We have received a demand on ground rent from a new company which owns by same shareholders of the landlord of our flat. The demand was chasing not only the yearly ground rent of GBP100 (which we paid yearly), and also the difference of inflation amount since the flat was built in 1995 - that is GBP830:mad2:. However we did not own the flat from 2004, we rejected to pay the amount for the period that we did not own the flat. We then wrote to them for dispute. The landlord did not response to us at all and later they sent the demand to our mortgage bank and requested the amount:-x. At the same time, we investigate about the landlord about the new company and find out that the original company (which we used to pay the ground rent) was strike off:???:. The directors of the orginal company bought a new company and request for the ground rent and the additional amount. Unfortunately, the mortgage bank paid the demand and claimed that they did not consider the dispute as a good enought for them not to pay. We then decided not to pay the ground rent anymore until a full explanation from the landlord. However, the landlord did not reply us and reject to send the demand to another address. Recently, we find out the new company is a dormant and plan to strike off again. We have following questions? 1) Is it legal for the landlord to transfer the freehold from one company to another company without notification to the leaseholder of the flat? 2) Can they collect the ground rent for the period that we did not own the flat (obviously it is unreasonable!!!) 3) Can the landlord refuse to send the ground rent demand note to another address? 4) Is it legal for the new company to collect the ground rent (the company is dormant and plan to strike off)? 5) We did not hear anything from the landlord since they sent us the GBP830 demand note on ground rent. What should we do? We are so miserable ... not to know what we should do. We want to sell flat , however, we have no clue whether it would affect our selling.

Hello - I wonder if anyone can help? I'm looking for a house to rent for me and my daughter - I'm on Income Support - but all of the properties I'm finding are stating 'no DSS'. However, If I ask my (working full-time) ex-husband to make the application with the lettings agency - so his name is on the contract, his bank details etc - would that then be an issue when it came to making a new Income Support claim for the new property - my name not being on the contract - despite him being my daughter's father? I have a feeling the answer is yes, but I can't see any other way around this? Many thanks.

Hi all - sorry in advance for the essay, but I'd be grateful for any advice. We forgot to pay the rent at the beginning of this month - my wife handles the bills as I have a mental health problem which affects my memory, and we had worked out the stress of bills makes it worse, but as she now handles most of the household I really can't blame her for a solitary mistake. I have been in quite poor health recently, and she has been particularly badly treated by our employer, so it's been quite stressful for some time. She hadn't realised that she had forgotten, but today we received an S21 notice from the landlord, dated the 22nd Jan and stating they require possession from the 29th March. It was only after seeing this that she checked back through our accounts and realised the mistake. I am assuming that the S21 is as a result of this, but I'm not 100% sure - we've had no other contact from them for months, other than the occasional pre-paid envelope to send any errant mail to them, nor have we had any problems. The only rent-related issue was a couple of months' over-payment when I was in charge of it, which they righted without quibble. The complication is that the house is currently for sale, and we are additionally planning to emigrate around the middle of the year. If we were to leave at the end of March, that would really affect our planning as we're only likely to get a minimum 6-month tenancy anywhere else. If we cut our losses and leave ASAP, giving one month's notice, we would obviously still owe the arrears. I'm just looking for some advice on how to approach this. I plan to write to the LL and offer extra on top of our normal rent each month to catch up, but I'm not sure whether to also give them notice to quit. In order to keep up with our plans, we would need to find somewhere else within the next 5 weeks, assuming a 6-month tenancy. To further complicate things, the wording of the cover letter for the S21 seems to imply that the tenancy could still continue!

