Impending eviction :s

Miss_Cat

god it took me ages to figure out how to post a new thread!
i know there are a couple of other threads with this situation, and i did read some of them...but now i have a headache from staring at a computer since 9am so i started a new one (at the helpful suggestion of mumoftwins)
you'll have to excuse me as im not really "with it" atm lol


please forgive this long post but i am new here and.....

I live in a 2 bed flat with my fiance and two of my three children (the third, and youngest lives with his dad as i really cant fit three children into one tiny room)
We are being evicted as we have severe rent arrears.
(that and the landlord wants us out so he can do the place up and sell it on, but of course in the grand scheme of things no one cares about that.)
we got into rent arrears because i had to cut my hours at work due to childcare issues.
we have an order for possession that gives our landlord possesion of the flat on the 21st of this month (god thats only in 3 days)
does this mean we have to be out on that date?
will we have the bailiffs at the door on that day?
the court has not yet issued a court bailiff with a warrant to evict us (that i know of)
the council are saying that we have made ourselves homeless on purpose and have given us no other advice.
the times we have been down there the housing officer has been so self righteous and looking down her nose at us. telling us to look for another private rent (which we cannot afford, and have no references for)
and to get housing benefit (which we have, but at £20 a week and our money situ is so messed up atm it doesnt help). and getting housing benefit isnt going to stop the eviction all of a sudden now is it?
She said she was going to send us a letter explaining our choices and what forms we would need from the court, but instead she sent us a letter that detailed everything said in previous meetings and saying that we have purposely done nothing to help ourselves. we are on the council housing list and have been for a year now, to no avail.
Because the council say we have made ourselves intentioanlly homeless, they are refusing to house us, even temporarily.
Shelter are saying that the reasons we got behind on rent mean the council cannot find us intentionally homeless. and that even if they DO find us intentionally homeless, they HAVE to house us for up to 28 days.
which the council denys.
the only homeless action groups in exeter help single people, or couples with no children only.
the CAB are just as useless.
I cannot phone people as i have panic attacks when im on the phone, and my partner suffers from depression (which stems from this situation. he is taking anti depressants, and yes, we have told the council this.)
i am terrified that on monday bailiffs are going to turn up and kick us out. we havent finished packing, have no where to store our stuff, and no where to live.
are social services going to take my children from me?
their dad lives in a nice three bedroom house with his new wife, what chance do i have if he finds out and decides to go for custody??
im sorry for my extreme rant...but im very confused, stressed and in a fit of panic.
so any advice would be greatly appreciated

Daz1

Hi

Sorry to hear about the problems you are having. If you look a bit further down the forum page you will see another "eviction date has arrived" post. Read through this, it is several pages, and if I recall correctly has some very good advice. From what I remember, there are certain "delaying tactics" that are legal but require you to know about them and what to do and what not to do eg. opening the door, letting people in etc. Read that first, I think the poster in that one had much the same situation as you....good luck

Daz1

Will try to link here.....hope it works

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=676147

Miss_Cat

haha yes im currently reading through three different threads >_< but have already come accross a lot of REALLY good advice
so thankyou

Miss_Cat

I think what really annoys me about it atm is that we've got this going on, as have so many other people, and yet a friend (of my mother in law to be), who is single and in the early stages of pregnancy with no other children, and who was living with her parents, was just given a 3 bed house by the council.
it just doesnt seem quite right does it?

10past6

Miss_Cat wrote: »

it just doesnt seem quite right does it?

Life never seems fair, and I mean this is a supportive way, don't let others luck / situation distract you from your own priorities.

It's so easy to be distracted and feel hard done by when we look around us, as I say, my comment is meant in a supportive manner.

Good luck

bringmeshoes

Hi
I don't really have any advice for you but as one of MOT's longtime supporters just wanted to give you a hug :grouphug: and wish you luck, hopefully one of MOT's other supporters with more knowledge will be along shortly with some advice for you

Miss_Cat

aww thanku, im finally on pg 11 of MOT's thready thingy...my eyes are starting to blur a bit but as i said earlier, have already come across some really good advice.
its a bit like reading a novel from the start now tho...i have found myself rooting for MOT from the start, sharing her highs and lows and cant wait to keep reading and see how her situation is going right now... only another 136 pages to go! lol

teeni

we have an order for possession that gives our landlord possesion of the flat on the 21st of this month (god thats only in 3 days)
does this mean we have to be out on that date?

No it does not it means that after that date your landlord can apply to court for a bailiffs warrant and the expiry date oif that is the date the bailiffs turn up.

Shelter are saying that the reasons we got behind on rent mean the council cannot find us intentionally homeless. and that even if they DO find us intentionally homeless, they HAVE to house us for up to 28 days.

This is correct, Will shelter help you to challenge the homeless decision? Have the local authority given you the decision in writing (S184 letter) giving full reasons for their decisions. they have to give you this and you then have 21 days to request a review of the decision.

Homeless act states that you have to have done or failed to do something the consequence of which is that you lose accommodation that would have been available to you if you had not done or failed to do something.

I.E the accommodation would have been available to you if you had paid you r rent. From what you said you had reduced hours because of child care issues therefore you did not fail to pay yoru rent you could not pay it, that is a very different thing,

did the local authority take full details of all your income and expenditure at the time you reduced your hours to show affordability? were youin rent arrears before you reduced your hours. they legally have to have considered these points and advised you whether in the circumstances this was reasonable if they did not this is good grounds for a challenge.

with regard for accommodation following application for homeless assistacne they have a duty to accommodate you for a reasonable period of time to allow you to find alternative accommodation, case law states that for a person in a priority need category (you) 28 days is the minimim tha is considered reasonable or longer if required.

Go back to Shelter and get their help to challenge this decision and/ the decision re accommodation.

Good luck

Teeni

blue_monkey_2

Hi Cat, OMG I am sorry, first off don't worry for today your landlord is going to have to apply for a bailiffs warrant - at the sametime you can apply for a stay to give you a bit longer.

MOT hs much more experience in this field so she will give you all the help you need right to get through this. Have you been in touch with your MP - that might be a place to start, to see if they can help. I'll add this to your thread as well.

I wanted to say that it is hard, you do have the 'it's not fair' moments (and some days there are lots of them) but you have to keep on smiling on he outsde otherwise your kds are going to pick up on this being something to bescared about. More than anything I am trying to keep a brave face on in front of the kids.

I know how hard it is trying to find somewhere to live. You will still be able to go on the housing register though s one option (and yes, it was one I looked at) is to see if you can get a cheap carvan and pop it on a caravan site somewhere. I see you are near the coast, can you find any cheap statics going off season at all? Get a carvan and just go to a camping ground? Then apply for housing and you'll get points for lots of various things giving you a high total and you should be able to get housed then - but not as homeless. It might mean you have to live in a caravan for a few weeks but it might be worth treating it as a holiday as far as thekids are concerned. Get a PO Box or collect your mail from the PO Sorting Office so that you can still be contacted.

These are all things we have thought of doing. I hope they help a little.

Gillianh2

(((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))))))

Have you applied to go on the waiting lists of any Housing Asuosociations in your area?
As previoulsy said dont worry no-one will call on Mon there are other steps that have to be taken before the bailiffs appear.
Your Children will not be removed from you, you have done nothing wrong its cricumstances that have got you into this situation.

You will recieve plenty more helpful advice than I can give. But please keep us informed.