susiedotcom Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Hi everyone, I'm new here but I've been a landlord for a couple of years. I have a great tenant who looks after my place wonderfully. However, she's just had her HB stopped (she hopes mistakenly) and has informed me she's unable to pay. The rent is now 2 weeks overdue and I'm not sure what I can do. I'm trying not to be too emotional it, but she has 3 small boys and is genuinely hard up. On the other hand, I've just gone on maternity leave, and really need her rent to pay my mortgage. Any ideas on what I can do, other than go round with the baseball bat? ie. what terms to set down to her, how long I should give her to come up with the cash, etc. Thanks so much for any advice you can give, Susie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenners Posted April 25, 2009 Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 Hi susiedotcom, So - to summarise - you have a wonderful tenant - the Council has suspended your tenant's benefit claim (which is not unusual and probably not her fault) - your tenant is a couple of weeks late with her rent now (because she hasn't received her benefit) - and you are proposing to go around with a baseball bat to threaten her ? Are you a landlord or are you running a 60's style protection racket .... your lastname isn't Kray is it ? Threatening tenants (with our without weapons is illegal) and a criminal sentence will follow! If you have a tenant claiming benefit then you will find, quite often, that the benefit office will suspend your tenant's claim. If you don't like this fact then you should not have accepted a benefit claiming tenant in the first place. The claim will remain suspended until the tenant provides all the information demanded by the benefit assessor (usually pay slips and 2 months recent bank statements for all bank accounts) and the assessor has had time to review and assess all this information. It is not unusual for a claim to remain suspended for up to 8 weeks ..... through no fault of the tenant ... and the length of time it takes to resolve will depend on the amount of claims that the benefit assessors is having to process (especially in a recession). So my advice is to show understanding and compassion towards your tenant and not to threaten or abuse them. If you do not have the funds to pay your mortgage debt - this is not the tenant's problem. You are running a business and - like all other businesses in a recession - you will need cash flow (that means money in the bank) to service your debts. If you haven't got any spare cash then you shouldn't be in business. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyplumber Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 Stern but fair advice ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susiedotcom Posted April 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 Stern but fair advice ! Oh dear, sometimes I don't come across very well! I have absolutely no intention of threatening my tenant. As I said before, she is great and we're old friends. Sorry if I've offended anyone with my glib closing comment. All I wanted really was to know where I stand and what I can do to help both myself and her out of a mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenners Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 Hi susiedotcom, OK - you need to find out why the claim has been suspended. If you have the authority to speak to the Housing Benefit Department yourself about your tenant's claim then you can give them a ring and ask. If you don't have authority then your tenant will need to call them. They will definitely want more information before they will unsuspend the claim. There could be a whole variety of reasons why the claim has been suspended and it is impossible to know exactly what they want .... unless you or your tenant talks to the benefit department. You will have a few weeks to provide the information that is required. As long as you comply then the claim will get unsuspended and the Housing Benefit will get back dated. In the meanwhile - as per my previous post - you will (as landlord) have a cash flow problem! Take the information to the Housing Department at your local council and get a receipt for everything that you provide (as the Council has been been known to lose information). If you do not provide all of the required information within the alloted timeframe then the benefit office can terminate the claim. If the claim gets terminated - don't PANIC as you have a further 4 weeks before the claim is cancelled. If the claim gets cancelled then you do have a problem because, after cancellation, the tenant will need to submit a new claim ... and the benefit will not be backdated. So, in summary, take control by finding out what the benefit office needs ..... and make sure that it is provided in full. Failure to provide ALL of the information required will mean that the claim will remain suspended. There is no room for negotiation with faceless benefit assessors ! Good luck .... Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susiedotcom Posted April 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Thanks very much for that, Mark. I suspect that my tenant hasn't been entirely honest with the HB regarding her earnings from childminding and that is why they have stopped the payments. Unfortunately now, she has not answered her phone for over 2 weeks to me, so I guess it's down to me to do the chasing up with the council. Your advice has made me sit back a little anyway and I'll wait to see what happens. Thanks again, Susie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkirk Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 You need to resolve this asap, the longer it goes on the worse it'll get for everyone. Even now alarm bells are ringing - no contact for two weeks would make me feel very uneasy. cheers Selkirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