I moved into my Housing Association house 9th Dec 2013.I have been with the same Housing Association since 2004. I am in a row of 4 houses and my rent is £105.75 for a 2 bed house. My next door neighbour is paying around £83 for the same house,another neighbour £99 and another £86 all the same bedrooms configuration etc. Is this right ? and do i have a right to appeal against the rent as i am now paying higher than everyone else. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hi, just a small query. My family and I are set to move into our new rental property on 31st January. However we paid a full months rent to our current landlord upto and including the 6th February. We are now in our 7th month of renting our current property after an initial 6 months term. Are we entitled to the differnce bcak if we leave? Any help greatly appreciated, Cheers

Hi, I currently pay £775 a month in rent to my landlord, they are a property company and own lots of houses. My tenancy is due to end the 24th January. I completely forgot and first call I get about it is today from one of the admin girls at my landlords office. She says to me they need to increase the rent by 4% to £806 a month. This seems like a massive increase to me, I understand and will accept an inflationary increase but I just want to understand my rights as a tenant and wether I just ave to grin and bear it or if I can negotiate. I've had a look on right move and in my area 2 bed properties similar to mine are going for £795 a month. I'd be happy to pay this. How can I negotiate this with the landlord? I've returfed the lawn as well out of my own pocket, surely this could be taken into account? Also I think I read somewhere they have to give me a months notice in writing before increasing the rent, this hasn't happened as they want to get me to sign paperwork this wednesday? Many thanks in advance Blinky

I'm new here today but would appreciate some advice as I can't seem to find the answer anywhere. I have recently checked my credit report after years of burying my head in the sand. To cut a long story short, I racked up some debts when I was a student, and have gradually paid these off - each one at a time. Received a CCJ for an old credit card but this now satisfied. The one LAST debt I have is for rent arrears from private student accommodation in 2008 (last payment made January 2009 approx), with about £2,000+ owed. I am willing to pay this debt in monthly installments like I have the others, although the repayments will be small as I cannot afford to pay back the amount in full. I have had NO contact with the company since (5 approx years). Question is, as this is NOT a credit agreement (it was a short-hold tenancy), there are no defaults or CCJ on my credit file. I presume there is no CCJ registered but have been reading online that CCJs are not automatically registered on credit files for rent unless specifically requested by the landlord. So, I have NO idea where I stand with this debt and what action has been taken, if anything. A s I moved back to my parents shortly after vacating the property (I was in my final year of study), nothing has caught up with me (yet), and what I mean by that is no letters, calls etc. SO, should I make an attempt to contact the private company (which has since gone into administration according to online), and try and set up a formal payment arrangement for X pounds per month. Or just leave things be, and hope that nothing will be done until next January time which will mark six years since anything was last acknowledged (statue of limitations? Even though nothing on credit file?). I don't know if that's even possible with rent arrears and I can't find any legal guidance on this topic anywhere online. Don't want to be in a position later down the line where enforcement action is taken on a possible CCJ that I am completely unaware of and is registered SOMEWHERE but nowhere where I can see. Would appreciate ANY help if possible. Thanks in advance. :|

Hiya Everyone. I rent with a housing association and they offer 2 weeks rent free at Christmas. I emailed them last week to ask which weeks they would be, and they got back to me today to tell me that I am not eligible as I am currently in arrears. In my original email I did acknowledge my arrears and outline that I would still pay the arrears for the two weeks. I am a bit gutted about it and also a bit confused, does this mean that when I pay in full for those two weeks is all of that amount coming off of my arrears? If not, doesn't that mean I am techinally paying more rent in a years period than people who are not in arrears? Does anyone know how this works? Thanks everyone x

