Where does rent arrears sit in the order of paying creditors?

reg091

Thanks Getmore4less. That is reassuring as that is pretty much how I am dealing with it. I am getting the antiques valued for probate next week as it looks like (from a casual look) I have to itemise items over £500 on the IHT forms. I have a fairly good idea that some of the items may be in four figures (I have found lots of receipts).

His contents insurance of £10K is looking woefully inadequate!

reg091

Advice needed please! I am filling out the PA1 and it asks if I have filled out the IHT stuff. But I can't fill out the IHT stuff until I have valuation of the chattels.

So, I cannot apply for probate until I have chattel valuation and the auctioneers I want to use can't do that for a few weeks.

Can I apply for probate submitting a "no IHT" form and then change that later if (unlikely) the valuations show serious £££?

Yorkshireman99

Just put estimates. Unless you expect them to be near the IHT limit nobody cares really,.

reg091

I thought that was probably the case but they seem to make it all very threatening you start to doubt yourself. Thanks very much. I'll crack on with the forms.

RoxanneShante

Hi
not sure where your at with the property (if you still have it) but wanted to make you aware, usually you have to give 4 weeks notice to end the tenancy. If that is not forthcoming the landlord can serve a notice to quit and register with the public trustee to end the tenancy. They can then change locks once the notice has expired (4 weeks) and take back possession of the property. They will then dispose of all items and bill to the estate. You cannot be held personally liable for rent or clearance but as you've said there is now an estate so that won't be an issue. The landlords concern would be the rent arrears that are building if payments have not been made. I can't comment on the rest.

reg091

Thanks for the info. If the Housing Association would answer my emails then I might be better informed! They have given me a Tenancy Surrender form (that does mention the stuff that you do) but I can't fill it in as it requires me to specify a date that we will have cleared the flat by. My answer to that at the moment is "as soon as I can and I am happy to pay rent until that date".

If they would just let me know when the rent is paid up to and what the rent "cycle" is (other tenants suggest that they pay weekly) I would have a better idea!

Savvy_Sue

reg091 wrote: »

Thanks for the info. If the Housing Association would answer my emails then I might be better informed! They have given me a Tenancy Surrender form (that does mention the stuff that you do) but I can't fill it in as it requires me to specify a date that we will have cleared the flat by. My answer to that at the moment is "as soon as I can and I am happy to pay rent until that date".

If they would just let me know when the rent is paid up to and what the rent "cycle" is (other tenants suggest that they pay weekly) I would have a better idea!

If they're not responding to emails can you phone them?

Are you emailing the individual Housing Officer responsible for the flat, or is there a Voids team? Trying the other, or cc'd to the other, may help.

Getting empty flats re-let promptly will be one of the HA's performance targets. They'll be keen to have a date so that they can start identifying a new tenant.

If there's a reason you can't phone then you could use their complaints process. There will be details on the HA's website and it will include an email address.

However you also need to be aware of Roxanne's advice. You do have to clear in a timely manner. Being able and willing to pay the rent doesn't over-ride that need.

reg091

Thanks both. I have spoken to them on the phone but the problem is the guy who is the contact has such a strong accent I really cannot understand him! Emails have been to a group of three people there and no one had the decency to reply.
I have now had a rply and a copy of the rent account, which is in credit up to nearly the end of July. So, potentially they will owe us money! Not quite that straightforward as part of that balance is an overpayment of HB which will obviously be recovered from them.

One point I had not foreseen was that I have now had a Council Tax bill for the period post-death. I forgot that you have to pay on empty properties but it seems a bit cruel! All the more reason to vacate asap.

We should be handing the keys back next week. My main concern then is if they will insist on recovering redecorating costs. The flat hasn't been decorated for decades and is disgusting. No amount of cleaning is going to change peeling wallpaper etc. I could get on a high horse and say how could they let a very ill man live like that, or expect him to be able to decorate, but it isn't really their responsibility, they are just landlords after all.