contactkay Posted May 1, 2009 Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 Hi susiedotcom, So - to summarise - you have a wonderful tenant - the Council has suspended your tenant's benefit claim (which is not unusual and probably not her fault) - your tenant is a couple of weeks late with her rent now (because she hasn't received her benefit) - and you are proposing to go around with a baseball bat to threaten her ? Are you a landlord or are you running a 60's style protection racket .... your lastname isn't Kray is it ? Threatening tenants (with our without weapons is illegal) and a criminal sentence will follow! If you have a tenant claiming benefit then you will find, quite often, that the benefit office will suspend your tenant's claim. If you don't like this fact then you should not have accepted a benefit claiming tenant in the first place. The claim will remain suspended until the tenant provides all the information demanded by the benefit assessor (usually pay slips and 2 months recent bank statements for all bank accounts) and the assessor has had time to review and assess all this information. It is not unusual for a claim to remain suspended for up to 8 weeks ..... through no fault of the tenant ... and the length of time it takes to resolve will depend on the amount of claims that the benefit assessors is having to process (especially in a recession). So my advice is to show understanding and compassion towards your tenant and not to threaten or abuse them. If you do not have the funds to pay your mortgage debt - this is not the tenant's problem. You are running a business and - like all other businesses in a recession - you will need cash flow (that means money in the bank) to service your debts. If you haven't got any spare cash then you shouldn't be in business. Mark Seems a bit venomous Mark. I could see that Susie was trying to be lighthearted in what is clearly a difficult situation for her. Fair dues that it is a business but almost every system is geared towards protecting the tenant especially with H/B tenants. The rent now goes to the tenants so those who are crooked are free to abuse the system at their will and LL's are held to ransom. And yes there are lots of decent tenants who end up penalised by the benefit system but there are an equal number that simply scam. And Susie and I and you possibly, we who chose to work hard and long and honestly earn our money end up paying for the scammers. I have no problem with those who are in genuine need and know lots of people who in such a position through no fault of their own but I also know many people who openly and blatantly lie and cheat with no comeback except to LL's. Surely we all need to start somewhere? Some of us don't start with a huge money cushion in our portfolio bank account. I didn't and I know lots that haven't but are simply decent people trying to prepare for a future where the government has spent all the money that we contribute for our old age and there is nothing left but what we have put aside ourselves. I really think your post was OTT but maybe you were having a bad day or misunderstood what Susie was saying. Also, if you are looking at it as seriously just business then it doesn't matter how wonderful the tenant is or was, cut your losses and as soon as is legally possible get them out and get another paying tenant in, right? Susie, I would personally follow the advice of those who had something sensible and beneficial to contribute and ignore all the rest especially during your pregnancy. Now is the last time that you need to be stressed. It is not good for you or your baby and for me, my family always comes before my tenants no matter how nice they have been in the past. Good luck with the pregnancy and hopefully all will be well with the tenant and if not, learn from the experience. I have never heard of a real success story without lots of failure in it. The trick is to learn from the failures and keep moving forward. Kay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susiedotcom Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Thanks, Kay I ended up writing a letter to my tenant. She's assured me that she has passed on all the relevant info and we're now waiting for a reply from HB. She's offered to get a loan to pay the rent, but I could foresee problems if she did as she is so hard up and wouldn't be able to repay it, so have given her another month. Hopefully, the HB will be backdated. As you say, we're not all in it as a business, or to make money. I'm just letting out my house to a friend in need. (Although I'm seriously thinking of putting it on the market before too long - waaaay too much hassle!) Susie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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