My brother rents a house from a private landlord with two friends. A months deposit was paid as well as a months rent in advance when they moved in at the end of last year. Unfortunately, due to one friend losing his job there was an issue with his share of the second months rent but the landlord was very good about it and gave extra time to pay etc. An agreement was reached whereby they paid an extra couple of weeks rent when able to extend the official rent due date each month and so from the third month they started afresh and paid that month in full. However, it was only at this point that a contract was signed, for 12 months. the tenants signed and had it witnessed and returned both copies to the landlord for her signature. Neither copy has ever been returned to the tenants and this was several months ago. An arrangement was made to allow weekly payments of rent and this has continued. A couple of times the landlord contacted my brother via text to chase up rent and efforts were made to pay. Last week an arrears figure for the last 2 months was provided by the landlord, saying it needs to be sorted asap or she will be forced to serve notice. My brother queried the amount and landlord agreed they had paid more rent than initially thought, but there were still arrears. She also pointed out that looking back there were further arrears and she would provide a final figure. My brother is still waiting to here and is very concerned. He spoke to the landlord and said he would do whatever possible to pay the arrears as soon as possible and is desperate to stay in the house. In many ways the landlord has been very helpful during his tenancy and my brother hopes to keep a good relationship, but also raises a few valid points - concern over the fact that the contract has not been returned, if arrears have been accruing for sometime why are they only being sought now - should some letters have been sent when they began? All communication has been done by text and/or phone - does this have any bearing on things? They have an AST which still has over 3 months to run, does this affect anything at all? Any advice greatly appreciated, obviously we will know more when the landlord replies with the actual figure etc. I should also say that my brother has said to the landlord that he would like to reach an agreed weekly payment plan to cover due rent and reduce arrears.

Hi I haven't posted for a while but I do pop in sand read the threads and posts. A while ago I got into rent arrears which was a lot. I came to an agreement with The landlord. I have been paying off the arrears together with the normal rent. Last year I asked the landlord ifvibcould drop down the arrears payment as We were experiencing financial difficulties he said yes. So I am paying rent payment and still money towards arrears. Today I had an email from the lady that does his books telling me my arrears are mounting Up. How can this be when they should be coming down? My rent is £1000 a month. I was paying £300 on top for arrears Total £1300 a month I am paying at the moment £1100 rent and arrears. So how is she saying its in arrears. Arrears are being paid. I thought they would be going down not up. I have all my receipts. I am going down the cab on Monday. Any suggestions as to why she is saying my arrears are mounting. U The only thing I can think of is that she thinks the £1300 is on top of the £1000 rent and total Should be £2300? I owed £8000 in arrears and over 3 years have got that down to £1887.00. Its been hard but I am doing it. Any suggestions would be helpful as to why she has said the arrears are accumerlating. Thanks.

Good Afternoon All. I was really looking for some advice on way's I can move forward with the following situation: My partner, son and I live in a housing association property and pay £870 per month for a 2 bedroom house. As of February 2013 I had to change jobs due to my previous company making redundancies and jumped into the next suitable job for financial security purposes etc. I went from a 30k a year salary to 23k per year and my partner takes home roughly £650 per month as she works part-time due to being the primary carer for our son. Unfortunately as we both have bad poor credit scores we need to use payday loans to help us get throught the month but now are in a situation where we are taking them out to help with living and the cost of rent! Each month we are needing to pay back the previous loan and take out another one and the amount with interest has gradually increased as we have needed slightly more each month as we are loosing a lot of money in interest. The problem we have now is that the maximum loan I can take out just about covers the rent but we'll have nothing else to live off of for the month. I'm not too sure what to do with this one, I don't want to get into rent arrears or have a payday loan we can't pay back, especially as I can't imagine them being that flexible. Is there any support or advice out there to help manage housing association rental arrears as I don't see any other solution to get us through the month then to pay less on the rent? Unfortunatly there isn't anyone we could ask to burrow the money from. Thank you for your time.

