DSS tenant in arrears by nearly 4 months?
I have a tenant who has been with us for 3 years. The original AST tenancy agreement was written in Sept 2013 which has 6 months on it. She is a DSS tenant, but they only pay £380, and the tenant pays £65 top-up.
She has always been in arrears on the top-up, but in the last 3 months the DSS have stopped paying her rent. We have sent her rent demand letters, a notice of eviction which is nearly 10 months old as we did not act on it as she paid the top-up arrears then.
We recently up-dated a tenancy agreement from Jan 2016- plus added a clause that the current AST is a continuation of the first AST. We have also put a claim in the small claims court for £1440, tenant says she is going to challenge it due to her low income, but on what grounds I don’t understand. I am issuing a section 8 notice too.
I would like to know the quickest way of evicting the tenant to minimise any more arrears, and is there any way I can collect my arrears?
She has always been a council paying tenant as she is a student with 2 children. She receives plenty in benefits as she has an autistic child. How can I resolve this, how can I recover my losses.
It just seems so unfair that Landlords like me are taken advantage of and the legal system plays into the hands of contract breaking tenants who won’t pay as they will claim not to have sufficient income.
Bash
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Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 1121
8:48 PM, 22nd March 2016, About 10 years ago
Bash LAs shouldn’t – but they do tell tenants to stay put until the bailiffs arrive. So don’t be surprised if the Section 8 gets little response. Good advice from people on here who have been there and got several “T” shirts. When considering the cash offer option weigh up the cost of the solicitor or Landlord Action – around £1200 plus loss of rent for four or five months while repossession takes place. So you are easily looking at thousands rather than hundreds. If you do make a cash offer make sure she signs a surrender of tenancy, gets all her stuff out, and hands you the keys before you hand over the readies. And signs a receipt stating she willingly accepts the money in exchange for the surrender and has not been coerced harassed or pressured in any way shape of form to do so.
Member Since December 2015 - Comments: 452
10:42 PM, 22nd March 2016, About 10 years ago
https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/3/housing-minister-wades-into-eviction-debate
Do they still advise them to stay?
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 1121
11:20 PM, 22nd March 2016, About 10 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Chris Byways” at “22/03/2016 – 22:42“:
Chris I doubt they will take any notice whatsoever. If you can find a Housing Officer to talk with you about the eviction ( Data Protection) then they will say they cannot be sure the tenant is homeless until the bailiffs arrive as the process can be stopped prior to that. It’s just an excuse as the councils don’t have enough houses so it takes the pressure off them and puts it onto landlords.
Member Since December 2015 - Comments: 452
11:58 AM, 23rd March 2016, About 10 years ago
The NLA and RLA should be making VERY loud reports to Brandon
Lewis if they do try this again. And the courts should have this pointed out, with a request for full reimbursement for any FURTHER losses incurred as a result of their actions. But again I doubt they will dare speak to BL………..
They are quick enough to persecute anyone who does not get a licence to swell their coffers…..
https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/3/waltham-forest-prosecutes-first-landlord-under-licencing-scheme
Member Since August 2013 - Comments: 80
12:14 PM, 31st March 2016, About 10 years ago
With the huge rise in Court costs from 21st March, I think more and more landlords would be inclined to offer a lump sum to vacate. I could be wrong, but I think this tenants circumstances do not lend themselves to accepting that strategy. With a disabled child, she is almost certainly going to wait for an offer of a Council property.
Do what has been suggested – apply for direct payment to yourself, which will also start to repay the rent arrears for the 3 months she says the benefits have stopped, if she is lying about benefits being stopped and she is actually receiving it.
Member Since March 2016 - Comments: 6
12:31 PM, 31st March 2016, About 10 years ago
We had a similar case with one of our tenants that has top up her rent. She fell into repairs we started the eviction process then the council paid up the arrears. On renewal the tenancy agreement contains a clause that states any arrears will now lead to notice given. This may not help your current situation but it may be something to consider for the future.