according to them...0 -
No comeback on John over council tax - it is a joint and several liability.
Your only comeback is over the deposit, for which you could consider making a complaint to police for fraud and attempting to recover the losses from the Landlord. Was the deposit in a scheme?You might as well ask the Wizard of Oz to give you a big number as pay a Credit Referencing Agency for a so-called 'credit-score'0 -
You are working because you stated you have a salary of £750 a month.
You lived in a property so like everyone else you should pay council tax end of.
Pay what you owe as the council tax people can and WILL take you to court and you will end up with a CCJ0 -
He is not saying he didn't pay council tax, he is saying he paid his share to John and John took care of everything. Though not fully clear, it sounds like John set up the joint council tax account after he moved out, at which point I wouldn't think he'd be liable for it anymore.
As long as we don't know what was agreed as far as payments are concerned, we can't really assume...0 -
"I spoke to the council over the phone but they've asked me to put everything in writing and mail it to them. I'm hesitant to do so in case this goes to court, as things I say in that letter might be used as evidence against me."
If you only write what happened in the letter how can it be used against you? Write the letter to them or you won't get anywhere.
Did John pay all the bills including the rent or was LL responible for some?People don't know what they want until you show them.0 -
If John did not pay the council tax, OP is still liable to the council for the whole amount for the time he lived there. John is also liable for the full amount for the period he lived there. Joint and several liability means that the argument as to whose share is how much is completely wasted on the council, they will collect the lot from whoever it is easier to collect fromHe is not saying he didn't pay council tax, he is saying he paid his share to John and John took care of everything. Though not fully clear, it sounds like John set up the joint council tax account after he moved out, at which point I wouldn't think he'd be liable for it anymore.
As long as we don't know what was agreed as far as payments are concerned, we can't really assume...You might as well ask the Wizard of Oz to give you a big number as pay a Credit Referencing Agency for a so-called 'credit-score'0 -
When council tax goes to court, it goes to the magistrates court and ends with a liability order and not a CCJ. No implications for credit files.Pay what you owe as the council tax people can and WILL take you to court and you will end up with a CCJYou might as well ask the Wizard of Oz to give you a big number as pay a Credit Referencing Agency for a so-called 'credit-score'0 -
Just to clarify:
- Is the disputed council tax for the period that you were in the property?
- If so, have you paid your share of the tax (which I would expect to be 1/3 of the tax due unless otherwise agreed)?Note: Unless otherwise stated, my property related posts refer to England & Wales. Please make sure you state if you are discussing Scotland or elsewhere as laws differ.0 -
one_bullet_left wrote: »
At the end of those 2 months, John lost his job aswell, and said he had to leave. This prompted Jim to declare his intention of leaving. This would have left me with an £800 pcm flat on a £750 pcm salary, leaving me with no choice but to leave immediately.
I assume that you agreed this with the landlord as your liability for council tax (and possibly rent) could well continue."If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools"
Extract from "If" by Rudyard Kipling0 -
You lived in a property so like everyone else you should pay council tax end of.
I paid my share to John, he was left in charge of the bills. The money I paid him was my share of all expenses, so rent, bills, council tax, etc.Your only comeback is over the deposit, for which you could consider making a complaint to police for fraud and attempting to recover the losses from the Landlord. Was the deposit in a scheme?
I am considering this - the deposit was in a scheme yes. I have left a voicemail with the estate agent requesting any details they have about this tenancy on file. I want to find out specifically if they received a letter from John with my supposed "signature" on it stating that I was willing for my share of the deposit to be released to him. If they have, then I can potentially (with legal guidance) pursue this and recover £400, as well as hopefully secure a fraud charge against him.As long as we don't know what was agreed as far as payments are concerned, we can't really assume...
I agreed verbally with John to pay him my share in cash each month - I badgered him about setting up payments for bills, council tax, etc. but he didn't seem to care - his words; "I'll just leave it for the next tenant to deal with". The way I looked at it was, it was his problem. Possibly a bit naive in hindsight. We'd agreed a price on the "room" so I paid him that, and told him it was for everything, rent and bills. I also told him to amend that price if he ever felt it wouldn't fully cover all the rent and bills, but during the time I was a tenant he never took me up on the offer.Kayalana99 wrote: »Did John pay all the bills including the rent or was LL responible for some?
I don't honestly know who was responsible for what. There was some ongoing question about whether the rent included water rates or not. John paid all the rent - I gave him money for rent AND bills, as did Jane and Jim. What he spent it on afterwards was effectively up to him. I suppose really there should've been a written agreement between all parties.If John did not pay the council tax, OP is still liable to the council for the whole amount for the time he lived there. John is also liable for the full amount for the period he lived there. Joint and several liability means that the argument as to whose share is how much is completely wasted on the council, they will collect the lot from whoever it is easier to collect from
Well effectively, John is easier to collect from, since he was the one who set up the account. The only reason they're pursuing me too is because he set up a joint account with my name included. I would imagine that if I turned round and said "nope, nothing to do with it, sorry" they'd just look straight back at John, since so far he's the only one who has actually admitted to living there?
I don't actually mind paying my 1/3rd share, I can pay that off quite easily in installments. I just object to it because I gave him cash to cover all the bills, and left him in charge of it and he basically screwed me over.
I'm slightly curious to know what would happen if I denied even living there - does a signature on a tenancy agreement alone provide enough proof of liability for council tax?Just to clarify:
- Is the disputed council tax for the period that you were in the property?
- If so, have you paid your share of the tax (which I would expect to be 1/3 of the tax due unless otherwise agreed)?
1. yes.
2. yes - but not directly to the taxman, I paid it in cash, to John, who was supposed to be dealing with this as he was the lead tenant.0
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