Behind on rent - going to be evicted.

littlebird_2

I have a friend who is behind on her rent and now has to go to court re eviction.

She has 2 young children and is really struggling financially.

She is in full time employment so is not entitled to any help.

Can she be evicted or will they set up some payment plan? Has anyone been in this situation and can offer any advice/tips

thanks for your help.

immoral_angeluk

If she's a single mum surely she'd get SOME kind of help.. check out entitledto.co.uk to make sure she's claiming everything she should be

Skint_Catt

Is she renting through the Council or privately? How far behind is she?

I'm sure help is available due to the two young children whether or not she works full time. I'm not sure what but I'm sure someone on here will be able to help.

C xx

In_Search_Of_Me

Can you get her to come on & post SOA etc?

floss2

Whether she is entitled to any help will depend upon her income...HB / Council Tax benefit are income based, as are Tax Credits.

Is she claiming all her child-care costs from Tax Credits? Does she get any maintenance from the childrens' father?

littlebird_2

In_Search_Of_Me wrote: »

Can you get her to come on & post SOA etc?

Sorry to be so dumb - buts what SOA?

No maintenace from Childrens father - he doesn't work.

She rents from council.

Think she owes about £1000 but has other debts too so has been robbing Peter to pay Paul which is how she's got in this mess.

Does anyone know what will happen when she actually goes to court? Will they just tell her she has to go? Surely she can't be made homeless? How much notice will she get to be out?

floss2

Statement of affairs - a list of outgoings & money coming in.

She needs to speak urgently to her Housing Officer at the Council, and ask if they have an Advice service to help her sort out her money. They will be able to tell her what will happen.

teeni

Has your friend held her tenancy for over 12 months if so she has a secure tenancy and the court has an enormous amount of discretion in these cases.

she needs to make an appointment with a debt councelor such as CAb to work out an offer that she can make to the court to repay the arrears if this is reasonable the court can postpone possession to allow the arrears to be cleared.

Would suggest she contacts the local authority rent recovery dept and ask to see someone to discuss this,

On income support the minimum the court can allow to recover at is £3.00 per week. adn oftenif this is all that can be afforded they will accept this if in employment.

At the hearing the court will want to know income, and all expenditure so a financial statement is essential if you want them to accept a very low offer to repay.

The court will only grant possessioi if it is impossible for her to meet the liability at all. if that were the case she would have 28 days for possession after which the authority would have to apply for a baliffs warrant and upon the expiry of this she would have to vacate. However you can apply for this to be suspended if you can afford to make anoffer to repay.

All is far from lost and your friend needs to speak to either shelter or Cab urgently.

Teeni

punka

I second the recommendation to speak to the Housing Department at the local Councils. Some councils offer a scheme called "Invest to save" where they lend the money for the arrears in rent and agree a payment plan with the tenant. The idea of this being that the long term cost to the Council is less than rehousing a homeless family.

Schemes vary thoughout the country so this should be done as a matter of priority.

astonsmummy

She needs to phone someone like shelter for some proper advice, as she'll have her details and they know their stuff.

tallyhoh

If this is for possession order she should work out a reaonable offer of repayment & ask the court to suspend based on the fact that she will pay her rent + X off the arrears.

She should get in touch with the council ASAP & ask if they will consider this. Most will, as someone has already said it costs money to evict & help homeless.

She should make sure that she makes an offer she can stick to, no use offering the earth if she can't pay the second week.