DSS Tenant

[andynicholson]

I have had a tennant in my property for 9 months now, the first mistake was that she was a personal friend and needed somewhere while she got back on her feet.. she has applied to get benefit to pay for the rent and has received this which she gets direct into her account and then forwards this onto us...this has been fine for 6 months , however we increased the payments after 6 months as i was only charging her £260.00 per month ( i know dont ask ) we agreed to increase this to £340.00 ...she said she would apply for a benefit increase to help pay..unfortunateley we havent had a payment from her as she has said that the dss benefit has stopped paying her as she has asked for an increase and hasnt had any payment from them, this wont happen until they have reviewed her application for an increase ....

Is this correct , do the DSS stop payments while they do a review or based on her previous history which i have found out she may have had the money and spent it and not told me...( a holiday recently on the spur of the moment to Marbelle on a hen party might be the answer ) ,, or is there a general delay and then they backdate payments when this happens and i may be wrong to think this..

Can anyone help me with this matter...

Thanks

[Carryon Regardless]

It's a mistake to get involved with the HB as their 'style' and delays become your problem and T's are happy to relax some.

I've never heard of payments being stopped for these reasons, if you wish ask for the letter/s that show that she has been informed.

I feel you are being stuffed and often when T's go into some arrears they can't see a way to recover and just give up.

My expression here is if they have arrears of a £1,000 it may as well be a £1m.

This is business, you need the revenue for whatever purpose you feel you need it for. A new T would give you market rents. Serve a section 21 notice, you don't 'have' to use it but it will wake her up to reality.

Edit: You can apply to HB to pay you directly, but there are some new risks to receiving it this way in that an incorrect claim must be repaid.

[andynicholson]

Thanks for that advice, my assumptions seem to be right....

[Melboy]

I am no expert on DSS but it is extremely unlikely that payments have stopped whilst a rent increase is reviewed.

I personally think you are being stuffed and the sooner this Government honour their promise to stop paying DSS tenants directly and to pay the landlord you will always have this situation of non-payments and limp reasons for not paying their rent.

I always think that this is common fraud because the rent money the DSS tenant is receiving is from the taxpayer and it is to provide them with a roof over their head not to finance a lifestyle.

Mel.

PS Never but never let out to friends.

[Grampa]

I have heard of a claim being suspended while its being re accessed but to be sure you need to type a letter in the tenants name on the lines of:

I give permission for all aspects of my housing benefit claim to be discussed fully with my landlord xxxxxxxxxx

signed xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

once this is in place you will be in a better position to make decisions

[YesAdam]

Their is a form on the back of Benefits Application - You should be able to find it online called "share information with your landlord" ask the tenant to sign and complete this and then hand it in at benefits office.

At the same time you can give them the property address and postcode and check the status of the claim - as tenants do sometimes lie and pocket the money - or - don't complete the application.

It is common that they suspend the benefits but if the tenant provides them with all the information this should be for a short time - so ask the tenant to chase and you can do from your side also.

Remember benefits pay in arrears and their are cut off periods for "back payments".

You should look at LHA payments for your area, as they are often changing - As its a new application tenant may end up with less benefits than she had before (as its being re-assessed under new terms).