Hi All I really hope someone can advise me! I entered into a rent to buy agreement in August 2011, paid an 'option fee' of £15,000, and have religiously paid my rent/deposit for my house each month. The contract expired in last year, and a new contract was offered to me in July. For various reasons (illness) I was unable to respond for 2 weeks, so my LL rings me and asks if all was well?? I explained not really, I was very ill and had taken time of work etc etc. He offers my a short term tenancy (just an email) for 4 months (where I pay £600 less), with the option to go back to the original rent to buy agreement if and when my situation improves. I have informed my LL twice (via email) during this period that I would like to go back to my original agreement but now he says he wants to sell the property and would be serving me notice!! Can somebody please help me with advise??!! I'm really stressing out as I just wish I had signed the damn contract in July!! Many thanks

Hi I have a business lease and I am in arrears a considerable amount of money, I am looking to go bankrupt, but before I go can my landlord get the bailiffs in without notifying me they are coming or go to court and stop me from going bankrupt. help I am end of my tether please help. :???:

Howdi Folks I have a question and maybe you can put this in the right subforum. i pay £350 for a room in a house with a mother and her son... I love the house and its my home away from my hometown... Now when i moved in It was £350 per month all in. The goalposts have slightly changed. Crawley Borough Council sent a letter to my landlady saying that they are removing her 25% single persons discount. She has now asked me to contribute to this. (Apparently this is my issue, not hers) and pay an extra £25 a month for it in cash instead of through her bank account. Now I have thought long and hard about this and im not happy about it but i want to keep peace in the house. I want to pay equal to how much she is genuinely having cut from the discount and not to give her profit... Am i in the wrong for asking to view a council tax bill for this year with the amended amount?

I received a hand delivered letter today from Whyte & Co stating that I owed rent from the my last tenancy at a previous address (around £1000). I don't dispute the amount and I'd like to set up a repayment plan as I definitely can't afford to pay everything upfront. Based on my passed dealings with bailiffs, I have a feeling that they will reject a repayment plan since I won't let them in in to do an inventory of my goods. (I'm pretty familiar with what bailiffs can and cant do as long as I don't let them in). I also have a feeling that if I contact the council directly and try to negotiate a repayment plan, they'll tell me that I must deal with the bailiffs directly. I'm going to try the council first, I just wondered if anybody had an opinion on the best way to deal with this... Thanks in advance.

I hope someone can help me out. Basically, I've been accepted for an apprenticeship and I'm due to start on Monday. I live with my dad, who has been informed that once it starts they want £20 council tax and rent from me. Bearing in mind I have £25 board and lodgings to pay, £5 petrol for my motorbike, insurance of £3 a week and dinners whilst I'm there I'm going to be no better off. Actually, I'll be worse off! I was fine with having £50 a week, but £28 is a joke. I get £56 now. Before anybody says anything about my motorbike, it's cheaper than the bloody bus. I don't want to turn down this apprenticeship but I can see no way of it working. Is there anything I can do? . I've been unemployed quite a while and I was so happy. This news has ruined my day to be honest.

Hi everyone, I need some advice! Ok, basically we have some outstanding council tax and rent that needs to be paid. This was a bill 2 years ago and we know that they have sent the ballifs to our old property which we left and most likely got evicted for not paying rent. Now at that time when the ballifs were sent, we were out of the country due to an unforeseen circumstance. My question now is: i am not sure if there is a court order as we have been abroad since, have been trying to call yet to no avail, would i be able to bypass the court order and just go directly to the council and agree some sort of installment payment or must i go through court to settle the payment. :???: Oh and i am assuming with rent and council tax, the debt comes up to roughly 2000 pounds. I am also hearing that the Bailiffs add their own fee's to things, can i not pay that and just pay up at the council. Would they force the bill on us straight away and if unable to pay it, jail us? I know my mind is playing games but i need to make sure and plan ahead. Any information would help as i need to come back asap yet worried what would happen at the other end. Thanks!

Hi, Can someone please help with this issue!!! I received a letter from my mortgage provider, stating that they had received a letter from my Ground rent company,showing that I was owing arrears for 2 years. The letter included various copies of the Ground rent company's correspondences to me. I never received any of these demands and on close inspection, noticed that all the letters had been sent to my previous address. I have previously been receiving letters from my Ground rent company at my current address and know that they in fact have my current address. They have now added charges to the amount owed because of a lack of communication from myself. I do not believe these charges to be warranted and would like some help with writing a letter to them stating this, and if there are any acts or laws that they are breaking by doing this. Thanks in advance.

