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Rent arrears for tenant on benefits

Started by Haroon, June 18, 2022, 07:03:33 PM

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Haroon

Hi all

In December my tenant stopped paying the rent. In March I applied for part of her benefits to come directly in lieu of the rent (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-landlord-request-for-a-managed-payment-or-rent-arrears-deduction) but the application was not successful

I don't actually know what type of benefits she gets. She is in her 60s, hasn't worked ever and lives with het university aged daughter. Sometimes her brother would stay too without her telling me. Only her name was on the tenancy.

A week ago thanks to legal for landlords support I managed to get possession order with Section 8 and award of about £4k  - I tried calling her to say pls leave now before we get bailiffs involved but she not having it

I've been advised that essentially there's no point legally pursuing the arrears because I would have to pay in advance and the fact that she has no income or assets in her name means the court will likely not grant anything. This seems so unfair, I took her on knowing she was on benefits, kept an artificially low rent rate for years and was patient with her for last two years in which I was asking her to move out before I got lawyers involved (note I tried section 21 twice through LA but they messed up procedurally hence it took so long)

So with that in mind, any suggestions??

I'm aware that she's also applied for a council house and other ppl have advised me that Birmingham city council does grant such to ppl (as in move them to top of the list) when they have the bailiffs notice but even then would wait until just before the due date

After this experience I can't see me ever taking a tenant who is on benefits, unfortunately, unless the government does force it like they're saying

Any advice / help appreciated

Hippogriff

What, realistically, can you do but follow the process to the letter and re-think your plans?

Unfortunately (and there may well be extenuating circumstances) you appear to have now got a Tenant on your hands who has decided it's perfectly feasible to not pay the rent and has found out the consequences of doing so aren't 'all that'... as we knew anyway. If it was a 'private' non-benefits Tenant I might suggest a quid-pro-quo in assisting with moving costs and an easy-going Check-Out (or even more) but this Tenant now has her sights firmly set on freeloading it all the way to the grave, possibly.

Is it possible to try again for the benefits to be paid direct, now you have a Possession Order in your... possession? I have a Tenant whose benefits are paid direct (so it still happens, but maybe they need to agree it these days, or even instigate it - my Tenant did so because she is feckless... but not so feckless that she doesn't realise she is). She knows if she got 'paid' (I have always found it strange how folk in receipt of Benefits term it "getting paid") her predilection would be to spend it before I got sight of it.

I think this will be a long-road... however, as Bailiffs become more real and present, you might get an overture from the Council.

If Section 21 is abolished completely, and nothing good comes in its place... many Landlords are going to have to take a long, hard look at their current Tenants and make a risk assessment.

I think I would try the Benefits again... the situation has changed (or exacerbated) in the time since they refused. If any part of her benefits is supposed to be housing benefit, the Government don't want it not spent on that. But, as you say, you don't know if she is in receipt of that.

Haroon

Thanks for your reply - I tried that option, got in touch with the council by email as they wouldn't answer the phone too, nothing worked out

Thankfully the threat of bailiffs prompted the tenants to leave which they did a a couple days ago

whowouldbealandlord

I feel your pain, I went through something similar. Tenant stopped paying rent, played the system, COVID came to their rescue as they stopped paying rent almost exactly 2 months before the eviction ban came into force! When evictions finally were OK, they waited literally until the bailiffs arrived on the doorstep, and they still trashed the place. In terms of pursuing the lost rent, I was advised by my solicitor that it will be a long drawn out process, and even when the judge finally concludes that I'm owed, there is no way of forcing them to pay, so you could fight it, win, and then have no payment from the vile tenant in the end anyway. So I gave up, accepted the lost rent and then set about repairing my poor house that was trashed.

The law is so heavily skewed in the tenants' favour. It's really stupid behaviour by the government, by going after landlords and protecting these poor little innocent tenants (yeah right), they are maximising the chances of landlords getting hacked off and selling up. As that happens, there are fewer properties available, meaning higher demand for those that are available, meaning higher rents. And who does that impact? The poor little innocent tenants.

The government needs to understand that for a thriving rental market, it needs to work for both landlord and tenant. Right now, and the way things are heading with the S21 ban coming, there will be hardly any landlords left.

Rant over, but I will finish with what I started with: I feel your pain