Big Badger House (aka Noisy Lodger) HE'S GONE!

Badger_Lady

OK, benefit of the doubt now worn out... hands up anyone who thought I'd know better by now..?

QuackersLodger has lived here for what now, five months? She's only ever paid rent twice. Niave little Badger_Lady here thought, "Hey, who needs to keep tabs?" and I'm actually unsure exactly how much she owes me... but by the time you factor in the odd eBay item or train ticket that I've paid for, it's got to be getting close to a £Grand.

Oops.

Part of the difficulty is that her rent is covered by Housing Benefit, which is paid straight to her. But apparently they haven't paid in up in a while because they want to do a health interview (the benefits are on the basis of disability).

She's been away visiting relatives for well over a week now and I'm not sure when I'll see her... there's a pile of letters waiting, including some with a return address that looks highly relevant. I'm extremely worried that, for whatever reason, she won't qualify for more benefit payments. And I'm even more concerned that they won't back-pay.

Aarg!

Badger_Lady

Oh yeah, and she keeps leaving rubbish everywhere. Small niggle comparatively, but I went into Fairyland (NiceSoFarLodger's old room) the other day and found a blue loaf of bread in a bag

poppysarah

Ooo magic blue bread or just the normal really mouldy kind?

Badger_Lady

poppysarah wrote: »

Ooo magic blue bread or just the normal really mouldy kind?

Heheh, definitely just the mouldy kind...

BitterAndTwisted

I'm thrilled this thread has been resurrected, I enjoyed many a hilarious hour keeping up with all that went on in the BadgerLady madhouse

before_hollywood

she is making a fool of you £1000 is a lot of money

Willsnarf1983

I don't get how you didn't notice how much rent she wasn't paying!

I'd set a time for it to be sorted (max 2 weeks!) and if she's not paying rent and not getting back dated then ask her to leave.

Will

Willsnarf1983

Badger_Lady wrote: »

I'm only changing a fuse!!!

I meant if you had to switch the board.

Will

Badger_Lady

Willsnarf1983 wrote: »

I don't get how you didn't notice how much rent she wasn't paying!

I know... well I never had to before - guys would either just hand it over or gush about how they're so sorry and they'll get it to me soon (which they then did). This is the first person to apparently feel no remorse and just carry on as normal...

You just think, "I'm sure she's on the case" and you don't feel worried until it's been this long My boyfriend's been nagging me for a while though, he thinks I'm being taken for a ride.

Jowo_2

Badger_Lady wrote: »

OK, benefit of the doubt now worn out... ...

Part of the difficulty is that her rent is covered by Housing Benefit, which is paid straight to her. But apparently they haven't paid in up in a while because they want to do a health interview (the benefits are on the basis of disability).

... I'm extremely worried that, for whatever reason, she won't qualify for more benefit payments. And I'm even more concerned that they won't back-pay.

Someone in the LHA field will be able to give you pointers if this excuse is valid or whether the chances are that she's received the LHA directly and has squandered it. Secondly, when a claimant is 8 weeks in arrears, the landlord can apply to the council have the LHA paid directly to them. How many weeks arrears does she owe?

Did your lodger complete a lodgers application form - i.e. do you have sufficient information about her ID (next of kin address, dob, NI number, etc) to pursue her for arrears if she leaves the property owing arrears? Do you have a lodgers agreement with a notice period in it?

You need to remind her that she is the one who is liable to pay the rent - your agreement is with her and not the council. She may be of the mindset that it is your problem with the local council and not her problem with you, hence no urgency on her part to resolve it.

Give her a written summary of what she has paid in the period versus what she owes - letter of arrears - which also reminds her of the obligation to pay x amount of rent at x frequency, as per the lodgers agreement, and keep a copy. Tell her that it all needs to be paid by x date or you will give her notice and then pursue her in court in future for the arrears.

Make sure she goes down to the HB/LHA office to request an interim payment, also known as 'payment on account' - accompany her if you have the time. A local council is obliged to pay an interim payment if they haven't managed to process a claim after 2 weeks of it being submitted but have received sufficient information from the claimant to do so. This is something they don't offer but that she needs to apply for.

"Interim payment of Housing Benefit
Your Council can make an interim payment of Housing Benefit when they have all the information they reasonably require from you in support of your claim but are waiting for further information from another source to complete the assessment of your claim.
An interim payment or a 'payment on account' will be an estimate of what your final Housing Benefit entitlement will be. If the Council pay too much for your interim payment, they will ask you to pay back the overpayment."