mark@warnock1975.freeserve.co.uk Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 i have recently bought a tennanted property (3 months ago) the local authority should pay the letting agent on behalf of the tennent however, even though i have been in constant contact with the letting agent asking that they confirm that the local authority are aware that i am the new landlord and therefore they should be paying the rent to me i have just discovered that the council have been paying the old landlord for the last three months. obviously i am out of pocket by 3 months rent but the local authority say they have never been told of a change in landlord and it is tough luck on my behalf. the agent says they have written to the council and also say that they can do nothing else to get my money back! am i at fault or should i be expecting the letting agent to sort this out, at this stage both parties appear to be looking for me to just put upl with the loss! HELP please someone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Mark Trenners is our "expert" on local council rentals. BUT what a Cock-Up eh! If it was me, my argument would be with the Agent because I would be demanding to see copies of the letters that have supposed to have been sent to the L/Authority. If they couldn't produce them, then I would take the Agent and the previous Landlord to the small claims court for re-imbursement of the money owed. No question about it especially as you have received assurances that everything was in order by the Agent....... but having said that I think I would not have allowed it to go for more than 1 Month before taking action. Mel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark@warnock1975.freeserve.co.uk Posted January 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Mark Trenners is our "expert" on local council rentals. BUT what a Cock-Up eh! If it was me, my argument would be with the Agent because I would be demanding to see copies of the letters that have supposed to have been sent to the L/Authority. If they couldn't produce them, then I would take the Agent and the previous Landlord to the small claims court for re-imbursement of the money owed. No question about it especially as you have received assurances that everything was in order by the Agent....... but having said that I think I would not have allowed it to go for more than 1 Month before taking action. Mel. thanks for the advice, i thought as much. the property is well away from my region so i assumed that when the agents said that the transfer of the landlord details were in place i thought they were!! i guess i have learnt the hard way. thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenners Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 Hi fnefc, Firstly, are the council paying the (old) LANDLORD or the LETTING AGENT. This is really important to clarify because we need to identify who is at fault. Has the letting agent paid the wrong landlord or has the council paid the wrong landlord? Was the tenant and the council notified - this is a requirement under the Landlord and Tenant Act. When the Housing Benefit forms are completed there is a section for the tenant to define WHO receives their Housing Benefit. The HB department then write to the nominated person / agent and ask them to sign a form that agrees to 1) refund any over payment of rent and 2) to contact the HB department if they become aware of a change in circumstances of the tenant. So, if the council have been paying benefit to the wrong person then that persion (Landlord or Agent) has been overpaid and, under the HB document that they signed, will have to return the rent. If the letting agent has paid the wrong landlord then they are going to have to sort this mess out. You should not be out of pocket. Get the agent to show you copies of the letter sent (as suggested by Melboy). My advice is to contact your tenant and get them to arrange a meeting with their HB officer, the letting agent, the old landlord (if possible) and YOU. Take all the documents, agree who is at fault, arrange for the benefit to be repaid ... and for future rent to be paid to you .... Hope that helps .... Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAS Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 In my experience with my Local Autority, any overpayment to a landlord must be repaid back. the Local Authority has a duty to reclaim the overpayment, my L/A will put an embargo on direct payment to a landlord who has been overpaid, with all subsequent housing benefit being payed direct to the tenant (god forbid) You and your agent must put pressure on the housing benefit office to rectify this matter. Good luck BAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark@warnock1975.freeserve.co.uk Posted February 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2007 thank you trenners and bas. i think that the letting agent is now pressing the local authority to retrieve the missing rent. the tennant was aware of the change of landlord but the local authority were paying the old landlord directly rather than via the agent, therefore the error occurred. i am hopeful that it will be resolved by the letting agent and i wont have to go down the legal route! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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