Hi Please help and explain if a landlord can legally increase monthly rent by £150. A bit of background. At the end of August we will have been in this property 4.5 years. When we moved in back in 2009 our rent was £850. almost 2 years later I mentioned to our landlord that we were expecting our second baby due around the 2 year anniversary of living here. We then received a letter stating that the rent will be increased to £900 which is what we paid consistently. Earlier this year my husband who works on a commission basis received salary of £960. His lowest ever. All our other direct debit went off and the biggest amount (the rent) didn't go off as we didn't have enough. Initially she wanted to evict us if we didn't come up with it in a weeks time. And then finally agreed we could split the £900 over 3 months and therefore pay £1200 for 3 months which the last one would have been paid end of June. Luckily for us after paying the first £1200 we managed to get help of £600 to pay her the rest and we were therefore upto date with her rent and been paying £900 since April now. Earlier this month we received a letter stating that the rent would be increased from September to £1050. My immediate thought was that she wants us out now as she is fully aware that we just about covering our monthly bills. Her later stated that we need to increase our standing order if not to take it as our official 2 months notice and vacate. Now the problem is in our area we cannot find anything cheaper. They all similar priced. We were looking into putting money slowly away to move by next year before our 5 year anniversary in the property as we really cannot afford the deposit, rent and credit checks upfront at this time of the year. We also think that increasing it by £150 is really really high and it is her way of getting us out because of having problems before. Can she do that. The first 2 years we signed 1 year contracts but have never signed anything since. She also stated that she has never increased the rent before which is not the case. And rental properties with the value of £1050 in our area are all semi detached with dining room or conservatory or something additional which hers isnt but a small mid-terraced property. Thanks

ive been informed by the HA that they are going for possession of my house.. oh joy.. at least it will be a day out.. i owe £110 and pence after this weeks HB is taken off.. they want the lot within 7 days or they go to court. sure ill magic it outta my arse. it will be around £70 owed when i pay 2 weeks rent/Bedroom tax this week ( i get my esa every 2 weeks) Ive had no notice of possession and they say they are applying to the court in the next 7 days if i dont pay up which i cant. My current rent is 18.18 a week including water rates now im no mathematician but im sure im under 8 weeks arrears so am i right in thinking they should not be taking this to court? and is it 8 weeks full rent arrears without HB or would it be 8 weeks of 18.18? i owe £174 odd pence but that does not include this weeks HB of £67odd any help guys cheers mcjordi

