Problem with Tenants

[Jay1b]

Hello

I was wondering whether somebody could give me some advice please?

I have a property that I'm renting out, unfortunately at the other side of the country. I have a letting agent and the house is currently let to somebody on housing association benefits (HAB). They had they're HAB stopped about 5-6 months ago and have been living in the property since. The letting agent has apparently issued an eviction notice a few months back. They also reapplied for backwards HAB, which was initially stopped due to a change of circumstances.

What should be the procedure for this? The letting agent says one thing, and seems quite genuine, however the process also seems to of taken a very long time.

Thanks for any help you may be able to give

Jay

[Trenners]

Hi Jay,

The reason why your tenants benefit was stopped was because the Benefit Office would have written to them asking for additional information (probably payslips and bank statements) - so that they could assess how your tenants change in circumstances had affected their entitlement for Housing Benefit .... AND YOUR TENANTS FAILED TO RESPOND TO THE LETTER.

When tenants fail to respond - the benefit office SUSPEND the benefit claim. This should "focus the tenants" on providing the information required.

However - a claim can only be suspended for 4 weeks .... if your tenants do not respond within that time frame with the required information then the claim is TERMINATED.

Whilst a claim is suspended ..... then, once the information has been provided and assessed, the claim will be re-instated and the benefit will be backdated.

However ..... when a claim is terminated ... the claim is cancelled .... no money is backdated .... and the tenant must re-apply again for Housing Benefit ...... meaning (in your case) that the landlord can lose many many months rent.

You need to get these tenants OUT OUT OUT!! Secton 8 notice because they are 2 months or more behind with their rent needs to be served (Grounds 8, 10 and 11) and also Section 21 notice. Find out what the LA has served and how soon you can regain possession.

Also .. contact the benefit office YOURSELF .... and find out what the situation is with your tenants benefit claim ..... get the LA to help if necessary ... get in touch with the Housing Department as well ..... see if they can assist you in getting these tenants to re-apply for Housing Benefit.

You are certainly looking at large rent losses ... but the most important thing at this point is to get re-possession of your property.

I live in the Swindon area and am the resident expert on DSS tenants .... if I can personally help ... then personal message me .....

Good Luck,

Mark

[LLAW96]

Housing Benefit or Local Housing Allowance (never heard of housing association benefit) is a means tested benefit that is paid to a tenant on a low income, as already stated it is up to the tenant to apply for and to provide all the information required in order for the local authority to pay the claim. The claim may have been suspended for a number of reasons the claimant may have gone from claiming Jobseekers allowance to low paid employment etc. You certaining need to speak to the benefits service as rent payments are usually paid to the tenant directly, sometimes its too much of a temptation to pocket the rent cheque than pay it to the landlord. Your agent seems to be letting you down here. Check what kind of notice has been served, when and how it was served. If there was more than 8 weeks arrears (two months if paid monthly) you have a mandatory ground for possession. Either your agent is not on the ball or they have not been open and honest with you. If they have served a section 8 notice then proceedings can be issued after two weeks, your claim will include a claim for possession a money judgment for the arrears and costs. If you have no experience in issuing possession proceedings seek advice.

[Grampa]

As is appears the tenant has started another claim and if you have decided to get them out it would be a good idea to get the payments made directly to yourself because normally as soon and you start the process for gaining possession the tenant will stop payments and keep the benefits.

To get the council to pay you direct write to them explaining that you are the landlord of xxxxxxxxxx and the tenants xxxxxxxxxxxx are in rent arrears of more than 8 weeks/2months and you require the council to make all further local housing allowance payments the tenants are entitled to directly to yourself as regulation 95 dictates. Also include a rent schedule showing all payment the tenant has made.

[Jay1b]

Thanks for the responses. I've been trying to get hold of the letting agent today, typically the person I deal with has been with customers all day....grrr...

I'll try again tomorrow and update on the exact processes and timescales of what's happened when.

Thanks again

Jay