Hi again Erika: The problem with the Small Claims Court in Scotland (and probably in England) is that its judgments cannot be enforced. Obtaining a judgment against my tenant would be straightforward, but if she chooses to ignore it, I have no further options. If she runs off with my £400 I'll make a direct claim to the council, but your idea of reporting the benefit fraud is worth considering. Thanks!

Hello Chris: The day went well, thanks. I arrived home for lunch at 12.30 to prepare for the meeting at 1. Lying on my mat was £300 cash, and a letter saying the tenant didn't have the energy to go through it all again with me, and she was quitting the flat this coming Saturday. This £300 represents the first of her Housing Benefit payments. She will have been in the flat 10 weeks when she leaves, which is £1,100 in rent. What she didn't say is that she is already in possession of a second payment of £400. If I can get this, I might call it quits. I know she will disappear forever on Saturday, so I have had to instruct my lawyer to hand-deliver to her this afternoon a letter threatening the wrath of God if she dares to abscond with the money. We'll see what the week brings, and keep you up to date with any news. By the way, I'm a betting man, so here are my odds: Tenant absconds with money - 1/100 Tenant damages flat -1/2 I get my money - 100/1 Council offers to assist me - 1000/1

Hello Erika: I have indeed sent letters (nine in all) advising of the rising arrears, keeping myself right despite my decision to allow the tenant some leeway to sort out a very messy personal situation. I took them to the flat personally, and gave them to to her. I think that if I were to mention eviction, she would take the letter to the nearest housing action group and I will be swamped with paperwork, legal and otherwise, which will see this drag out to next Summer. My main hope is that my regular meetings with her (there's another one tomorrow) will enable her to see the error of her ways. You see, the tantalising complexity of these cases is that if I can receive the benefit direct, these DSS tenants usually turn out to be fine once you've taken away the temptation of stealing the rent money. I will let you know how I fare tomorrow!

Zamzara, the benefit element of my statement is no red herring. Unless you have dealt with people on benefit, you might not know that here in Scotland there are specialist organisations and charities to help them, free of charge, with legal advice and letters designed to hinder and delay any action against them, to let them stay in their accommodation for as long as possible. It is absolutely iniquitous that some of these Philadelphia lawyers are funded by the very councils they are helping tenants to cheat out of money. An example: In another of my properties live a decent disabled couple on benefit. They were ASKED on a social visit to a drop-in centre if they would like to make any complaint about their property. After thinking for some time, they remembered they had once seen a mouse in the house. The next day I received a stiff letter from a housing charity advising me of my obligations under the environment rules, and giving me seven days to exterminate all rodents from the property. I then had to make a visit to the couple, who said they were pressured into thinking up anything to complain about. I also had to write a polite letter to the charity telling them I had taken the appropriate action concerning the mouse. These people have more time and money than I do to pursue frivolities, so I figure it's best to keep them sweet.

Thanks for your replies, KD, Erika, Sulk, Dave and Bookworm. I will speak to the council, but with faint hope of any quick solution. I think the truth of this matter is that tenants have hit on a winning formula. They move in (nobody in this area has a deposit) and apply for Housing Benefit. Here in Fife it takes six weeks to process. Then the money rolls in to the tenant at £400 a month, and we have to wait TWO months before we can complain. So that's 14 weeks of free accommodation, plus a minimum of £800 hard cash to play with. Then you move out, and on you go to the next place. Now before anybody says I should get references and a deposit, nobody in this area of high deprivation would be able to let any accommodation if these criteria were insisted upon. But thanks, you guys, for your input. It helps to hear from people who have been in similar positions. I'll make an appointment to see a council officer, but I think I'll take a day or two to cool down first!