Hi All, I'm new to the forum/Site so first a big hello to everyone. I've been reading the site for a while and it has tons of valuable information for consumers etc so I decided to join up so I could ask a question of my own. Hope I put it in an easy to understand, accurate way and I will try and keep it as short as I possibly can. Thanks! P.S. Sorry if some icons look odd but I typed this in MS Word first and just Copy/Pasted it here. I moved into my flat on May 5th 2003 and I still currently live in it, so I have now lived there for approx 10 Years and 2 Months. It is a privately owned flat and I have a Landlady owner. I have been on Incapacity Benefit for many years and with the changes made recently I am now on ESA, (Employment and Support Allowance). My rent has only increased once in all those years. Briefly, the reasons are that although the flat is fine to live in, it is a very old building and though what you may term "modernized", it's nothing very special either as the work carried out was not to a very high standard therefore the once only increase in rent over the years and the rent itself is actually very cheap by today's/other local flats pricing. I believe that nobody in work would spend their hard earned money renting the place if the rent was, for e.g. £100 per week or more, when they could get a far more modern, far nicer etc flat nearby for that kind of money. (This is just my opinion of course). Anyway, I'm just outlining the situation for you with that info. Now to the main question. As someone on IB/ESA, I of course have Council Tax and Housing Benefit. This varies very slightly but on the whole remains roughly the same per month. However, for the majority of these last 10 years+, I have had to pay the Landlady a set amount myself because I could not receive full housing benefit due to my IB/ESA being too high. Both myself and my Landlady were aware of this and so during the first week I moved in (May 5th 2003), I was "summoned" down to my Landlady's house to work out the rent and to find out what my contribution would be. Two of her children (Adults of course), always advise and help her out with financial matters, although she herself is well capable when it comes to money etc lol. Anyway, after pleasantries, she told me that she herself, her Son and Daughter had looked at all the figures, the benefit and what she wanted in Gross Rent. They informed me that they had come up with a shortfall of £9.41 per week. I had a quick look and generally took them at their word (I have known them since I was a boy and I'm 48 now) and agreed that I would pay what they had suggested. I told them I would setup a Standing Order at my Bank directly to her account which I did that very day. It was for £9.41 and was to be paid from that Monday (6th May 2003) and every Monday thereafter until cancelled by myself or the Landlady. I was also given a Contract drawn up by Solicitor for I think 5 years (I haven't had one since by the way?). All went as expected over the years and the SO kept being paid every Monday as usual. Then on April 1st 2006 she told me that she had to increase the rent as there had been no increase at all since my tenancy began and everything has gone up etc (She moans a LOT over anything to do with money of course lol). Well I just said okay I guess and she told me that I would probably have to adjust my SO with the bank and that she would let me know by how much. Well, as you will know, I had to inform my local council Benefit section about the increase and they eventually informed me by letter that I was still on maximum benefit and if there was any extra rent needed to pay it was between me and my Landlady. No problem I thought, as I could see it wouldn't be very much anyway. I never heard from her and I never increased the Standing Order of course! Although I found that slightly odd, I didn't question it any further and my SO and life in general continued merrily on. Then something changed! Pure accident that I found out about it! As I said, my benefit changed from Incapacity Benefit to ESA and the ESA I was receiving was "Income Based" ESA. After 1 year on this, it of course runs out and you are then put on "Non income based ESA". From May 27th 2013 I was told that my ESA would now be approximately £10 per week less as I no longer had my contribution based ESA which gave me that extra tenner per week. I phoned my local council benefit dept, who were of course already informed by the DWP of my ESA changes. (They always seem to be even though they always tell you that YOU must report all such changes lol). Anyway, they confirmed that they were aware of my drop in benefit so I happened to mention that I also contributed to my own weekly rent via SO. They then told me that from May 27th 2013 I shouldn't be paying her ANY rent at all as I was now in a lower income bracket I was now entitled to FULL 100% housing benefit and that's what the council were now paying directly into my Landlady's bank account every month. I had already paid TWO payments of £9.41 (£18.82) by this time and my Landlady had said NOTHING about it, even though ALL rental changes made by the council are sent TO HER as well as myself!! The very helpful lady at the council told me that although she and the council were not in a position to legally or otherwise get involved in any dispute/issues between Landlord/Tenant "Rent shortfall payments", if it was me personally in that position, she said, I would cancel that Standing Order immediately and explain everything you've just told me to your Landlady and ask for your money to be returned to you. Well, to be honest with you, I wouldn't be here posting this very long post on this forum for the sake of £18.82 and if she refused to give it back I would probably not take it any further. BUT, and it's a HUGE but! While on the phone with helpful council lady, I happened to ask if I had been paying the correct amount of rent to my Landlady for ALL of THE 10 YEAR TENNANCY? So she looked back on the figures over the years and I confirmed to her my SO had always been for £9.41 per week, it still was, and had never been changed. She said from what I can see by the Gross rent, the benefit we have been paying for you, and YOUR contribution of £9.41, the TRUE approx amount you should have been paying the Landlady was approx £6.18 per week, with some weeks, due to slight fluctuations in benefit etc, a maximum of £6.83 per week, but the main amount over the years is £6.18 as she has only increased the rent ONCE over all those 10+ years!!!! Well, I couldn't believe what she was telling me although I had a sneaking suspicion many times over the years I never bothered doing anything about it......Until that benefit change on the 27th May this year! I then asked if the council would be willing to send me printed out copies on official council paper of the GROSS RENT and ALL BENEFIT paid on my behalf directly to my Landlady from 5th May 2003 (Moving in date) to the present day/year and they said yes, no problem at all. I have since had the paperwork back from the council, (Only yesterday) and although I haven't looked closely at it yet, it would appear that I have paid VASTLY too much rent over these 10+ years that I never needed to pay!!!!! We could be talking about an overpayment into her bank account by that Standing Order of I would say between £1,500 - £1,600 if my initial quick workings out are correct!! Now, I'm not for one moment suggesting that my Landlady, her accountant and her children who advise her were aware of all this all these years, nor am I accusing them of any deceit, fraudulent behaviour, dishonesty or anything else, (at least not yet lol). So you know what I'm going to ask advice for now don't you? Can I claim back ALL that money she OWES me, how do I go about attempting it, Where do I stand from a legal point of view as in, is it TOO LATE to make such a claim etc? Obviously I would be looking to claim back EVERY PENNY I ever overpaid whether she was aware about it or not as it was MY MONEY and should never have been paid into her account from that first date all those years ago (May 5th 2003). I should say that I did phone her straight after speaking to the lady at the council (this was at least 2 weeks ago) and I told her that the council were now paying FULL housing benefit and that I no longer had to contribute ANYTHING to the rent myself and I would be cancelling the Standing Order that very day. She didn't like it of course and mumbled on about the usual stuff about how she hadn't increased the already low rent over the years by much (No work of any kind carried out in 10 years either mind), how much it cost her every year to maintain the Gas Boiler/System and the building insurance and other Landlords charging a lot more for their properties BLAH BLAH BLAH!! (I get this every time I talk to her as she is incredibly tight when it comes to money ). I told her that I had already paid 2 x £9.41 that I now didn't have to yet there was no mention of giving it back either! (I haven't told her yet that I know that I have been paying too much rent for 10+ years as well lol). She finished the conversation by saying I will have to sit down with my daughter and we will have to through it all and see what's what. That was almost 3 weeks ago and I have heard nothing from her since! I am wondering have they looked at the figures, come to the same conclusions as me and realised that they made a MASSIVE blunder all those years ago, seen the amounts involved that I have overpaid and realised I am now VERY AWARE of it myself and decided to keep quiet about it and "hope it goes away?" lol. Well, it isn't going to go away and I don't care if they give my 2 months (or whatever the law says) notice on the place to end the tenancy for having the "cheek/nerve" to try and claim back MY OWN MONEY, I will be going ahead anyway as long as I am advised that I WILL somehow get it ALL, or at least a large amount of it back! I am so sorry this post is so long and you deserve a medal more that Andy Murray if you got this far lol, but I have to be clear from a legal standpoint of where I am and where I go next with this. Do I now have to work out exactly what amount I have overpaid, detail it carefully and clearly for the Landlady and her accountant/Children to go through and then send it by recorded delivery by letter to her address? Or if she disputes it, flat out denies it or simply says I will not pay it back (I suspect this may be what she will do obviously), where do go from there? Small Claims Court? Citizens Advice Bureau? Solicitors? Obviously I can't do anything that would end up costing me money up front (Solicitors) as I am skint lol. So, OVER TO YOU on this great forum and I hope a Rent/Benefit expert is around here somewhere or someone who's been through a similar situation can offer me some good advice/help me out on where I go from here. Many, Many Thanks and again I apologise for the very long post but I feel it's better you get as much of the story as possible! Regards, Andy

