Help needed CAggers! I've got a situation on my hand that I need some advice with - I'm a tenant and have been for a few years under a periodic tenancy or month to month. I receive housing allowance and have paid that to the landlord in excess for the years that I've been in residency. The landlord is saying that I owe arrears however, based on the lease we signed when I moved in, the rent I pay the landlord is far in excess to the lease. The landlord wants to serve me notice to say that I am arrears (a section 8) but he claims he wants my employers to pay the arrears as my housing allowance is given to me by them. I find this proposed action a bit of a threat, considering my lease is not signed by my employers but by me! I have already written a LBA but he just keeps harping onthat my housing allowance increase is a rent increase! What do I do now? Serve a claim for my money? All attempts at negotiating has failed.

Hi guys, I think I’ve got a good idea on what to expect but just want to get some general feedback on my position. Apologies in advance, I have been known to get a bit long winded. I will be defending against a county court claim for possession for rent arrears at a hearing on Tuesday 7th May. The claim is made for possession under Grounds 10 and 11 of the Housing Act 1988 Section 8 as amended by section 151 of the Housing Act 1996. The tenancy is an Assured Non-Shorthold Tenancy with rental of £84.47 payable weekly in advance on a Monday & the total arrears claimed is £675.76p, but had been up at £1202.28 in mid October. The tenancy was initiated by my Late Mother in August 2009 and I succeeded to the tenancy in February 2012 as the only tenant. All arrears have been cleared and rent for period between issue of claim and hearing date have been made with the exception of that rent which falls due on the day of the hearing by way of the previous day being a bank holiday. Following receipt of the claim pack I contacted the H/A advising that all outstanding amounts had been cleared, they advised that they would still pursue a suspended possession order in case of arrears at a later date. I was in receipt of Housing Benefit until I returned to work in June with a Housing benefit overrun till end of June. This is where the problems began, I put my hands up I started the ball rolling on this one, I had a period when I First returned to work where I basically went off the rails and had one hell of a blow out when I wasn’t working. I prioritised making sure Mums grave was properly marked and settling outstanding funeral amounts. I’m aware not a priority legally but this is my mum and for me there is no higher priority. In September my housing association wrote to me regarding the arrears, I contacted them and offered to make a monthly payment of £500 at the end of the first week of each month, they agreed and advised that if I had any problems that i should contact them and they’d do what they could to help. The first payment was agreed for October to allow things to fall into line with a budget I had come up with. In December I advised the H/A of changes in circumstance (Hours worked and extra travel costs) and was advised no change of agreement possible. I have since made what payments I could when I could, whilst I have been trying to get on my feet financially. Below is a list of payments made 18/10 - £500 06/11 - £500 09/12 - £400 14/01 - £125 17/01 - £125 24/01 - £125 31/01 - £464 31/01 - £11 02/02 - £42.15 28/03 - £422.35 04/04 - £337.88 03/05 - £337.88 Now I know that in the real world there is very little to no chance of any Judge granting possession for arrears where arrears no longer exist and the Tenant has made an effort to redress the amounts outstanding. My concerns are over statement’s made in the claim by the H/A, I believe may constitute a breach of pre action protocol guidelines. They claim to have written to me, yes they have continuing to threaten eviction even after an agreement had been made and before any breach of that agreement. They have tried to telephone me, I have not received any calls from them nor any messages left on my answerphones, either land-line or mobile. They claim to have sought to meet with me and have carded my home, certainly not the case, I work nights as a guard and I'm in the house all day just about every day, I don’t sleep well and have a Jack Russell who uses the front door as a trampoline and barks non-stop when somebody calls, and as I live alone I am the only one who would pick up anything through the letterbox. They maintain I have failed to contact following written communication and have failed to keep to an agreement to repay the arrears by affordable repayments. It is my understanding that certain other steps should be taken following issue of proceedings, such as those below, Not later than ten days before the date set for the hearing, the landlord should – provide the tenant with up to date rent statements;( Not Happened, last rent statement back at end of February). Disclose what knowledge he possesses of the tenant's housing benefit position to the tenant. ;( Not Happened). The landlord should inform the tenant of the date and time of any court hearing and the order applied for. The landlord should advise the tenant to attend the hearing as the tenant's home is at risk. Records of such advice should be kept. ;( Not happened only court papers) If the tenant complies with an agreement made after the issue of proceedings to pay the current rent and a reasonable amount towards arrears, the landlord should agree to postpone court proceedings so long as the tenant keeps to such agreement. (Would only consider stop proceedings if I put rent account 1 month in advance as I pay monthly) Any opinions input would be greatly appreciated

Hi Everyone, I moved into my previous flat in May 2003 and I paid 4 weeks rent in advance and £500 deposit, both by cheque. The rent was increased once in 2012. I have never missed a payment during my tenancy there. I duly gave 4 weeks’ notice on 10/12/12 and moved out on 05/01/13. I didn’t pay any rent after giving the notice. Now the landlord is saying that their ledger is showing that I am in arrears and if I can’t prove otherwise I owe them 4 weeks rent. I don’t have the old bank statements or the cheque book anymore nor do I have an account with that bank. Can anyone please advise me how best to deal with this? Also throughout November/December due to a leak in the water pipe and boiler problem, for some time I had no hot water or running water at all and I had to go to a B n B and pay from my own pocket. Thank you all.

hello i recently applied to go on the housing register and i recieved a letter saying i owed £202.08 from a house i had 18 year ago at that time i had been in prison and i was told i had to leave my property in 4 weeks but when i was in prison i filled out the proper forms so the council get there housing benefit and rent for 6 months so i did'nt lose my house while i was away but they still say i owe this and theres nothing i can do about this but i dont feel that i owe this money as i done everything i was supposed to to make sure my rent was paid while i was in prison and ive been told that money cannot be claimed after 6 years i was wondering if this applys to councils

