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

Dannytyler

why not post up a copy of the letters sent? and "notice of Hearing at the County Court" also how would the council have OP name address etc and another info of the OP to serve a CCJ against them? think the surveillance has already began

goodwithsaving

This all seems a bit strange to me. As others say, plenty of holes which the court may well take apart.

Surely you have withdrawals from your account, even if you don't have a receipt? If you've nothing to hide then just get the statements. I'm surely having these scrutinised is far less worrying that a £2400 sum to find.

Do you not have contact with this 'Linda' whilst she is away? She seems to have lumbered you in it somewhat.

karakus

Dannytyler wrote: »

why not post up a copy of the letters sent? and "notice of Hearing at the County Court" also how would the council have OP name address etc and another info of the OP to serve a CCJ against them? think the surveillance has already began

can you elaborate on this? what do you mean "another info of the OP to serve a CCJ" ?

I am French, my English isn't good enough to understand subtleties

You reckon there's a good chance I'll have to pay £2400 + ? if so, will the court accept installments ? I need to think about the future a bit with this court date coming...

HappyMJ

karakus wrote: »

can you elaborate on this? what do you mean "another info of the OP to serve a CCJ" ?

I am French, my English isn't good enough to understand subtleties

You reckon there's a good chance I'll have to pay £2400 + ? if so, will the court accept installments ? I need to think about the future a bit with this court date coming...

If you've been living there...maybe. If you've been living at the hostel then no you are not liable at all for the non payment of rent. The property will be repossessed and you'll need to find yourself a new address for your mail to be sent to.

You don't need to attend court just ring the council and explain the tenant hasn't been there since December and you do not live at the property and as you have the keys you'll be returning them to the council as soon as you can and they can have the property back.

In regards to instalments no you can't pay in instalments. If you can't pay in full you will get a CCJ which as you technically are homeless wouldn't matter anyway.

FBaby

There are so many flaws in this story....

Surely it doesn't take a genuis to figure out that the way to prove you don't live there is to get the hostel to write on headed paper the days/weeks you have paid them to stay there. That's it.

Asking your GP for proof of address won't cut it. People move all the time without reporting the change to their GP, especially when they don't visit too often.

karakus

HappyMJ wrote: »

If you've been living there...maybe. If you've been living at the hostel then no you are not liable at all for the non payment of rent. The property will be repossessed and you'll need to find yourself a new address for your mail to be sent to.

You don't need to attend court just ring the council and explain the tenant hasn't been there since December and you do not live at the property and as you have the keys you'll be returning them to the council as soon as you can and they can have the property back.

In regards to instalments no you can't pay in instalments. If you can't pay in full you will get a CCJ which as you technically are homeless wouldn't matter anyway.

I am not living there

So just ringing the council will be enough ?

You recommend me not to attend the court day? a CCJ will make it harder to open a bank account in the future or getting a nice flat through an agency etc. it's not a nice prospect !

Vectis

I think before anyone can give you proper advice you need to come clean with the full facts, probably as follows:

'Linda' has vacated the Council flat, very probably she's left the country for good.

'Linda' was probably collecting rent from 'someone' staying at the property.

The stepfather(?) was supposed to be paying rent to the Council but hasn't been, hence the Council demanding payment.

You and others have ben living there at least on and off since 2010/2011.

Council know you've been living there and are taking you to Court for payment of rent.


My advice: admit you've been living there, they probably have proof anyway, and pay what you owe, by instalments if necessary. Get 'Linda' to give up the Council tenancy and advise her not to return or she'll probably be prosecuted.

To be honest, the whole thing sounds so dodgy and you've been contradicting yourself about whether you live there or been having mail forwarded, that the story you're telling is unbelievable. The people who chase these things aren't stupid. They wont be chasing you for no reason.

karakus

FBaby wrote: »

Surely it doesn't take a genuis to figure out that the way to prove you don't live there is to get the hostel to write on headed paper the days/weeks you have paid them to stay there. That's it.

because it's a cheap hostel that all releases handwritten receipts with a small stamp on it . they don't even have a website, nor they are on Tripadvisor. I doubt the court will accept a receipt which hasn't been produced by an electronic till or something like that?

I doubt they even know what headed paper is, but I'll ask them tonight when I get home

Besides they can only give me proof of payment from today onwards, not the years before? so that's effectively useless. as I said already, I discarded the old receipts as I didn;t think I needed them anymore

HappyMJ

karakus wrote: »

I am not living there

So just ringing the council will be enough ?

You recommend me not to attend the court day? a CCJ will make it harder to open a bank account in the future or getting a nice flat through an agency etc. it's not a nice prospect !

No problem then...return the keys to council and tell them you won't be attending court. If the tenant wants the keys back let her explain to council.


A CCJ won't affect you as you don't live there. You won't have a credit history as you won't be putting that address on any applications.

Guest101

The OP cannot owe the council rent. No matter what. Tenancy is still a contract and he isnt party to it. The only way he'll get a CCJ is by not repliying and then no getting a set aside.

The rent clearly hasnt been paid.

The notice is seeking possesion. Whther they are seeking arrears or not, who knows.

If he admits to being at the property, the likelyhood for the council winning goes up.

of course here could be alot more to this story - as others suspect