Newbie and in debt

direstraites

Sorry for the late reply(loads been going on,tell ya in a mo) well went to court and basically was asked if we could afford the morgage(£230 pm)+£820 pm for the secured loan :eek: err not a chance in hell

So judge issued the repro order and we have to be out by the 2nd feb :eek:

The council is trying there best at the mo but its looking unlikely at the mo that they ill have somehere by 2nd feb :-(
Ive got all the br fee together so will be doing that this week coming and to top it all off i went to work on wednesday as usual to be told the company has gone bust :eek: so me and my work mates are all out of work :-( Mandy is working but only earns £9.5k a year so in the process of claiming benefits for the first time since i was 16 Not sure if losing my job is a good sign or bad?

The only loan mandy is joint names on is the secured loan and as its been said she will have to sort out the shortfall at a later date but we will cross that bridge when we get to it,never know it might not be enough to warrant her going br aswell?:D
Will keep ya udated as the bad year progress`s

Lee,mandy

fiveyearplan

Won't your council have to house you in temporary accommodation if they don't have anywhere permanant by the 2nd Feb? I would look at losing your job as a good sign for a fresh start all round! Good luck and keep posting.

tigerfeet2006

Best of luck to you both. The only way is up now

direstraites

Cant get no worse thats for sure lol lol

debt_doctor

Hi Dire,

Because you have already passed tests 1,2,and 3 of the five tests of homelessness the council has a STATUTORY OBLIGATION to provide you and your family with interim accomodation whilst it carries out its investigations in to your homelessness.

Also, If you stay in the house after 2nd Feb 2008 then your lender will have to apply to the court for an eviction warrant. Many lenders wait months to do this. After they apply for a warrant then it is passed to the court bailiffs to place in their schedule, which can be about a month.

If your lender does apply for an eviction warrant you could ask the court or the lender to wait until your council accomodation is sorted if you pass the legislation.

I know how scary it is to be in your position, ive been there. It took the lender 7 months to apply for an eviction warrant by which time I was long gone and re housed by my local council.

Go and see your local C A B or local housing charity asap.

Best

DD

mummytofour

If your lender does apply for an eviction warrant you could ask the court or the lender to wait until your council accomodation is sorted if you pass the legislation.

Very helpful debt dr.

fiveyearplan

Debt Doctor - what are the 5 tests of homelessness?

fermi

I don't know for sure, but a quick google brings up:

As soon as a homeless application is received, the Council must make enquiries to satisfy itself that the applicant is eligible for assistance and what, if any, duty is owed to him/her. The Council must make it's enquiries in order of the 5 tests of homelessness and determine whether the applicant or any person who resides with the applicant is:

a. - Eligible for assistance; and
b. - Homeless; and
c. - Vulnerable and therefore in priority need for assistance: and
d. - Unintentionally homeless; and has a
e. - Local connection with the district.

If the Council is satisfied that an applicant or any person who resides with the applicant is eligible, homeless and may be vulnerable, a duty may arise to place the applicant in temporary accommodation (which may be Bed & Breakfast), pending it's decision as to whether the applicant is unintentionally homeless and has a local connection with the district.

A different site quotes it as:

• are homeless by definition of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002)
• are eligible for public funds (this is an Immigration issue)
• are in priority need
• are unintentionally homeless
• have a local connection

I had to go and have a look because I was curious about the phrase as well.

debt_doctor

Yes thats it ! The first quote is particularly good. If the applicant passes all 5 tests then the council must provide permanent suitable housing.

The test that some people fall down on is test 4 'Intentionally homeless' " did the applicant do, or fail to do, something that led to them being homeless."

This could be anti social behaviour or not paying the mort / rent when it was possible to do so. ie you were receiving money from a mort porotection policy or housing benefit and using it topay for other things.

Someone who was on a low income and used that income to reasonably spend on food, clothing and other essential items or existing credit if they had not received debt advice should not be found to be intentionally homeless.
The council has 33 working days to make their decision following the homelessness interview.

DD

fiveyearplan

Thanks Fermi and DD. Does 'eligible for assistance' mean low income? Would children age 15 & 17 be classed as vulnerable.