Recovering lost rent from housing benefit tenant.... any hope?

sarah3891

jjlandlord wrote: »

Ah, I see.

Well, no there is no longer any requirement that the notice expire on the last day of a period: It can just give two months of notice.

It does not make the notice you (or you agent) served invalid, but you could have saved 2 weeks.

https://lettingmate.uk/book/1-possession-via-section-21-notice

in that case... b*gger

thesaint

Get the tenant to release the deposit now, and use that for arrears.

micky2phones

sarah3891 wrote: »

Hi,

I wasn't sure where to post this so apologies if in the wrong section.

First, before anyone feels the need to highlight my naivety, stupidity, and all together not-very-good-at-this-ness, please don't, there's really no need. I am well aware of my idiocy at this point.... :mad::eek::T

I have one very small BTL property (by way of becoming an accidental landlord, I never had any intention of being one; lost my job, had to move away for work, couldn't sell my property for toffee it seemed so opted to rent it out to offset the mortgage payments) which for the past two years has been rented to tenants in receipt of housing benefit. This will be a common story that follows I suspect....

In recent months, shortfalls have started happening month on month. I had many sob stories, and although I do think there is a lot of truth in the situation, in all honesty, I was probably naive and suckered but I tried to be supportive and offer time and grace to allow them to catch up. I understand now that as payments have been late/short for some time, I could have acted on this sooner. I was however, trying to be nice and help my tenants out by being supportive during a difficult time for them (they had some quite upsetting troubles for a while but hopefully all sorted now). They have been very nice people, and kept the property beautifully. However, they have not caught up on rent and things have suddenly gone from bad to worse...... I was advised by my letting agent I was not able to request direct payment from the council itself for the rent until the tenant had fallen 8 weeks into arrears (please note they were appointed as the letting agent, not a managing one; I am regretting that now....). This has now happened and they are almost £1500 in the red. The tenants have actually come to me and asked for eviction as they have stated to me they cannot afford the rent any longer and the property is no longer suitable, but they have asked for eviction so they can be rehoused.

I discussed with the agent and asked them to take this over, and the tenants have been served a section 21 for eviction (2 months notice and I will be trying to sell again once tenant is gone as sick to the back teeth of it all - I have no idea how anyone can want to be a landlord!) by the agent and upon their direction I have contacted the council about receiving payment moving forwards for the remainder of the tenancy, but does anyone know if there is a process in place to recover lost rent?

I have insurance and a DPS protected deposit but I am doubtful of what my options are from here, if any?

Does anyone have experience of this situation and is there any hope of recovering lost rent?

Thanks x

Hi, its hard for a lot of people at the moment with rent and i do feel for you as a landlord

My landlord has helped a lot i.e its due on the 1st but i have paid as late as the 12th.

I keep him informed if my benefits stop or change.

Out of my benefits i have to find nearly 12 pounds per week, since this April i now have to find nearly 11 pounds per week.

I have a one bedroom flat.

I know this does not help much, just wanted to heard from a tenant. I do help you get everything sorted.

sarah3891

micky2phones wrote: »

Hi, its hard for a lot of people at the moment with rent and i do feel for you as a landlord

My landlord has helped a lot i.e its due on the 1st but i have paid as late as the 12th.

I keep him informed if my benefits stop or change.

Out of my benefits i have to find nearly 12 pounds per week, since this April i now have to find nearly 11 pounds per week.

I have a one bedroom flat.

I know this does not help much, just wanted to heard from a tenant. I do help you get everything sorted.

Thanks Micky, I do appreciate your comments, and I think my tenants are in a similar position; I genuinely do think they have had some real troubles and things just haven't worked out. It's tough isn't it? Good luck to you xx

When_the_going_gets_tough

You might like to suggest your tenants go and get some free debt advice from CAB or other advice agency. They may well not understand about priority debts - ie rent etc should come first. As others have said you would have a right to pursue your tenants through the courts for any shortfall and a good adviser will explain this to them. it might help both of you. Good luck - its hard for both parties in these circumstances.

audigex

Although they have trouble, a significant proportion of their income is given to them specifically for the purposes of paying their rent. As a minimum, that money should go directly to you.

I've never understood why housing benefits aren't paid straight to the landlord, with any extra being from the tenant: this makes it far more likely that the deposit will cover any shortfall, and the landlord is far more inclined to let the tenant off with £50 a month than the whole rent.

Mickyfinn

I was advised by my letting agent I was not able to request direct payment from the council itself for the rent until the tenant had fallen 8 weeks into arrears (please note they were appointed as the letting agent, not a managing one; I am regretting that now....). This has now happened and they are almost £1500 in the red. The tenants have actually come to me and asked for eviction as they have stated to me they cannot afford the rent any longer and the property is no longer suitable, but they have asked for eviction so they can be rehoused.

You need to ring the council and tell them about the arrears and ask for direct payment. If the agreement is monthly then the letting agent is incorrect about 8 weeks into arrears it's day 2 of month 2 that they are technically 2 months in arrears. (Quote the case Doncaster vs CCC)

The council may refuse to speak to you because of Data Protection if they do this ask them to use the DWP implicit consent wheel.

If the tenants are asking for an eviction notice then they have probably been advised to ask for this. Print out the shelter pages on intentional homelessness and point out to them that as they are not handing over rent and asking to be evicted then they could be seen by the council to be making themselves intentionally homeless (meaning the council do not have to rehouse them or pay housing benefit.)

You can get the rent paid directly until they are evicted. If you have rent guarantee insurance this may help. You could take them to court for the arrears if they are worth persuing (have assets) . If you took a guarantor you could get them to pay. Good luck. Experience is what you get when things don't go your way.

dancingfairy

To be fair it doesn't sound like you've done anything wrong. Sure you could have perhaps acted a bit quicker, but hindsight is great isn't it.
It sounds like you have it all under control, have got the right notice in and are now playing a waiting game.
Fingers crossed for you.
df

silvercar

I suggest:

A. Getting the tenant to agree to release the deposit to cover rent arrears, but only after
B. Getting the council to pay you the HB direct.

I had a similar situation and ended up keeping the tenant and council paying me direct. Downside is I know the tenant will not be in a position to afford any top up and the rent should by now be significantly higher than the maximum HB entitlement.

patman99

Don't let this put you off renting. Indeed, if you decide to rent it out again and decide to opt for a benefits claimant, set the rent to the highest that the local authority allows.

This will be higher than private rent and has the advantage that if the tenant cannot meet the top-ups, then that is not an issue as you will be getting a higher rent than you would to a private tenant anyway.

In fact, there are Lettings Agencies who specialise in doing this as they can get away with charging £700 per month for a property that in the private market would only get £550 per month for.