Cheeky beggars!

[godpikachu]

The post has just been, well, it came at half past 4, which is disgusting but not an issue here, and ive had a letter from my local council...

 

 

Dear Mr. (godpikachu)

 

Re:- (next door) RENT ARREARS

 

 

It has been noted from our records that on the 18th December 2008 you handed in the keys for (next door), which was under the tenancy of Mr.X and Miss Y.

Our records show that Mr. X and Miss Y have not provided us with a forwarding address, however there is an outstanding amount of £xxx.xx for rent on the property.

As you may be aware, an eviction notice was served on this property on the 11th November 2008, giving Mr.X and Miss Y 28 days to vacate the property.

The amount of £xxx.xx is repayable within 28 days of leaving the property, and as we have been unable to contact the previous tennants, our records show that you have taken over the tenancy, and thus are liable to make this repayment or this outstanding amount.

 

Failure to repay this amount within 28 days of this notice will lead to furthur action being taken against you.

 

Should you wish to discuss payment terms, you can call XXXXXXXXXXX between 9am and 4.30pm mon-fri, alternativley, you may use the paying in slip at your local payment office to make payment in full.

 

 

OK, so this is going to be interesting, considering...

 

A) I have never lived at the property (i have my own, privatley owned, house right next door).

 

B) I have never applied to have the tenancy taken over.

 

C) My name certainly doesnt appear on the previous tennats occupany documents.

 

D) The house is currently being emptied and renovated by council workmen!

 

My former neighbours moved out on the 16th of december last year, they were a young, unmarried couple with 1 child and another on the way.

on the day he move dout, Mr.X asked me if i would drop the keys off at the council office for him as he wasnt able to do it himself, i said i would and indeed dropped them off at the council offices on the 18th of december (my birthday incidentally, lol).

 

Mr.X and his family have moved completley out of the area, as he had found a new job which required him to move to a different county, he didnt leave a forwarding address either.

 

On the day i handed the keys in, i took them to the council office in town, and was asked for my name, which i gave. When asked for my address, i asked why they needed that, and they said it was for admin purposes, i refused to give them it as i didnt see the need for them to know my address, the woman behind the desk said she wuldnt accept the keys back unless i gave her my address, to which i told her that i was not willing to give my address and she could do whatever she wanted with the damn keys, as they werent my problem, then i left.

 

The council have got a 0% chance of me paying someone elses rent for them, but as im going to go see them tomorrow about this, i wonder if anyone can give me any advice/tips on how to go about tackling this laughable situation?.

[davethorp]

Well there's the clear breach of data protection by informing a 3rd party of the previous tenant's rent arrears I'd have thought

[Bookworm]

Trying to keep a straight face?

[godpikachu]

Well there's the clear breach of data protection by informing a 3rd party of the previous tenant's rent arrears I'd have thought

 

yeah, i thought this too, not only for disclosing their rent arrears, but also for disclosing how much they owed, and for disclosing that they were served with an eviction notice.

 

i men a knew they had been served with eviction because they guy told me when he said they were moving out, but he didnt tell me they were in arrears with the rent etc.

 

 

Trying to keep a straight face?

 

lol, i plan to, thing is, our local council is well known for being a bunch of niggly and pathetic muppets, i mean this isnt the first time this sort of thing has happenned, my nan got a simarlar letter back in 1999 when she handed the keys in on the behalf of a young man who lived in one of the flats upstairs in the flat block she lived in, and that took half a dozen phone calls and 3 letters to sort out.

 

basically, once the ocuncil get it into their heads that you owe them money, they place the onus on you to proe you dont.

[davethorp]

Could try asking them for a copy of the tenancy agreement proving your liability too. Think they may struggle producing that one though they would need it were it to go to court

[godpikachu]

yeah, i think my plan of action will be the following:-

 

1) demand to see a copy of the tenancy agreement with my name on it.

 

2) demand to know where they got my address from and what business they have writing to me.

 

3) Ask them if they are aware of Data protection.

 

4) Try to do all of the above without laughing my ass off and/or having to resort to violence.

 

Basically, if they fail to produce 1), then its gonna be fun seeing them try to collect from me.

 

 

Any other pointers?, as i fully intend to enjoy myself on this one, i hate the council and relish the opportunity of sticking the knife in and giving it a good old twist.

[Bookworm]

Well, if you lose control, try to laugh rather than resort to violence. ;-)

[godpikachu]

Well, if you lose control, try to laugh rather than resort to violence. ;-)

 

awww, not even a little bit of violence??

 

Seriously though, the council round here are ignorant and petty minded, and unable to thin for themselves, on numerous occasions in the past i have had dealings with them over both financial matters and their obligations, and EVERY time they have attempted to mire any progress which leads towards me not paying them money i dont owe, for example:-

 

Charging council tax when i was in reciept of full council tax benefits.

Charging council tax at the wrong rate.

Attempting to claim money which i had already paid and had reciepts to prove it.

Sending agressive doorstep callers to collect money for the above that i didnt owe them.

Refusing to carry out repairs on the house that were clearly stated as covered in the tenancy agreement documents.

Attempting to claim money for rent on my nans flat after she had died and the flat was emptied (she was in reciept of full benefits up to the point she died, and the flat was emptied and the keys handed in within 3 days of her death)

Consistanly ignoring letters and phone calls attempting to sort out all of the above.

 

I hate the council with a passion, and with damn good reason too.

[godpikachu]

well, ive been to see them, and funnily enough, it turns out that i dont owe them any money for rent arrears.

 

Apparently, whats happenned is the woman who took the keys decided for herself that i was in fact Mr.X himself, and proceeded to check the electoral roll for my "current" address, then, she changed the name on their records to mine, without checking.