Hi there, I was advised to post here by a tenant who had issues with the landlord before and got advise here and hopefully I can have some guidance. I owe the landlord 5 months rent and have explained to him that I lost my job and cannot afford the rent. Since then he has issued an S21 and S8 and the notice ends in July. I know this is entirely my fault but the landlord has been aggressive, trying to break into my room, forcing the key out of the door and trying to open it so I have to call the police just to get him to leave. In fact I applied for JSA and Housing Benefit but failed to attend the appointment a few months ago due to him harassing me and trying to get in. Simply put I know I owe him rent, he wants it but I barely leave my room in fear he will remove my items, evict me illegally or get violent towards me. He has police reports against him several times for this and the private tenancy officer contacted which he stopped for awhile and now is starting again being a few hours ago trying to gain access and threatening me he will come back in 2 days with men to remove my things. I cannot even go to the bathroom without fearing he will come in at that moment and try to enter my room. I have missed doctors appointments for my health issues because of this too. I emailed again today asking him not to try to gain entry as it is illegal and he replied being aggressive that he WILL receive his money next week and that he 'knows I work because I get stuff ordered to the house' which is true somewhat but that is because friends have been kind enough to buy me food and send me it. I am trying to find work and do bits and odds just to give him some money with no luck and I just do not know what to do as he will not stop harassing me and the police will not help and he lies to the private tenant officer (so he has said in an email that I lied to them when I have proof of the food orders and nothing else). He is also telling my housemates the situation and they make me feel like rubbish looking down on me and again just making me stay locked in my room. I have sold my possessions other than my computer to look for work just to get some food too. I owe the landlord £1600 and the S21 end date seeking possession AFTER 20/7/13. Sorry for the long post and I am not looking for sympathy, I know I am at fault here but I am becoming more depressed and feel highly threatened and he just doesn't seem to care. Edit: Forgot to mention that he has been putting bills in tenants names when all bills are included in the rent. One tenant who moved out 14 months ago knocked a few weeks back as landlord had put a £900 electric bill in his name then pretended to be an estate agent saying he cannot get hold of the landlord so when I gave the old tenant the landlords number it turned out the estate agent was the same guy and it has escalated to court. I am worried he will also try this.

