DHSS renter.. is not paying rent!

[mandyjayne]

Hi all

 

Posting for my sis-in-law who has a 2 bed flat that she is renting out to a DHSS tennant.

 

The rent of £900 per month is now one month in arrears, (and the mortgage people will soon will calling). He promised it would be in her bank this morning, she has just checked and its not there and the mortgage is due today.

The guy keeps coming up with excuses as to why its not been paid..ie been robbed, not been paid, lost the money, had his phone stolen so could not contact her to let her know the money was late...you name it he says it!

 

the letting agents say its not their prob, and the DHSS i believe pay the money direct to the tennant, so in their eyes its been paid!

 

She now wants him out and wants to put the flat up for sale as this is the second tennant that has caused these problems, she is sick of it...and wants rid of the flat.

 

What can she do!? I think he has to miss another payment before court action am i right?

 

Any advice in the meantime pls

 

cheers MJ:)

Edited October 29, 2009 by mandyjayne
edited to clarify the first paragraph

[Steve__M]

What do you mean "she is renting out via the DHSS"?

 

Check your insurance to see if you bought legal cover.

[mandyjayne]

Hi steve

 

what i think it is..

 

She is with a letting agency and was happy to have Dhss tenants as well as private. Some landlords state specifically "NO DHSS" she was flexible.

 

does that make sense?

you would have thought the DHSS rent would be a dead cert...but they no longer pay the landlord direct, it goes via the tenant..then in turn the tenant decides to keep the money, you dont get paid but the social have no comeback because they in actual fact have paid!

 

thanks MJ:)

Edited October 31, 2009 by mandyjayne

[Steve__M]

That makes sense. Are you sure your friend can't get the DHSS to pay her direct? Afraid I'm not an expert on this.

[andydd]

Did she not have a month deposit/advance ?

 

Im not sure of the law but surely she should just ask him to leave, maybe that will get the money forthcoming ?

 

Andy

[Jan4a]

I think it is up to the tenant to tell DWP who to pay the rent to. They won't pay it direct unless he asks them to. Doubt they pay the whole £900 anyway, he's probably supposed to make up the difference.

 

Surely agency should be doing more? After all, isn't that what they charge for?

[Zamzara]

After 2 months arrears they will pay it to the landlord. This has been interpreted in recent case law to mean the second month's rent is now due, in addition to one month's arrears.

[ErikaPNP]

As Jan4a correctly states, the DWP can only pay directly to the landlord if the tenant is agreeable to this.

 

In regard to eviction, she will be required to follow the correct eviction procedure.

 

What type of tenancy is it, and is the property in England or Scotland?

[andydd]

As Jan4a correctly states, the DWP can only pay directly to the landlord if the tenant is agreeable to this.

 

In regard to eviction, she will be required to follow the correct eviction procedure.

 

What type of tenancy is it, and is the property in England or Scotland?

 

..again..surely the agency should be doing a lot more in this ?

[Steve__M]

Whether the agent gets involved depends on the agreement with the landlady. It might be tenant find only. The landlady may wish to query very closely whether the agent was at fault in any duty it agreed to to properly check the tenant out.

 

She probably needs to get all the information from the dss to resolve the difference of opinion as to whether she could get the dss to pay directly.

 

She can't start action to force the person out till two months' rent are owing.

 

My comment about checking her insurance for legal cover reminds me that one of the reasons for not taking dss is that some landlord policies do not cover dss/students tenants.

[Jan4a]

ErikaPNP will be right about DSS, she always is. i think they stopped it years ago because of dodgy landlords claiming for non-existent tenants. It spoiled it for everyone.

[mandyjayne]

As Jan4a correctly states, the DWP can only pay directly to the landlord if the tenant is agreeable to this.

 

In regard to eviction, she will be required to follow the correct eviction procedure.

 

What type of tenancy is it, and is the property in England or Scotland?

 

Thanks Erika

 

its in england - london in fact

[mandyjayne]

Thanks also for all the replies..

[Emma1973]

I think it is up to the tenant to tell DWP who to pay the rent to. They won't pay it direct unless he asks them to

 

Not any more. a tenant can no longer request payment direct to the landlord unless there are 8 weeks arrears or the tenant is 'vulnerable', even then the tenant has to prove this.

 

It used to be the case that LL could apply to have the payments direct when the tenant was 8 weeks in arrears, due to a recent decision the LL can apply when the tenant fails to pay their rent on the 2nd due date. For some councils you have to write and request direct payment, or councils will have the appropriate forms on their website.