Advice with ref to landlord intends to seek possession of property.

rich_shot2003

Not sure if i am putting this in the right place in forums but its to do with debt so if its in the wrong place can the mods move it please.

1st of all please do not judge me as i know i have made mistakes which i hope i can put right.

We are in Social housing with a housing association and was on ESA and moved across from ESA TO UC back in March and before then we got housing benefit which was paid direct the lardlord but when we moved over to UC that changed and we then had to pay it out of our UC which was have found hard to cope with and we have paid bits since then and i have been ill as well(not looking at making excuses).

I then spoke with landlord and we agreed that we would pay our normal rent and £100 a month for the arrears but then we got other bills come in which we also had to pay so we missed the payment to landlord.

Now they have sent a notice of intention to begin proceedings for possession which has a date of Aug 8th that court proceedings will not start before that date.

the rent we own is just over £2000 and as i say we are on UC so now they have sent that letter to us can they stop the court action if we asked them if we can have our monthly rent taken direct from UC and also a set sum for the arrears or will it be that now they have started it they will not stop?

if by the odd chance we can get a friend to help with paying the arrears in full before Aug 8th the same could they stop the court action?

I know i have made mistakes in all this so i am not blaming anyone else but us.

I am planning at ringing the landlord on Monday to ask about the UC direct payments but we would like advice on what to do next as looking online just is just confusing me.

Also the reason we are on UC is due to ill health.

we have been renting with them since 2009 and have always been no problem to the landlord so am hoping they will except the UC direct payments that i am going to ask them about.

Please do not judge me as know i have messed up.

rich_shot2003

20122013 said:

Did you know that you can get the whole portion of your UC rent pay directly to the landlord's bank account if you give consent to the UC. This will show you landlord you mean what you say. If the landlord applies it can tske 2months. And Landlord also needs your rent to pay bills or as part of their income.

Yes that is what i am planning to do on Monday asking them to have the full rent paid via UC.

its not a private landlord its a housing association but i understand what you mean.

_Penny_Dreadful

rich_shot2003 said:

Not sure if i am putting this in the right place in forums but its to do with debt so if its in the wrong place can the mods move it please.

1st of all please do not judge me as i know i have made mistakes which i hope i can put right.

We are in Social housing with a housing association and was on ESA and moved across from ESA TO UC back in March and before then we got housing benefit which was paid direct the lardlord but when we moved over to UC that changed and we then had to pay it out of our UC which was have found hard to cope with and we have paid bits since then and i have been ill as well(not looking at making excuses).

I then spoke with landlord and we agreed that we would pay our normal rent and £100 a month for the arrears but then we got other bills come in which we also had to pay so we missed the payment to landlord.

Now they have sent a notice of intention to begin proceedings for possession which has a date of Aug 8th that court proceedings will not start before that date.

the rent we own is just over £2000 and as i say we are on UC so now they have sent that letter to us can they stop the court action if we asked them if we can have our monthly rent taken direct from UC and also a set sum for the arrears or will it be that now they have started it they will not stop?

if by the odd chance we can get a friend to help with paying the arrears in full before Aug 8th the same could they stop the court action?

I know i have made mistakes in all this so i am not blaming anyone else but us.

I am planning at ringing the landlord on Monday to ask about the UC direct payments but we would like advice on what to do next as looking online just is just confusing me.

Also the reason we are on UC is due to ill health.

we have been renting with them since 2009 and have always been no problem to the landlord so am hoping they will except the UC direct payments that i am going to ask them about.

Please do not judge me as know i have messed up.

Are you in England? 

Is the £2,000 you owe equal to or greater than 2 months worth of rent (assuming you pay rent monthly?) 

Keep talking with your landlord and if you haven’t done so already apply for breathing space. I’m not sure what these other bills are that you prioritised over paying your rent but rent is a priority bill. 

rich_shot2003

Yes in England.

Its 3 months rent we are owing.

What is breathing space? And how would i apply for it?

The bills have been for CT and other bills and got us in a big mess and i know its not a excuse but things had got us swimming trying to stay a float.

I am planning on ringing landlord on Monday.

fatbelly

Not a fan of Breathing Space. Just puts everyone to a lot of work just to kick the can down the road for 60 days.

If you can afford the rent plus X, where X is an amount that clears the debt in a reasonable period then even if this got to a court hearing you would get a Suspended Possession Order to pay that amount

So the key is to talk to your Housing Officer and get an arrangement in place as soon as possible

Do not prioritise other debts over your rent.

Note this is what Shelter advises

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/rent_arrears_council_housing_association

RAS

Your priority debts are rent and Council Tax. Failure to pay either of these has very serious, expensive consequences. So don't get into arrears on CT by paying rent without get debt advice. 

List what other debts do you have, and we can tell you whether you should be paying them at all at the moment.

Meantime do you have a branch of CAP (Christians Against Poverty) locally or any other local debt advisors? 

And stop using Zable or any other type of credit card. The price of that take away is the loss of your home.

Check out any local food pantries, food banks and pay as you feel cafes. I'd rarely suggest living on cheap pasta and beans on toast, but that may be necessary.

I'd also look out for local Sikh temples. Most offer langar as part of their religious duties. This is free communal meal served at the temple to all who turn up. You have to remove your shoes at the door and wear a head covering.

RAS

You could go over to the housing (renting, selling and buying forum) but you need to get the rental debt down below 2 months rent ASAP. And keep it at least £1 below 2 months rent.

Over 2 months arrears, the courts have to issue the eviction notice, below it's optional. You've still got the possibility of eviction for repeated, regular rent debt but it's not mandatory. 

Do you have a local housing advice service? If not try to talk to Shelter.

ManyWays

If you haven't been to court for this before, then if you come up with a sensible scheme to repay the arrears you will get a Suspended Possession Order.

If you have already got a Suspended Possession Order and you have missed payments to that, your situation is much more serioues, so can you confirm whether you already have a Suspended Possession Order?

And what other debts do you have - arrears on bills, credit cards, catalogues, loans, Klarna, car finance... ? This is the point for a major rethink. 

rich_shot2003

ManyWays said:

If you haven't been to court for this before, then if you come up with a sensible scheme to repay the arrears you will get a Suspended Possession Order.

If you have already got a Suspended Possession Order and you have missed payments to that, your situation is much more serioues, so can you confirm whether you already have a Suspended Possession Order?

And what other debts do you have - arrears on bills, credit cards, catalogues, loans, Klarna, car finance... ? This is the point for a major rethink. 

No this is the 1st time this has happened so never been to court before.

HampshireH

Expect the HA to go to court regardless of what payment plan you offer, because you haven't adhered to it before and so they have no reason to believe you'll stick to it 

Most likely as above they will get a suspended possession order with terms to pay written in it . If you fail to keep up the payments they can reapply to court 

You do still need to keep talking to them though

rich_shot2003

HampshireH said:

Expect the HA to go to court regardless of what payment plan you offer, because you haven't adhered to it before and so they have no reason to believe you'll stick to it 

Most likely as above they will get a suspended possession order with terms to pay written in it . If you fail to keep up the payments they can reapply to court 

You do still need to keep talking to them though

Many thanks for that.

Even if i ask if they can take the monthly rent and arrears direct from UC?