Hi. I have been in rent arrears for the last 3 years. I am now in serious arrears of £700 which is 10 weeks rent after housing benefits. I have been to court 2 months ago (1st appearance after notice of seeking possession) and made an agreement of £55 per week. I have now missed 1 payment and will be missing this weeks as well due to no money. I can pay £100 weekly from 15th June which is my first wage since starting new job. Basically I am asking what can happen and also if they go for repossession how long have I got to clear arrears. By the way I can't borrow or get access to any money till payment inc friends and family. Thanks.

I am looking to buy a 50% shared ownership of a house which has been repossessed. The amount is only small and I have the right in the lease to purchase the other 50% but here's the question- could I be responsible for any rent arrears in relation to the other 50% of the lease. It is highly likely that if they couldn't afford the mortgage then they couldn't afford the rent. There is no mention in the lease or in the sellers details.

In Feb I made an enquiry to the Rent Assessment Committee to establish if a case could be brought against my social landlord for a service charge (the amount of rent was never an issue). I was advised to complete an RPT5 form and an advisor would let me know if it could be looked at without affecting the rent. I was assured no tribunal would go ahead if I submitted an RPT5, it would only be looked at. In March, I received a letter from the RAC initiating the start process of the tribunal. I wrote back explaining I did not wish any tribunal to go ahead, to which they replied in saying no further steps would be taken unless they heard back from me. In the meantime, I negotiated with my landlord and reached an amicable solution. Two months on, the RAC have sent me a letter saying a tribunal is booked for June and they wish to visit my home. Looking through the RAC tribunal T541 Guidance notes, it appears I'm unable to withdraw my application unless both myself and my landlord agree. My landlord is difficult to talk to and refuse's to return my calls on the subject. I always thought the appellant (in my case the claimed appellant) could halt a tribunal. Any advice on how to tackle this ?