Property unoccupied between tenants and council sent court summons for payment??

catterlen

I currently rent my property out through a letting agent as I live a few hundred miles away from the area. All documents should be correct and the letting agent take care of the tenancy agreements, including a clause which states that the tenants must be bring mail that comes for me to the letting agents within a certain time frame.
The property was unoccupied for one month whilst changing tenants last year, and the council was contacted (as 6 months unoccupied is allowable for council tax relief). However, the letting agent contacted me today and the tenant brought in a letter dated 5th April this year, asking for the one months worth council tax, and giving a court date and summons which was in MAY 2013 for payment. I am really worried about this and can't do anything till tomorrow as the offices are shut, but I had all tenancy agreements t prove various things, and I hadn't been contacted by the council at my now home address (which I had to notify them of and they have contacted me at since 2006). They sent the notification ONLY to the rented property in my name, and the tenants didn't bring this in from May until now...
Basically, I don't now what I should do and am I at risk of anything like more legal proceedings? I thought I had everything in order with this property with council tax, letting/mortgage/insurance/tenancy etc, but obviously not...
Eeeek...Help!!

BitterAndTwisted

If the summons to court was back in May you have probably already acquired a CCJ

ValHaller

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

If the summons to court was back in May you have probably already acquired a CCJ

No, you don't get CCJ's for council tax.

Mr_Pitiful

catterlen wrote: »

All documents should be correct and the letting agent take care of the tenancy agreements, including a clause which states that the tenants must be bring mail that comes for me to the letting agents within a certain time frame.

That is an unenforceable term. It is not the responsibility of a tenant to do anything with your mail, regardless of there being a term in the tenancy agreement.

Werdnal

Why are you getting mail in your name at your tenant's address?

The letting agent should have advised the council of the empty status of the property. There is no longer a 6 month council tax relief for voids, some councils offer a month, some offer nothing, so bear this in mind for future voids.

Agent should notify council if you are too far away to deal with it yourself, and ask for any bill to be put in their name during the void and pay it on your behalf/bill you accordingly. My last agent did this with all utilities and CT, and it works well. It also focusses the agent's mind to make sure the meter readings etc are taken promptly when new tenants move in, as otherwise they get the tenant's bill! If they do not want to do this, they shold put it all in your name/address and change back once new tenant is in.

If I were your tenant, I'd be putting your mail back in the postbox marked "gone away, return to sender" or dropping it in the nearest bin. Your mail is your responsibility, so don't try to blame your tenant for this !!!!-up!

G_M

catterlen wrote: »

..... tenancy agreements, including a clause which states that the tenants must be bring mail that comes for me to the letting agents within a certain time frame.

:rotfl:
Totally unenforcible. YOU are responsible for YOUR mail. Your tenants are not post boys! Growup!

The property was unoccupied for one month whilst changing tenants last year, and the council was contacted (as 6 months unoccupied is allowable for council tax relief).
contacted how? By who? Saying what? With what response?
However, the letting agent contacted me today and the tenant brought in a letter dated 5th April this year
I hope the tenant was thanked profusely...
, asking for the one months worth council tax, and giving a court date and summons which was in MAY 2013 for payment.
Now you know why YOU should be responsible for your own post!
I am really worried about this and can't do anything till tomorrow as the offices are shut, but I had all tenancy agreements t prove various things, and I hadn't been contacted by the council at my now home address (which I had to notify them of and they have contacted me at since 2006).
Why didyou not contact the council when you knew the property was empty between tenants?
They sent the notification ONLY to the rented property in my name, and the tenants didn't bring this in from May until now...
Basically, I don't now what I should do and am I at risk of anything like more legal proceedings? I thought I had everything in order with this property with council tax, letting/mortgage/insurance/tenancy etc, but obviously not...
Eeeek...Help!!

Stop pulling out your hair and calm down!

Ring the council tomorrow and findout what is happening
* what CT doyou owe?
* what court fees/fines(if any) do you owe?
* clarify your current address

Then follow up with a LETTER to them confirming whatever has been discussed and enclosing a cheque.

Job done.

(Apart from sacking your agent for clearly using a rubbish tenancy agreement)

CIS

In 90% of similar cases I deal with its the managing agents who are the cause of the problems as they 'definitely contacted the council on numerous occasions' which wears thin when its the same excuse used on multiple properties.

as 6 months unoccupied is allowable for council tax relie

Is the property unfurnished ?

They sent the notification ONLY to the rented property in my name, and the tenants didn't bring this in from May until now...

Yourself or the agent should have advised the council of a contact address otherwise the council are billing to the last known address for you.

catterlen

CIS wrote: »

In 90% of similar cases I deal with its the managing agents who are the cause of the problems as they 'definitely contacted the council on numerous occasions' which wears thin when its the same excuse used on multiple properties.



Is the property unfurnished ?
Yep it is, and council accordingly advised (by myself)


Yourself or the agent should have advised the council of a contact address otherwise the council are billing to the last known address for you.

The council have my address where I live now, as testified to by the fact that they sent me a record noting the property was unfurnished/unoccupied, so I am not sure how this confusion really happened, but I will get in touch with the letting agent.

catterlen

G_M wrote: »

Stop pulling out your hair and calm down!

Ring the council tomorrow and findout what is happening
* what CT doyou owe?
* what court fees/fines(if any) do you owe?
* clarify your current address

Then follow up with a LETTER to them confirming whatever has been discussed and enclosing a cheque.

Job done.

(Apart from sacking your agent for clearly using a rubbish tenancy agreement)

Ok, thank you everyone for some helpful (and some fairly brusque!) responses to my query- please bear in mind I simply wanted to know what my situation was as I couldn't work it all out accurately from various websites, and was seeking advice, not to blame my tenants... as I said, I didn't know what I should actually do and if I should worry as a county court summons seems like a scary thing when you have never had one before...
I have been attempting to get in touch with the council for the past two days who, it seems, have sent out a glut of summons' so are now in constant phone calls with people, so I can't get through..oh well!
I am sure this will get sorted, thanks everyone for your input.