Pre-notice seeking possession

Fisharefriendsnotfood

New user, apologies if not on correct forum.

I have a housing association house. I pay full rent, no housing benefit.
My rent is split into 12 monthly payments as we are paid monthly. I was initially told to pay an amount which I did. I was then advised that amount was wrong and I had to pay a new amount. I have paid that every month without fail.
I pay every month and have lived in this house for over 10 years. My last rent payment was yesterday.
Today I received a letter title pre-notice seeking possession. It states I am in arrears of £422.99. This is less then the amount of rent I pay monthly.
I had a rent statement last month which showed everything as it should be. No arrears and no payments missed since then.
The letter says I must fill in and return the enclosed financial statement within 7 days or they may seek possession. It also states that this notice is valid for 12 months.
I rang HA immediately. The person said they didn't understand and will get a housing officer to ring me. I followed this up with an email.
I have tried shelter & cab but cannot get through.
It was recommended that I post on here.
I am genuinely very worried about this and would appreciate any advice.
Thank you

Guest101

We cant advise you beyond what you have done at present.


The letter could be mis-addressed for example.


Certainly if you have a upto date statement which show no arrears it sounds like it's been sent to the wrong person.

G_M

Fisharefriendsnotfood wrote: »

The letter says I must fill in and return the enclosed financial statement within 7 days or they may seek possession.

Surely the obvious, and simplest, course of action is to complete the form, showing you have no arrears, and return it as requested?

Without looking through both your tenancy agreement, and your record of rent payments, I don't see how anyone here can offer any other advice........

Mossfarr

It sounds like a mistake to me - you have loads of evidence to prove you have paid up to date, so don't worry about it.
These letters are automatically generated so it may be something as simple as the operator entering an incorrect number.
With all the evidence you have no court would support an eviction either!
good luck

Fisharefriendsnotfood

The financial statement would not show if I had paid my rent. It is a form asking about money coming in and money going out. Thank you for your reply

fairy_lights

Fisharefriendsnotfood wrote: »

The financial statement would not show if I had paid my rent. It is a form asking about money coming in and money going out. Thank you for your reply

well then attach your latest rent statement showing that you're not in arrears and return that to them as well.

LittleMax

Do you know that you have been paying a month in advance or are you paying in arrears? I have known where HAs have tolerated payment in arrears for years and then suddenly a new rent manager comes on board and by applying a zero tolerance of this manages to get their rent collection figures up by getting the month's arrears in from everyone.

pmlindyloo

I think the financial statement is an income and expenditure form which is issued to work out how much can be afforded to repay the 'debt'. Perhaps the OP can clarify?

In this case the OP is disputing the debt.

First of all please do not worry that you are going to be evicted. This is a standard letter which is telling you that you have rent arrears and the council is just following their procedure for rent arrears.

You need to dispute the rent arrears.

You need to ask them for a statement showing the rent owed and the rent paid. You can then match this up with your bank statements showing when you paid the rent and how much you paid. This is the only way you will see how the arrears have arisen (if they have)

Do you have a letter from the person who told you what you should be paying? (the second time)

How much is your rent? How often should it be paid? - 4 weekly/every calender month? Are there any free months?

You should take the total rent due for the whole year and then divide this by 12. This is what you should have been paying.

This sounds like a simple error of calculation and am sure it can be easily sorted.

If you do owe the arrears then if you can't afford the lump sum then they will allow you to make regular payments until it is paid back.

Social housing do not evict people when a simple error has been made and for less than a month's rent.

Let us know how you get on.

Fisharefriendsnotfood

Yes pmlindyloo that is what it is, I couldn't think how to explain it properly. Thank you.
On all my rent statements there is usually a minus for 2 weeks and then a credit for 2-3 weeks. The most the minus figures ever show is £250 app. I believe my rent is £115 a week but will need to check as I have paid monthly for a long time. There are 4 rent free weeks a year. I was advised to pay £425 every month and after 4 months received a letter saying it was wrong and I had to pay £471.14 instead. This was the HA numbers. I have paid £472 ever since. This is calendar monthly. I have always paid my rent this way. Once I receive my rent renewal every year. I ring up and request the monthly figure. This must be requested lest the HA will not give permission to pay monthly. I can honestly say I have never ever had anything said before about my rent. Hence my shock, and if I'm honest, it's quite frightening. Thank you for your help.

pmlindyloo

Fisharefriendsnotfood wrote: »

Yes pmlindyloo that is what it is, I couldn't think how to explain it properly. Thank you.
On all my rent statements there is usually a minus for 2 weeks and then a credit for 2-3 weeks. The most the minus figures ever show is £250 app. I believe my rent is £115 a week but will need to check as I have paid monthly for a long time. There are 4 rent free weeks a year. I was advised to pay £425 every month and after 4 months received a letter saying it was wrong and I had to pay £471.14 instead. This was the HA numbers. I have paid £472 ever since. This is calendar monthly. I have always paid my rent this way. Once I receive my rent renewal every year. I ring up and request the monthly figure. This must be requested lest the HA will not give permission to pay monthly. I can honestly say I have never ever had anything said before about my rent. Hence my shock, and if I'm honest, it's quite frightening. Thank you for your help.

So once you have found out your weekly rent times it by 48 and then divide by 12. This should give you your calender monthly rent payment. (I am assuming you pay all 12 months of the year?)

Don't worry about the statement showing a minus figure. You have been given permission to pay it like this and over the year it works out correctly.

Fisharefriendsnotfood

It works out about £460 but due to initial HA mistake it's an increased amount. The letter clearly states that I must pay £471.14 to ensure a clear rent account before new financial year. As I pay £472 then I cannot see the issue. Thank you I have been very worried all day.