Basically, shes filled in a form with whatever she could find, because they didnt have Mr.X new address, but were desperate to collect on his outstanding rent.

 

I asked the manager i spoke with if anyone actually bothers checking things before "official" records are entered into the file, he replied "erm, well we are supposed to...".....i replied that my confidence in them was now more than inspired.

I asked the guy to pull up a copy of the supposed tenancy agreement with my name on it, and funnily enough one doesnt exist, but then I had to PROVE who i was in order for them to cancel the bill, good job i thought it prudent to take my passport, still cheeky though.

 

Also, the chump didnt like it when i said i was going to retain the letter they sent to me for use in a complaint to the information commissioner, he tried to tell me that councils were exempt from the data protection act and thet by not giving him the letter back i myself was committing a criminal offence....yeah, right, like writing to completley the wrong person, telling them all their personal stuff and then trying to force them to pay someone elses bills ISNT a misuse of sensitive information.

 

Anyways, i asked for a written apology, but got an insincere verbal one instead, i also asked if they wouldnt mind recompensing me my bus fare for my inconvenience, i got nothing....was worth a try though, lol.

The guy also asked me if i would sign a non-disclosure agreeent....id been good up until then but after i refused he said that id GOT to sign it, i got up and walked off laughing.

 

 

Council = OWNED :)

[kiptower]

contact the local councillor and make a complaint about the Manager and the whole sad set of events and his quote about "criminal offence by you"

 

council officers hate "members" asking questions

[fedup74]

I did try and post on this yesterday but it wouldn't let me:confused: Glad you have been and got it sorted, they obviously know they are in deep doo doo by asking you to sign a non-disclosure agreement. They have acted appallingly and should be reported to all and sundry. They should not have written about eviction and arrears and then expect you to pay it. That woman who filled in your details needs reprimanding.

[meg&mog]

this is shocking!....but then its the council why am i shocked

 

Juat had a similar in a sort of way problem with the council......my mam very sadly passed away on 17th nov last year we cleared her house and handed the keys in om the 8th dec we had informed the council my mam had died today i recieved an invoice for £122.62 for rent payable up to the 14th december nearly a month after i lost my mam i telephoned and sorted it out but when you hand keys in and give your name it seems the council take that as a liabilty form and feel free to try and make you pay for everything my mam was a pensioner(only 62) in receipt of full housing benefit but they tell me that stopped the day she died and although the council give you 2 weeks to clear the property housing benefit do not

 

so unfair.....

 

Meg&Mog

[godpikachu]

this is shocking!....but then its the council why am i shocked

 

Juat had a similar in a sort of way problem with the council......my mam very sadly passed away on 17th nov last year we cleared her house and handed the keys in om the 8th dec we had informed the council my mam had died today i recieved an invoice for £122.62 for rent payable up to the 14th december nearly a month after i lost my mam i telephoned and sorted it out but when you hand keys in and give your name it seems the council take that as a liabilty form and feel free to try and make you pay for everything my mam was a pensioner(only 62) in receipt of full housing benefit but they tell me that stopped the day she died and although the council give you 2 weeks to clear the property housing benefit do not

 

so unfair.....

 

Meg&Mog

 

 

yeah, the same thing happenned when my nan died.

She died at 1am jan 10th 2007, my mum informed them that she had died at 10am the same day, they informed her the rent was paid up till the end of january anyway.

We had the flat cleared by the 17th, and the keys were handed in on the 19th.

2nd week of february, lo and behold we got a bill for up to the end of the first week of february.

the council were told to go forth and multiply in a series of short jerky movments.

 

its just basiclly a [problem] to try and wring as much £££ out of people as possible, even attempting to rob the dead.

 

 

contact the local councillor and make a complaint about the Manager.....

 

i may do that as i know my local councillor personally, but first i will be sending a little letter to the information commissioner to see what they think.

 

If i dont hear any more about this, then neither will they, if i do, then i think as well as complaining to my councillor, and quite possibly my MP, i might give the local paper a tinkle as well, as they hate the council as much as i do, lol.

[Bookworm]

I think the local press is a good idea, as who knows who else could fall foul of such an appalling way of doing things?

[godpikachu]

i think im gonna do a bit of research on this, as one of my neighbours has had the council after them for something simarlar as well.

 

it seems like its something they try on every so often to see wether they can get a payout, because so far im hearing of very simarlar tricks, namely:-

 

1) Attempting to get neighbours or family members to pay rent/council tax arrears for empty houses. (classing handing in of keys as liability for payment)

 

2) Attempting to get relatives to pay rent/council tax for their dead family members. (even though rent etc has been paid in full either by cash or benefits)

 

3) Overcharging Council tax and rent and only offering it back as "credit".

 

4) Attempting to force people to pay their bills twice by legal action including costs (even though evidence of payment is/has been produced)

 

5) Use of DCA-esque threats and ignorance in their dealings.

 

 

hmmm, interesting.

[peterlucas]

On point 4, if they know its been paid it sounds like it could be fraudulent on their part.

[godpikachu]

point 4 is what happenned to my friend over his council tax. the council took him to court, even though he had reciepts to show payment, and had prodused these in his meetings with the ocuncil prior to the court action being taken. when shown these reciepts, they simply said that their system hadnt been updated to show the payment, and that a mistake had been made, yet they went ahead with the court claim regardless.

 

on the court day, he again produced these reciepts, and the magistrate said he should take it up with the council directly, however he refused and stated that as it wasnt him that had requested the matter be brough to court, he quite rightly wanted a judgement in his favour , which he was reluctantly granted. The council didnt even bother to send anyone to reparesent them.