Back in May I entered upon a tenancy agreement with my landlord of 12 months, on this day he told me that he was rushing to much so i had to skim through it and sign without being given time to read the agreement thoroughly. A month later people whom i have had mutual contact with moved into the property. I asked the landlord to make a new tenancy for said tenants but he failed to do so. This resulted in all the debt falling on me. The people i shared the property; one owes me over £1000 and the other two owe me over £500, this is the first problem I have as i do not know how to get them to pay the money that they owe me. My landlord gave us three weeks notice without a written notice and said that because the tenancy wasn't valid as other people moved in there was nothing i could do. He also took a full months rent £780 (even though the property is valued to be let for £500 a month) as deposit which he will not return as there is general ware and tear of the property, which was listed in the initial contract. It is well known that a landlord must serve a written notice and give the tenants 2 month to find a new property, I told him about this and he replied that the contract wasn't valid anyway as other tenants had moved into the property. He got the majority of his mail to my address and wouldn't let me put the rent money into his bank account and insisted upon cash in hand. His reason for kicking me out and three others out with three weeks notice was upon the grounds that we didnt get the council tax changed into our name, even though we needed a tenancy agreement before doing so.He also threatened me by saying "Make sure you get all the bills paid as I would hate to call someone to go visit your mothers" Would i be able to have a case against him for improper treatment as this has caused me alot of debt and distress, thankyou.

(Sorry, I posted this in the Legal Issues forum, before realising this was more appropriate). Hi, I really need some advice quick, if I'm to stave off a possession order - would appreciate anybody's input! Two years ago, due to the recession, my business collapsed, and I got into rent arrears. Eventually, things began to pick up slightly, and in addition I took a part-time job to guarantee that I could at least pay the rent. Although my income is now stable, it wasn't enough to clear the arrears, just pay the actual rent from month to month, with a little bit extra added towards the arrears. Six months ago, the landlord (a property management company) gave me notice and sought a possession order, but agreed to stay the proceedings if I agreed to a schedule to clear the arrears by six months. The deadline was 1st April 2011. The landlord set a figure they wanted me to pay back every month, which consisted of the rent for the month ongoing, plus an extra £300. I have kept to this agreement, but I find that, at the end of the six months, I am left owing exactly £2000. The landlord's solicitor has informed me that they are applying for the stay to be lifted if the full amount is not repaid by the 1st May. I can't afford to pay £2000 out in one go by the end of this month: I only bring home around £1800 a month, and that has to cover my ongoing rent as well as all other bills, food etc. I have none left over for savings. However, on re-reading through the original consent order and schedule, I see that £1740 of the £2000 I still owe is actually my landlord's legal costs (i.e. the bill of their solicitor). This means that only £260 of the amount owed is actually still rent arrears. I can pay that tomorrow, which would then bring all my rent completely up to date. It seems they (my landlord and/or their solicitor) have confused and compounded the issue by conflating the rent arrears and their legal costs. So my questions are: if (after tomorrow) I'm completely up to date with my rent, does the landlord still have legal grounds to seek possession? From my limited research, rent arrears is grounds for possession, but failure (note: failure, not refusal) to pay legal costs are not mentioned at all. Also, am I legally bound to pay my landlord's legal costs at all? As the matter never actually went to court, no order was made as to costs. It was just something they tagged onto the agreement. What I fear is that, even if I am not legally bound to pay their legal costs, if I do not do so, they will still seek possession. Do they have the right to do this? I've never had any other dispute with the landlord, and there really was no need to take the matter this far at all: they've been very heavy-handed about the whole thing. I never disputed I owed rent, and I've always done my utmost to clear the arrears, paying more on those occasions when I was able to. I have lived here for several years, and am settled here. I do not have the finances to afford a move, let alone the disruption this would cause to my personal life and work. The area where I live has become very expensive over the last few years, and I could not afford to stay in this area if I had to move out of my current home. I really would like to settle this and just live in peace with my landlord. For that reason, I am prepared to pay their legal costs if it means there is no further bad feeling between us, and they will not evict me, but I cannot do it before the 1st May. Where do I stand? After tomorrow, when I clear the actual rent arrears, can I ask for a separate agreement concerning the legal costs, on the understanding that it does not affect my tenancy? Many thanks for any advice!

Hello, My co-tenant and I are currently in a dispute with the landlord regarding, among other things, repairs not being carried out, harassment by the landlord, and an unprotected deposit. For this reason, we have withheld the rent until we get full legal advice and are now in arrears of 2 months. Last week the landlord had a solicitor send a letter addressed ONLY to my co-tenant (not sure if it's by first class or second class mail as it says Postage Paid and a whole lot of numbers) serving a Section 8 Notice (with grounds 8, 10 and 11) with two weeks notice to pay the rent until County Court proceedings begin. I believe that they have sent the same letter to me via Recorded Signed For delivery however I was out at the time that the postman tried to deliver it, and I have not yet collected it. What I would like to know is this: 1) If I do not sign for it, can the landlord commence Section 8 County Court proceedings against us even though I have not received the Section 8 notice. I.e. do both tenants on a lease have to receive individual letters of Section 8 notices for a valid claim to begin? 2) If he does commence County Court proceedings against us and I still have not signed for the Section 8 notice in the first place, will the proceedings be thrown out of court? If so, what will I have to do to show that I never received the original Section 8 notice giving me 14 days to pay the rent, to have this happen? 3) If I make some payments on the rent to ensure that we are just below 8 weeks in arrears, can the landlord still commence CC action against us? We're desperately trying to get all the advice we can on the issues, which is why if anyone can please answer the above questions, I would be most grateful. Thank you very much