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Issue with Council Tax landlord v tenant

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Hi all

I'm appealing to the forum to see if anyone has been in a similar situation before.

Last year, I was renting a property and paid Council Tax accordingly. An opportunity arose for us to move one month before our 12 month contract ended so we approached the Landlord with 4 months notice. He agreed that we could move one month early and that was all fine. I have all the messages related to our request saved. We did not pay rent for the last month and received all our deposit back from the Landlord.

When we moved, I cancelled all utilities and settled up the Council Tax and we began paying Council Tax at the new property. 5 months later I received a bill from the previous council asking for the one month's council tax when we were not living in the property. When I called to explain we had moved out and were living elsewhere they asked for evidence of paying in a new authority which we sent them. I believed this to be the end of the matter.

A month later we were sent the bill again, less a bit of money for the property being unoccupied. I explained again and this time I was told that the Landlord had been in touch and told them we had to pay that council tax as we had moved without giving him any notice therefore breaking the contract. This is a complete lie. As they now have a copy of the contract sent by the Landlord, they are pursuing us for the monies saying that the Landlord will have to contact them to amend the end date.

I have sent them evidence of messages showing he agreed for us to move, including evidence we allowed over 30 people in to the property for viewings before we moved out. I've sent them proof we had our deposit back (which we surely would not have received if we were in breach of contract) and they know we were paying elsewhere. It seems without the Landlord confirming the date we moved out we are stuck. But clearly he has no incentive to tell the truth as he would then have to pay! I've also asked the council for evidence of when the new tenants began paying as to the best of our knowledge they were moving out 2 weeks after we left therefore we should not have to pay for a month.

I feel really down about this as I just feel like as tenants we are being discriminated against. It was not our responsibility to produce a new contract with the end date on, the agency or the Landlord should have done this for us. If anyone has any thoughts I'd be extremely grateful.

Many thanks


Comments

  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 18,942 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    You are not "being discriminated against". Councils can often be given conflicting stories about when one occupier's liability ends and another occupier's liability begins. If they have frequent dealings with a landlord who appears to have been truthful in the past, then the council will tend to believe what they say.
    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 27 September 2021 at 3:44PM
    It's not discrimination, it's a matter of legislation and what the council have to work with.

    As a simplified issue;

    Under s6 LGFA 92 the tenant is liable whilst they are resident and, if they hold a tenancy granted for more than 6 months, remain liable until the end of the fixed term (even whilst not resident). Liability will end if the tenancy is formally ended earlier than that point and the tenants are no longer resident.

    What usually happens in these cases is the landlord gets the bill, realises there's no longer any discounts, and points the council to the tenancy agreement. The council have no proof the tenancy ended early and so bill the tenants.

    It then ends up going backwards and forwards until enough proof is provided to remedy the situation - this doesn't have to be from the landlord directly, it can be from yourselves.

    Once new tenants move in the council should be able to obtain the date of tenancy and make any adjustments.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • flashg67
    flashg67 Posts: 4,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I had this from the other end. My tenant moved out on the 31st, with my agreement, but the official tenancy end date was the 21st. As the landlord, I had to pay for the 3 weeks once my ex tenant proved they were paying from the 31st in their new property. The council quoted some previous court ruling or other that they were using to enforce the charge to me. So, I'd suggest you keep telling  the council that the landlord is liable, as you were paying elsewhere and weren't under a tenancy at the old property at the time.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 28 September 2021 at 10:03AM
    flashg67 said:
    The council quoted some previous court ruling or other that they were using to enforce the charge to me.
    Did you actually cease the tenancy early on the 31st ?

    If so, there was no need for them to use case law in this case, the answer is in legislation (they almost certainly quoted Leeds CC v Broadley). Another case of the poor knowledge and training of council staff.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • You are not "being discriminated against". Councils can often be given conflicting stories about when one occupier's liability ends and another occupier's liability begins. If they have frequent dealings with a landlord who appears to have been truthful in the past, then the council will tend to believe what they say.
    I understand, but my point is they’ve ignored all evidence I’ve sent which shows it was a mutual decision to end the contract early. It was not my responsibility as a tenant to provide a new contract with the new agreed date, as a tenant I paid a lot of fees for this sort of thing. It’s clear the landlord lied to them as he told them we’d left with no notice but I’ve sent countless communication to the contrary 
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You are not "being discriminated against". Councils can often be given conflicting stories about when one occupier's liability ends and another occupier's liability begins. If they have frequent dealings with a landlord who appears to have been truthful in the past, then the council will tend to believe what they say.
    I understand, but my point is they’ve ignored all evidence I’ve sent which shows it was a mutual decision to end the contract early. It was not my responsibility as a tenant to provide a new contract with the new agreed date, as a tenant I paid a lot of fees for this sort of thing. It’s clear the landlord lied to them as he told them we’d left with no notice but I’ve sent countless communication to the contrary 
    The only thing that matters now is the evidence - the council have to weigh up the balance of probabilities as to which way the case rests. If they haven't got the evidence then they cannot infer it.

    You case isn't unwinnable, I've dealt with many, many cases like this, but it can be a hard slog with some councils.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
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