The law in Scotland changed in May this year. To empower tenants (ho ho) councils were instructed to pay Housing Benefit direct to them, unless there was an exceptional reason not to do so. The empowered tenant could then contact the council with a valid reason not to be given the money, but to have it given to the landlord direct. It has to be the tenant's choice. The Labour intelligentsia who came up with this wheeze did not stop to consider the housing laws. That's why I have an empowered tenant who is living it up on £400 of my money every month. And will do for the foreseeable future. What say, zamzara?

Zamzara, you are clearly on the other side of the fence here. By the assured tenancy laws in Scotland a tenant doesn't have to move out for three months after you've given them the eviction notice. The landlord doesn't get a bean. I am already £1000 down, my solicitor says £600 for the court process to evict, and civil court judgments can't be enforced if the tenant still doesn't pay up. My total costs here will be £5000. I say the law is weighted against me, because the tenant will have had five months' accommodation at my expense. If the law wasn't against me, I could go round tomorrow and change the locks.

I have had a tenant in a rented flat for 9 weeks, and I have given her some leeway while she sorts out a complicated Housing Benefit situation. This is now cleared up, and the first payment of £300 has gone to her, as it must under the new Scottish law. But she has spent it, and given none of it to me. Another cheque is due to her this week, and again I fear it will not be passed on. What recourse is open to me? The housing law is so weighted against landlords, but I feel she must be committing some sort of offence by intercepting money the council is giving to her to pass on to me. Starting the lengthy and expensive eviction process is too painful to contemplate - and even when I get her out, my hope of recouping any money will disappear with her.

Many thanks, Joa, for posting that reply. So it seems that they are right and I am wrong about this. I read your link with interest, and I am astonished that there are no local authority powers. As an adjunct to my question, what is the situation with Pension Credit? Again, if people don't notify their savings they can claim substantial extra money every week, and I know two people who do. Surely the Government - operator of the Pension Service, as opposed to local authorities - have the power to enquire into savings? Or am I wrong again?

I feel a bit of a heel posting this question, but here goes. I pay full council tax, but almost all my friends claim some type of benefit, despite the fact that they have savings. I am on a low enough income to claim benefit on council tax, but as I have more than the stipulated amount of savings, I don't claim. Now my friends say that councils have no powers to look into private bank accounts or savings accounts with building societies, so anybody who declares their savings are mugs. I think they're wrong about that, and to be honest this issue is starting to bug me. Can anybody direct me to the legislation which will give a clear answer on this, please?

Thanks for your reply, sohoscribbler. I tried your suggestion about an anonymous enquiry before I posted this question, but just received the usual bunkum about each case being judged on its merits, and requiring names etc before giving an answer. It looks like a dead end as far as a definitive answer is concerned, but thanks for your support.

Thanks for your view, Saintly. I like it mostly because it's my view in a nutshell, but it's good to hear someone else say I'm on the right track. I shall return to my fiancee and attempt to put her mind at rest again.

Thank you very much, Michael, for your prompt reply and your guidance notes. I have read all the notes very carefully, and I can't see any item which refers specifically, or even generally, to my situation, so I guess there is no guidance for it. I still firmly believe that this is a situation in which common sense should apply. The Government, via the local authority, is receiving a full council tax payment from me, and three-quarters from my fiancee. Should I make up her payment to the full amount, and stop paying tax on my own house,the Government would be out of pocket. In any case, as I spend more time at my own house than at my fiancee's, surely that qualifies my own house as my main residence?

I am finding trouble getting any guidance at all on this problem, so I hope someone here can help. I am divorced and live with my adult son in our own house, and pay full council tax. Two or three nights a week I stay with my fiancee, who lives about 100 miles away. She receives the single-person discount, and is worried that she might be breaking the rules by letting me stay over. At first I thought her concern was laughable, as I pay full council tax on my own place, but she won't be placated on this. I can't find anything definitive on this on the Web. Can anybody help, or has anybody heard of a similar case? Thanks in adfvance, Joe

Hi Everybody: I'm a newcomer too, and I am looking for advice on a council tax question. I've had a quick look round, and can't find the appropriate forum heading. Can you steer me, please?