Landlord accused me of fraud in email and obtained private information from council?

dacouch

stevemLS wrote: »

Ultimate triumph of hope over experience, if you ask me!

Of course it's not defamatory (defamation covers both libel and slander, the former being written, the latter being oral).

Having said that, if you have a spare £100k I am sure you will find lawyers who will take it from you in order to lose a case.

(I am a lawyer!)

Just pay your rent using the taxpayers money given to you for that purpose?

From my limited knowledge of libel, the OP would have little chance of succeeding even if they had £100k for legal fees for the simple reason that I presume the email was sent directly to the just the OP. So only the OP could have read the "libel", my understanding is it would need to be published or otherwise able for other people to view it

debrag

pudzy wrote: »

Hi folks, I work in Housing Benefit and can confirm that even if you asked the LA not to contact your landlord, once you reach 8 weeks arrears with your rent, they can and will make contact with them to arrange payment direct. The primary purpose of this is to avoid situations like the one the OP finds themselves in with arrears and to avoid unecessary evictions.

At what point does the LA (local authority) know the tenant is 8 weeks in arrears if the LL doesn't know about the HB, once the LL applies to the court under s8?
I know that if a LL knows the tenant is getting HB but isn't paying, at 8 weeks they can apply for the payment direct.

SnooksNJ

Genieee wrote: »

Yes but they cannot feedback to the landlord that I am receiving it in any circumstance without my permission?

I read that as it is my legal income (in UK housing benefit is claimed to be legally part of my income), it is not fraudulent for my spending it on other things.

Therefore in the email where she clearly says "I am aware you are fraudulently claiming housing benefits" is to my feeling defamation, upsetting, unsettling, belittling and embarrassing.

Any more information is available. I'm quite upset about this and it's making me feel awful.

The reason I didn't pay my rent is because I haven't been able to. I lost my job and only got a new one today, and is why today I have decided to follow up this areers as I will be in a position to try get back on track.

EDIT/Update: They have also now stated that they haven't put my deposit in a tenancy deposit scheme. Is this legal?

So if I present a lease in order to obtain HB but decide to buy a purse with 2 months of HB instead of paying the LL that's perfectly within the rules? Can you do that for 4 months because I'm looking at a new Chanel bag?

SnooksNJ

dacouch wrote: »

From my limited knowledge of libel, the OP would have little chance of succeeding even if they had £100k for legal fees for the simple reason that I presume the email was sent directly to the just the OP. So only the OP could have read the "libel", my understanding is it would need to be published or otherwise able for other people to view it

I thought you could only sue for libel if it wasn't true. Which is why Britney Spears couldn't sue Fred Durst.

dave030445

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

No fraud - you can spend your Housing Benefit on what you want. The contract is between Landlord and Tenant not Landlord and Council. You can pay your rent from your wages, savings or other benefits.

Or Not at all in the OP case

lighting_up_the_chalice

SnooksNJ wrote: »

So if I present a lease in order to obtain HB but decide to buy a purse with 2 months of HB instead of paying the LL that's perfectly within the rules? Can you do that for 4 months because I'm looking at a new Chanel bag?

Absolutely. It's your money to do with as you see fit. You are, as an adult, responsible for the consequences of your actions, of course.

To look at it another way, for many who rent, their ultimate recourse when, for instance, the landlord isn't fulfilling their obligations (ie not doing essential repairs, not getting a gas safety cert etc) is to with-hold rent. Why should that option be denied to a good tenant who happens to rely on HB? Wouldn't that leave the poorest even more exposed to exploitation?

lighting_up_the_chalice

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

Maybe, if you are not paying your rent, then the Council would be entitled to stop your Housing Benefit. After all, you are making a claim for something you are not paying, which in my mind is fraudulent.

What if the tenant isn't paying the rent because the landlord refuses to do repairs?

dacouch

SnooksNJ wrote: »

I thought you could only sue for libel if it wasn't true. Which is why Britney Spears couldn't sue Fred Durst.

That as well lol

RichardD1970

lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »

Absolutely. It's your money to do with as you see fit. You are, as an adult, responsible for the consequences of your actions, of course.

To look at it another way, for many who rent, their ultimate recourse when, for instance, the landlord isn't fulfilling their obligations (ie not doing essential repairs, not getting a gas safety cert etc) is to with-hold rent. Why should that option be denied to a good tenant who happens to rely on HB? Wouldn't that leave the poorest even more exposed to exploitation?

I thought that withholding rent was never advised?

Never rented myself, just going on what I've read on here in the past.

SnooksNJ

lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »

Absolutely. It's your money to do with as you see fit. You are, as an adult, responsible for the consequences of your actions, of course.

To look at it another way, for many who rent, their ultimate recourse when, for instance, the landlord isn't fulfilling their obligations (ie not doing essential repairs, not getting a gas safety cert etc) is to with-hold rent. Why should that option be denied to a good tenant who happens to rely on HB? Wouldn't that leave the poorest even more exposed to exploitation?

So is it OK for a landlord to be exposed because he relies on rent money to pay his mortgage.
Anyway repairs isn't the issue here. I'm just surprised that HB is considered income that can be spent anyway the recipient wants.