Taken to Court for “unauthorized occupation”… but I don’t even live there ?! Help !

karakus

[FONT=&quot]Hello, I need some urgent help[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I live in a hostel in London and I am friends with a single mother (let’s call her Linda) who rents a Council property, I’ve used her house as postal address for the bank as it’s not safe to have correspondence sent to the hostel. Linda has been travelling back and forth to Nigeria since 2013 to set up a charity and has asked me to look after the flat, as a consequence I had to call the council quite a few times for boiler repairs and toilet leaks (flat is quite old) and had to be at the property to let the engineers in[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Last week I go and collect the post… and there’s a notice of Hearing at the County Court as apparently I’ve been living there unauthorised !!
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]They did send us letters last December saying I am an unauthorised occupant and giving me a card with which to pay, but I always forwarded the post to Linda’s stepfather who contacted them and explained she was still living there but on holiday/abroad for a while. The stepfather was paying the Council rent[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Court docs show a few things suggested she isn’t living there anymore. Including me calling the Council for repais[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There was also a copy of an email Linda sent to her daughter’s school saying she was going to “migrate to Nigeria” (her words).
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There’s Equifax reports saying that I live there, but I also used that place as postal address for my bank account and Barclaycard credit card (as obviously a hostel as postal address for sensitive data isn’t great)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Now Council is claiming repossession and asking me to pay £ 2400 of rent, even though they received the rent from Linda’s stepfather all this time ![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]£ 2400 for a place I don’t even live in !![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]What shall I do ? Of course I don’t have a contract with the hostel, but I do have weekly hand written receipts which I usually throw away when I get the new ones[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Please help !![/FONT]

karakus

I’ll to Citizen Advice on Thursday, the landlady doesn’t know yet, both her mother and the stepfather are travelling abroad, they’;re aware of it though and they said they’ll come back soon and solve it

maninthestreet

Is this a magistrates court, or county court?

Tixy

As a starting point I would

Find as many of the hostel receipts as you can.
Ask the hostel if they can provide some paperwork/evidence of the fact that you have been living there and for how long.

Do you have any post going to the hostel address that you could produce in court? non financial stuff etc?

Did you using the postal address coincide with the date that Linda took her child out of school? or have you been using the address a lot longer than that?

Tixy

karakus wrote: »

I’ll to Citizen Advice on Thursday, the landlady doesn’t know yet, both her mother and the stepfather are travelling abroad, they’;re aware of it though and they said they’ll come back soon and solve it

Which landlady? Do you mean 'Linda'?
Who is she the landlady of?

theartfullodger

Your story sounds very flaky but.... Assuming your story is correct, simply ask the hostel for confirmation (in writing/letter) you have been living there and showing rent regularly paid on time, same amount, each week/month.

Paid in cash? If you can show your withdrawing the same amount each week/month from your bank to get rent to pay that should help: Why is it I just wonder if you only operate with cash??

You do have a contract: Just not a written one... Is this a homeless hostel or a nurses hostel or what???

[Deleted User]

I assume the hostel has a manager.., surely its possible to get a statement from them to say you normally sleep at the hostel.., if you do?

With the shortage of social housing accommodation.., and the tenant being away for long periods (as she must be if you are dealing with numerous repair problems, its gotta be some months), you can't be surprised this is happening. It seems the tenant isn't too bothered as she is just saying she'll 'fix' it when she comes back. Whenever.

You will not only have to establish that you are NOT resident., but that she is.., and she isn't from what you and she says (her email).

Is she in receipt of Housing benefit? This may explain the claim for £2,400 as it sounds like she shouldn't be getting it as she's been living elsewhere for long periods.

fairy_lights

karakus wrote: »

I’ll to Citizen Advice on Thursday, the landlady doesn’t know yet, both her mother and the stepfather are travelling abroad, they’;re aware of it though and they said they’ll come back soon and solve it

What do you mean by 'Landlady'? I thought it was a council property?

maninthestreet

Both the boiler and toilet needing a number of repairs in an apparently unoccupied flat would indicate to me that someone is actually occupying the flat....

Marktheshark

maninthestreet wrote: »

Both the boiler and toilet needing a number of repairs in an apparently unoccupied flat would indicate to me that someone is actually occupying the flat....

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Marktheshark

Marktheshark wrote: »

Took the words right out of my mouth.

However if you are homeless, ask them for a tenancy agreement if they want rent.
they wont win at court without one if you defend.
Getting a flat in London is like getting chicken dentures.
Live in it a few, year, right to buy and your made for life.