Hi,

I recently rented out one of my properties and my tenant vacated without notice and eventually I gained access to the property once it was confirmed he did one on me.

As he was on housing benefits, the council tax was paid by the DSS.

However, on vacating, I took on the owed amount.

In short, I received a letter from the council informing of the amount due (no specific payment date was noted) and a payment plan was annotated.

However, this was contradicted as I missed a payment

I was then not able to pay by D/D.

The payment I missed was a listed payment prior to the letter being sent and me being in possession of the property so there was not much I could about that.

Although the letter was dated 22/12/2016,

I did not actually receive the letter until the new year due to the Christmas period.

Based on the letter,

I decided to pay in full and this was done on 24/1/2017 as that was when I got paid.

On the evening of the 26/1/17,

I received a court summons due to not paying council tax

I contacted my bank who then confirmed that payment would have hit the council by 26/1/2017.

The court summons was dated 24/1/2017 this would not have been deemed served until 26/01/2017; the day payment cleared in their account.

I contacted the council the morning of 27/1/2017 to confirm if payment had been received and they said no

then an hour later said they had found the payment and have just allocated it against my account.

They also apologised.

They said I would not have to attend court or have to pay the fee.

I then requested this be sent via mail.

No letter has been received and they will not answer any of my correspondence;

clearly I am worrying.

I then contacted the Court and have since received confirmation from the court that I don't need to attend as the council stated that I have paid in full so the case will be withdrawn at court on 13/2/17 (not quite sure what this means - is the case still being heard? Can i still be found guilty?)

As I only paid the council tax owed prior to receiving the summons,

do I now still need to pay the court fees?

I was of the understanding this was a time overlay of me paying at the time of them issuing a court summons.

No mention has been made that I owe or don't owe other than the Lady i spoke to

but nothing is in writing as they are not responding to me.

They are very fast at issuing court summons but very slow at reassuring given that the court date is only a week away.

Also, does having a court summons, even though it will be withdrawn on 13/2/2017, sit on any public records or even my DBS? I ask as this could impact my job.

I did not go out of my way not to pay,

I was trying to get my house back again from a rogue tenant and I did pay as a matter of priority.

Many thanks in advance.

Dea

Slight misunderstanding with how this works.

The council issue the summons with the Magistrates address on. They charge a fee for issuing the summons.

If you did not sort out with the council before the date on the summons, the council would have you down on a list to see you at the Magistrates on the date shown. The court fee then becomes due, as the council have to book court time. The Council staff would have a room set aside to see people to try to resolve, but if the council tax payer insisted they could go into the actual court to address Magistrates bench. They might have a dispute with the council they want to be addressed.

Much of the process is an admin process handled by the council and the Magistrates in basically only used to rubber stamp a list of people that have not contacted the council to sort out a payment arrangement.

There is no issue with any records checks, as it never got to the stage of a liability order being issued via Magistrates.

As it goes they have told you they would withdraw the application at the court & the court have confirmed this

- this is the correct process as the magistrates technically have to acknowledge the summons is no longer required.

As part of the hearing which will go ahead the council will provide a list to the court of summons which will not be proceeding and the court will do so.

Neither a council tax summons or liability order is recorded on a criminal record or credit record so it doesn't sit on a record that will be checked for a DBS.

Craig

Cheers Craig.

I prob answered some of my own questions but I got worried when in one sentence they say the case will be withdrawn but on the 13/2/2017 when my hearing takes place so this confused me.

My main worry being the DBS as this would/could effect my job and current jobs if it was to appear; luckily it won't.

I never disputed owing the money at any point.

My problem was that my tenant did a runner without informing me.

I had no idea he had vacated my house because during phone chats about my rent, he said he would pay as a matter of priority.

When I visited the house it was still furnished (looking through the windows) so I took it that it was just a case of rent arrears.

3 months in, he informs me he has vacated the property and the key is under the bin to the front of the house so I had no idea at that time about the council tax.

It all came as a shock and within 4 weeks of getting the first letter, a court summons is issued.

I paid at the same time of the date on the court summons.

So my theory was that as payment was made prior and received by the date the summons was deemed delivered that the fee should not stand.

I just don't want to be thinking all is sorted then the council chase for the outstanding fee.

They have verbally told me that it would be removed but having done some research, others say it still stands.

I'm prob worrying to much as this has never happened to me before.

Once again thanks for the feedback

; it's much appreciated.

Slight misunderstanding with how this works.

 

The council issue the summons with the Magistrates address on. They charge a fee for issuing the summons.

 

If you did not sort out with the council before the date on the summons, the council would have you down on a list to see you at the Magistrates on the date shown. The court fee then becomes due, as the council have to book court time. The Council staff would have a room set aside to see people to try to resolve, but if the council tax payer insisted they could go into the actual court to address Magistrates bench. They might have a dispute with the council they want to be addressed.

 

Much of the process is an admin process handled by the council and the Magistrates in basically only used to rubber stamp a list of people that have not contacted the council to sort out a payment arrangement.

 

There is no issue with any records checks, as it never got to the stage of a liability order being issued via Magistrates.

Thanks for the reply. Both posts have reassured my main concern surrounding DBS.

When you mention about fees due, is this due to them sending the letter or only if I didn't pay and the hearing had to go ahead? It's just that the date I paid was the same date as on the court summons letter and the payment hit there account on the date the summons is deemed delivered.

The council verbally said they would drop the charges, so I should be okay if they keep to their word. I suppose I was initially asking if that charge was valid as payment was received at the time the summons was deemed delivered. As payment takes three days to clear, it should be obvious that I paid prior to knowing about the summons rather than a knee jerk reaction. How can you summon someone to court when the debt has already been paid and then demand the court fee.

I could understand if the first letter stated I must pay by a certain date and I failed then the summons would stand as I did not pay by the due date; but no date was specified. In this case, I paid not knowing a court summons was inbound and the council sent a summons not knowing the payment was being made.

It's a lesson learnt for me and it could have been worse.

Dea.

Suspect that when you paid them, it included a fee for the issuing of the summons letter. There will no other fees now due.

Suspect that when you paid them, it included a fee for the issuing of the summons letter. There will no other fees now due.

No, as when I paid, I did not know about the fees so I only paid the council tax only. The summons came after I paid. No other fees have been paid.

No, as when I paid, I did not know about the fees so I only paid the council tax only. The summons came after I paid. No other fees have been paid.

Perhaps they don't charge for issuing the summons. Some councils charge for doing so.