Lost my bottle!

MissMuppet

I have just moved house to a cheaper area as I was made redundant, I used the money I got to put a deposit down on a lovely new flat. I have applied for Jobseekers and housing/council tax benefit while I look for a new job.
My problem is I intended to go bankrupt this month once I'd moved but when I signed the tenancy there was a clause on there that said:
Forfeiture clause
A court may order you to leave the property before the end of the agreement if any of the following happens.
1-4. N/A
5. You become bankrupt, your belongings are seized by bailiffs, or you enter a voluntary arrangement with the people you owe money.
If any of these things happen, we have the right to enter the property after bailiffs evict you following a court order. We will start this process by sending you a notice in line with Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988.
Now what? I am scared that if I go bankrupt I will be chucked out of my flat. But it's a catch 22 as I can't afford to pay my debts so I'm having to write to them all and offering them £2 a month as I'm unemployed. If I get chucked out I will be homeless too.
Would love some advice? :eek:

Richard_S

MissMuppet wrote: »

I have just moved house to a cheaper area as I was made redundant, I used the money I got to put a deposit down on a lovely new flat. I have applied for Jobseekers and housing/council tax benefit while I look for a new job.
My problem is I intended to go bankrupt this month once I'd moved but when I signed the tenancy there was a clause on there that said:
Forfeiture clause
A court may order you to leave the property before the end of the agreement if any of the following happens.
1-4. N/A
5. You become bankrupt, your belongings are seized by bailiffs, or you enter a voluntary arrangement with the people you owe money.
If any of these things happen, we have the right to enter the property after bailiffs evict you following a court order. We will start this process by sending you a notice in line with Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988.
Now what? I am scared that if I go bankrupt I will be chucked out of my flat. But it's a catch 22 as I can't afford to pay my debts so I'm having to write to them all and offering them £2 a month as I'm unemployed. If I get chucked out I will be homeless too.
Would love some advice? :eek:

Hi Miss Muppet,

You are a muppet . It says "may order you to leave the property". It's a phrase commonly used that means they've got a number of justifications for ending the agreement if you prove to be a bad tennant; wild parties, not paying the rent etc etc.

I'll be interested to see what the other guys and gals think but I'm fairly certain a poster on here had the same clause in their agreement and there were no problems.

Regards

Richard

Broken_hearted

Its possible but not likely if they are getting paid. You need to decide whether the DMP or bankruptsy are best for you.

earwig

hi we live in a privately rented housing and our tenancy said the same as your i phoned up my landlord and told him what was happening and he was fine with it so long as the rent gets paid they are not that botherd really and if the worst did happen the councill would have to house you under the homeless act so dont let this stop you doing what you need to if you are worried phone your local housing office for futher adivce

itsarichmansworld

I think a visit to the Citizens advice might be in order.

Ive read some landlords are ok with this as long as there rent is paid they'll be happy.

((((hugs))))

Broken_hearted

The council don't have that many houses available and the waiting lists are very long so I'd be careful using them as a backup.

fermi

I think Richard is almost certainly correct. It says "may" not "will".

The same sort of wording is used in many types of agreements, and official correspondence.

For example: I've just pulled out of my files an old letter from Crapquest Debt Recovery Limited. It says:

"Take Notice unless you make payment of this debt within 7 days a County Court Claim may be issued against you."

The bold words were the ones they put in bold to emphasise them, whereas the really important word in the sentence was "may".
This proved to be a completely empty threat, which thankfully I was aware of.

Note: This letter came on red coloured paper for dramatic effect.
I picked up a sheet of red paper from a stationers, and wrote back on it telling them to "get stuffed, and 'look' I can write a letter on red paper too, aren't I scary" (exact words).:o

EDIT: Plus I second the good advice given while I was writing this.

earwig

Broken_hearted wrote: »

The council don't have that many houses available and the waiting lists are very long so I'd be careful using them as a backup.

that is true however as a homless person under the act they will have to re house the op by law and they will be at the top of the lists as they are homless as i say speak to the housing office they willl help

Broken_hearted

I've still got Crapquest as a creditor they don't get any better as time goes on.

Broken_hearted

earwig wrote: »

that is true however as a homless person under the act they will have to re house the op by law and they will be at the top of the lists as they are homless as i say speak to the housing office they willl help

As I've said before when we were on the verge of bankruptsy I went to the council and got nowhere. I was put on the list and years later I'm still on that list. I have small children and they couldn't care less.

fermi

Broken_hearted wrote: »

I've still got Crapquest as a creditor they don't get any better as time goes on.

Luckily they were only acting 'on behalf' of mine. I very quickly got them to take Crapquest off the case, as they had been advised in error. Got a letter of apology from the original creditor too. Never heard from Crapquest though.:rotfl:

Sorry to go off topic MissMuppet.:o