ALMO's and Legal Standing

1baldtyre

This is a query about ALMO's (Arms length Management Organisations) and whether they have legal status different from usual management agents. I am not asking for legal advice just for information.

A social housing tenant since 2010, who refuses legal advice, falls into small but accruing rent arrears from 2021.
That same year the council with whom the secure tenancy contract is held transitioned to unitary, and engaged a private non-profit firm (which I understand is wholly run by the new council) as an ALMO.

The transition of councils went ahead with no notice  to tenant and hence no changes to the tenancy contract, on which the previous council's name remains as landlord.
Copious correspondence failed to resolve, but did reveal that four different addresses are being used in communications, shared between the ALMO and the new Council.

Although not legally qualified, two of the ALMO staff attended court on behalf of the Council, which was not otherwise represented, presumably as it was a bulk-hearing.

Is anyone familiar with ALMO's and their legal standing when it comes to Courts? Can they be the Claimant for rent arrears, for example, or even be the legal landlord?

The tenant's contract was never amended to show a change of landlord presumably because it's essentially the same authority but the ALMO is new. The tenant, on benefits, is not sure where the rent is actually paid and has no single point of contact.

Could an ALMO be legally different from a management company by virtue of being funded by the council? 

Thanks

Section62

1baldtyre said:

Although not legally qualified, two of the ALMO staff attended court on behalf of the Council, which was not otherwise represented, presumably as it was a bulk-hearing.

You don't have to be legally qualified to attend court.  The ALMO staff were possibly there as witnesses rather than advocates.  Many judges run their courts on a less formal basis than was the norm in the past.  The objective is to achieve justice in a fair and timely manner - if there is someone in the courtroom who can help achieve that then the judge won't necessarily care whether they have a law degree.

1baldtyre said:

Is anyone familiar with ALMO's and their legal standing when it comes to Courts? Can they be the Claimant for rent arrears, for example, or even be the legal landlord?

I think rather than looking at this as a general question you need to go straight to the specifics of this case.  What does the agreement between the ALMO and the council say?  Has the ALMO's formation/appointment included the provision of legal advice/services?  If the ALMO can act for the council then in principle there is no reason why they can't start a claim. 

1baldtyre said:

The tenant's contract was never amended to show a change of landlord presumably because it's essentially the same authority but the ALMO is new. The tenant, on benefits, is not sure where the rent is actually paid and has no single point of contact.

The process for changing names of (or reorganising) local government means that references to the old authority should simply be read as the new authority.  Unless there was a major error then there won't be much mileage in claiming the new authority/ALMO isn't the landlord.

This isn't legal advice, but I'd suggest that even if there were some technical issue in the arrangements between the council and the ALMO then it probably won't be in the tenant's interests to pursue that in court.  The fundamental issue here is whether the tenant has the financial (and mental) capacity to pay their rent and deal with their affairs.  They will need to get the court on their side.  Presenting a complex and esoteric argument why they shouldn't have to pay rent to whoever the council wants to collect rent on their behalf is probably not going to make the court sympathetic to them.

GDB2222

I do think that the distinction between the council and the ALMO becomes blurred. But, if you challenge it in court, someone from the ALMO will stand up and claim that the council has given carte Blanche to the ALMO to act on its behalf. The judge will simply believe that, and won’t ask for documentation to prove it. 

If you have been in arrears for 3 years, with it getting worse, rather than better, you must be in some danger of being evicted. If so, concentrate on that aspect, rather than legal niceties. 

1baldtyre

Thanks so much. Just trying to help a person who is indeed on verge of eviction. Doesn't want a legal advisor.
This has been a learning curve. Great to hear experienced takes.
Section62 asks the tenant to make many assumptions which seems a bit harsh.
Who knew that where the repair people used to come to repair, the tenant now is obliged to find out all these extra things about them. viz 
 'What does the agreement between the ALMO and the council say?  Has the ALMO's formation/appointment included the provision of legal advice/services?  If the ALMO can act for the council then in principle there is no reason why they can't start a claim.'
Answer - !!!!!!!
(BTW I think they can issue the Notice but Claims for Possession can only be started by the Landlord or his legal representative, not a service provider/manager If the ALMO is not the Landlord or legal advisor then the claim for possession must be revised, surely)

Section62

1baldtyre said:

Thanks so much. Just trying to help a person who is indeed on verge of eviction. Doesn't want a legal advisor.
This has been a learning curve. Great to hear experienced takes.
Section62 asks the tenant to make many assumptions which seems a bit harsh.

Not sure what you mean about assumptions? I explained the need to find out what the contract/agreement between the council and the ALMO said, because without that it is largely guesswork (aka assumptions) what they can and can't do.

1baldtyre said:

Who knew that where the repair people used to come to repair, the tenant now is obliged to find out all these extra things about them. viz 
 'What does the agreement between the ALMO and the council say?  Has the ALMO's formation/appointment included the provision of legal advice/services?  If the ALMO can act for the council then in principle there is no reason why they can't start a claim.'
Answer - !!!!!!!

The tenant isn't obliged to find out more about the ALMO unless they are looking for a loophole to avoid eviction (after not paying rent and not taking legal advice). If the tenant just wants to be a tenant then they don't need to know the ins and outs of the contract/agreement between the council and the ALMO.

1baldtyre said:

(BTW I think they can issue the Notice but Claims for Possession can only be started by the Landlord or his legal representative, not a service provider/manager If the ALMO is not the Landlord or legal advisor then the claim for possession must be revised, surely)

As I suggested, the answer to this is likely to be in the contract/agreement between the council and the ALMO.

The council can appoint other organisations to provide legal services. They could appoint the ALMO to provide legal services relating to housing matters. An ALMO could appoint a council to provide legal services to them.  There are lots of possible permutations, which is why (in this situation) it is important to look at the contract/agreement to see whether the ALMO has the power to do what it is doing.