Council threatening eviction over £180 arrears

[PSY.1984]

Hi everyone,

 

I've searched the forum and can't find anywhere else to put this thread so here it is.

 

My friend moved into a new council property in July last year. Before moving in and sorting out her Housing Benefit she had to take in proof of income, which she did. Everything was fine and they gave her the keys.

 

She received a letter from her landlord today (the local council). They claim that Housing Benefit wrote to her in February asking for further proof of her income (she never received any such letter) and because she has supposedly ignored this letter, her Housing Benefit was stopped two weeks ago. The Council are now demanding payment in full of over £180 to cover the past two weeks, otherwise they will be seeking a court date for eviction.

 

She telephoned the council and spoke to the woman in charge of this and she was very rude and told her she won't accept weekly payments and if the amount isn't cleared in 7 days then she'll be seeking possession of the property.

 

My friend told her that she'll take all the proof of income into the council and the Housing Benefit will be back-dated but the council lady said this isn't good enough and won't be processed in time to avoid court and then eviction.

 

My friend is obviously worried to death now and scared she's going to end up on the streets. She's disabled and living in an adapted property and wouldn't cope with being homeless, frankly.

 

My question is, can the council behave like this or this just a case of a council employee on a power trip and taking a bad day out on my friend? My friend has no history of arrears and has been a model tenant.

[AndyOrch]

PSY I have moved your thread to the Benefits Forum in view of the issue being linked to housing benefit.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[PSY.1984]

Thank you very much.

 

Regards, Paul

[Consumer dude]

Keep everything in writing. Draft a letter confirming she has not received this letter, photocopy her letter and take in person to council office, hand in original letter, and request council date and stamp her copy. In the mean time, start collecting evidence of income..

[RaeUK]

First and foremost, it is highly unlikely that any court will evict a tenant when there is evidence of an administrative problem. Your friend isn't refusing to pay, she just never received the letter asking for further details. IF this goes to court, it is important that your friend attends the hearing and explains her position together with what she has done to resolve the matter / is doing. Do not worry, the courts really are lenient under these circumstances from my (many) experiences.

In the meantime, ask / get a copy of the letter requesting further info and comply with it.

Once this is done and dusted, your friend may wish to make a formal complaint to the head of the council vis-a-vis the rudeness of their staff. Do try and make a note of names, dates and times of who is spoken to.

Oh, and when the person at the council stated there wasn't any time to stop this going to court, she probably meant there wasn't any time to stop the commencement of proceedings. It'll be a wee while before it goes to court and could well be resolved long before then.

[PSY.1984]

Thank you very much for the advice...I've passed it all on and it has certainly helped to relieve some tension. It's reassuring to know that the courts are sympathetic in these circumstances.

 

Thanks again for the advice, guys

[mikeymack2002]

I have helped a tenant locally with the very same issue.

 

The result in this instance was I completed the required information for them in a letter and got it to the LA's document receiving point and had it scanned in to the system and got a receipt for it.

 

4 weeks later I get a call from the tenant with the information that the claim was backdated and all arrears cleared and the claim now live and ongoing.

 

Also no further action is being considered for repossession as the arrears have now been cleared.

 

If you want to take a little extra time I would recommend that you take a copy of their letter of requested further information with your responses and proofs directly to the LA get it scanned and a receipt asked for.

 

I also advised the tenant to pay an extra amount each week to create a bit of a credit. Why? Judges like to see that a defendant did/has made an effort to keep their rents accounts up to date...

 

Good luck

[Shoelover]

The chances are it's an automated letter.. Designed to get people's attention so that they sort the issue out asap.

[mikeymack2002]

I would agree with the above post, to save yourself heartache and other letters contact the LA involved and agree a repayment plan a keep to it and if possible a few £'s on top too..