Verbal agreement instead of tenancy agreement with council tax included in the rent.

[Dundo79]

I'm basically wanting some advice. Me and 7 of my mates moved into a 4 bedroomed house and came to a verbal agreement with the landlord that we would pay him £1200 per month for rent and council tax and we would pay all the other bills. We moved in in March 2006 and stayed there until May 2007. Now, the landlord used to pick his rent up once a month, but he also called round once or twice a week to collect all of his mai( which makes it 98 times which he visited the property during our stay). He did this for the whole of the 14 months that we lived there. Like I say, we moved out in may 2007, and in October 2007, a letter was sent to our home address demanding 1500 for 14 months council tax. As it was only a verbal agreement i didnt think I had a leg to stand on. But, if we were supposed to be paying it in the first place, how come we never recieved a letter or bill demanding the payments, and why did the landlord never ask us for it once? I tried with the council to say that it should have been listed as an HMO anyway, (as there were 8 of us living there which were unrelated), but they said it only counts if there are three or more storeys in the house. I just wanted to know if someone who reads this letter, actually knows if we have a good case if we take him to court or not? please respond ASAP, time is running out. Thanks.

[MrShed]

Is the £1200 a total monthly bill? IE not £1200 each?

[Dundo79]

yeah £1200 per month was split between the 8 of us.

[MrShed]

Was the letter sent by the council or by the landlord?

The short answer is that you are liable for the council tax bill - it is the responsibility of the occupant, not the owner. Unfortunately your verbal agreement, although absolutely 100% binding in court, is not worth the paper it is not written on as you cannot prove it.

That said, who witnessed the discussion in which the verbal agreement was made? If most of the 8 of you did, a judge will struggle to believe the one landlord over the 6 or 7 of you.

If the letter is from the council, you need to pay it, as you are responsible to the council. However, you may have a case with then suing the landlord to be reimbursed.

[Dundo79]

The letter we recieved was sent by the landlord and it was witnessed by me and another 5, so 6 of us in total witnessed it. if we pay the council all the money they want, is it complicated to try and sue him, or is it a long drawn out thing that may take months?

[MrShed]

Sorry, the council tax demand is from the landlord?

I just want to clarify, as this is an important point. The letter you have received. Is this an actual council tax letter with your names on? Or is this a non-official council tax demand, from the landlord, wanting the payment for council tax as he is being chased for it?

[Dundo79]

sorry, i meant the letter is from the council tax department and the verbal agreement was witnessed by the 6 of us. it was an official one with our names on it, but they only knew our names because he told the council our names. we never signed any papers for the council, or electoral forms or anything.

[MrShed]

OK sorry now I'm with you.

It is not too complicated to try and sue him, especially as you are not arguing on some obscure legal point. However, it will be fairly protracted. You do not need a solicitor to represent you.

I need to stress something, and I cannot stress it enough. Regardless of your decision about the landlord, you MUST pay the council tax bill ASAP. There can be severe consequences of not paying, such as baliffs being sent, a court summons and even a prison sentence. It should also be stressed that paying the bill does NOT jeopardise any claim against the landlord.

[Dundo79]

ok thanks for your advice. we will be paying it sometime next week, but we've let the council know this and they're ok with this. what would be the first step of going about trying to claim it back off him?

[MrShed]

Put in a claim form with your local county court(small claims court).