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

dekaspace

Hmmm could it be possible the stepfather actually lives there without the OP knowing and the OP just uses the property as a letters address since for benefits he could not get it in the hostel which has ended up coming back to bite him.

Guest101

dekaspace wrote: »

Hmmm could it be possible the stepfather actually lives there without the OP knowing and the OP just uses the property as a letters address since for benefits he could not get it in the hostel which has ended up coming back to bite him.

I dont think so

dacouch

This situation is surprisingly common in London.

Landlord (Council Tenant) has council property with rent typically paid by Housing Benefit, tenant returns to their home country with rent paid by Housing Benefit and they rent the property out to someone else for below the going rate but still more than enough to live comfortably in their home country.

People will bite your hand off to only pay £600 for a council flat in a bad area of London, if it's in a better area you could easily charge £1500 and still below the going market rate.

I've heard of many people in the same position, I've also heard a few stories of the Landlord (Council Tenant) getting greedy and not paying the council rent and similar to the OP's situation then happening.

My friend did the same in a desirable part of SW London where he paid the Council Tenant £8k and then took over paying the council rent. The Council Tenant then went traveling. A neighboor informed the Council as they were annoyed as their own daughter had been on the council waiting list for a number of years.

I'm guessing the OP doesn't want to produce the bank statements as they would show a regular bank transfer to Nigeria or to the Landladies parents bank account.

It would be interesting to know the OP's job and whether that tallies with the sort of person who would share a bedroom with a number of other people in a hostel that does not make it on to trip adviser

ruggedtoast

Sounds like the OP's fish is well and truly cooked. Sadly it's his landlady who should be getting a grilling, and time in klink for fraud.

csgohan4

what goes around comes around

NYM

karakus wrote: »

..........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 !!

Who was it addressed to ?

There are certain Pre Action Protocols that Local Authorities are legally bound to follow before taking action to seek repossession for rent arrears. 'Linda' would have received correspondence from the LA. Did 'she' ignore them ?

karakus wrote: »

The Court docs show a few things suggested she isn’t living there anymore. Including me calling the Council for repais.
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).

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 .....

Have you already had the document 'bundle' the LA are relying on to prove their claim(s) ?
I thought the Particulars specified the details of the claim but do not include copies of the documents?

karakus wrote: »

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 ! £ 2400 for a place I don’t even live in !!

Clearly they haven't received it from 'Linda' , her stepfather or anyone else that may have been living in the property.

karakus wrote: »

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

I'm really surprised you chose to continue living in dorm-like circumstances with shared kitchen/bathroom, no privacy, nowhere to leave your personal possessions, when you had the opportunity to live in 'Linda's' property - rent free.

One further comment I'd like to make.

Do NOT ignore it. Sort it.

Lord_Baltimore

Enid Blyton couldn't write a better yarn than this one .

CKhalvashi

Raggie wrote: »

Did you think that the council carried out a public service repairing anyone's house??

Bearing in mind my house has just had nearly £30k of work done to it, I wish they did!

I don't believe this story either, as with 8 years in local government, what's been described isn't the same as what actually happens IME.

SnooksNJ

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 !

Yes, call them up and say it wasn't you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv5fqunQ_4I

karakus

Sorry I'm on the phone, I can't write much. I'll come clean: I am actually living there and paying rent to tenant. I'll come clean to the council too . just been back from a quick intro session with CAB.

You guys reckon bank statement will be enough to prove I shouldnt pay £2400 of arrerars??