Can anyone please give us some advice

[happyali]

HI everyone,

 

I don’t know if you guys are able to give me any advice, but I am in a real bad situation and need some advice.

 

We have been renting a property from an agent for well over a year now, and we have had no dealing with them at all, as rent has always been paid on time and there has never been any problems with the property.

 

But back in Jan I lost my job, and due to this, we had to stop the direct debit from the bank as the money was not being paid into my account anymore, so we made arrangements to pay the rent on a weekly basis till I was back at work, we had to travel from Bedford to luton to pay the money to the agent in their shop/office, as this is some driving, we asked if we could pay this in our home town of Bedford, and we was given HSBC back account details to make these payments, and we made payments there, but have been told that they do not give receipts at the cash desk, so what we used to do was put our name and address at the back of the paying in slip so that our payment could be easily found.

 

After a few months I was back in work and payment has not been a problem since, but we was sent a letter in June saying that we owed one months rent that was not paid for March, But we know we paid it.

We have gone back to the bank and explained the problem who have said that they can not give us any information on the account as it is not our account, after some weeks arguing with the agent, they have informed us that they have 2 cash payments made on the 1st of april (300 pounds)and 14th april (200 pounds), and said if I was to go back to the bank and see if they can confirm that it is our payments, we have done this, but the bank have said they will not give us any information.

 

We have informed the agent, who has said that its down to us to prove it, even though they know these payments are ours, as they have already mentioned that no one else has paid cash into Bedford HSBC for rent.

 

Now they have served us with an eviction notice and we have to move by the 13th Aug, Is there anything we can do about this, they have said they have payments for the amount we owe, but as we can not prove it they will not except that they are ours.

 

We have been instructed by them to pay it into a bank that have confirmed they will not nor will they give receipts for payments, so as we have only carried out what they have asked us to do, I am shocked that they are saying we have to prove it.

 

Please please anyone out there that can give us some advice would be great, I am so worried about my wife as she is 11 weeks pregnant and all this stress I am worried is going to have effects on our baby, and we are both so worried now.

 

Thanks so much for reading this, and look forward to anyone’s advice

 

Ali

[Emma1973]

On what grounds have they given you an eviction notice? Is a S.21 or S.8 or just a written letter?

[happyali]

i have a letter saying that due to overdue payments that we shall be asked to leave the premises, and they have also added to this letter a section 21(4)(a).

 

not sure if that makes any sence, but hope it does

 

thanks for such a fast reply

[happyali]

i would just like to add, when we contact them, we said that we would pay the amount until it was found, and would try and make more than our rent payment each month before the 13th Aug, they said that would be fine, but now they are saying it does not matter if they have had the money or if we pay it again they want us out, even though the lanlord does not know anything about this matter. Accept that he has agreed with the agent if we are not paying the rent, that he would like to look for another tenant, but we have had a good relationship with the landlord, and he is just doing what they agent has asked, as he is over 65 years old and does not understand what is needed from him, apart from what the agent informs him he has to do.

[jackieandwayne]

Ok Ali, you need to prepare yourself for the fact that you are going to have to move from here, and that is because they have used a S21 NOSP. There is no defence in court to this, and the most the judge can do is allow you an extra six weeks hardship time. Its better you know this so that you can prepare for it.

 

You DO NOT have to move out 13-8-09, that is the date on which the NOSP expires and further action can commence. If the agent/landlord wants you out he then needs to apply for a court hearing asking for possession and unless you enter the defence asking for the extra time, this will be simply a paper exercise in which the judge has no other discretion. Once the date has been set for you to leave, if you chose to remain the agent would have to apply for an eviction warrant, the county court bailiff will come and evict you. It is going to cost £150 for the hearing and another £95 for the eviction, and this is payable by you normally.

 

Now, about this money. On your tenancy agreement, do you have the landlords contact details? You should have. If this were my problem, I'd be writing to him directly, to make him fully aware that I had paid my rent, and that the agents were keeping it from him. That must be embezzlement or something.

 

I don't know what others think about this but I might be tempted to inform the police about it - they say they can see that money has been paid in your home town, and that they know it can only have been you but still won't credit the money? Well, I call that theft and deception. At the end of the day money has gone missing somewhere.

 

My advice to you now is, of course, never give up over this money if you know that you have paid it, but in the meantime, and in view of the pregnancy start finding somewhere else to live. I would go to the Local Authority and make a homeless application - you are losing your home through no fault of your own and have priority need. They will do all that they can to avoid housing you, and this will include making enquiries on your behalf about this rent. However, at the end of the day if they come up with a stalemate, as you have, they will have to house you or at the very least assist you to find somewhere in the private sector. They can lend you a deposit or rent in advance, and you pay it back. This is your chance to possibly access social housing, so this should be the very next move you make.

 

Also, it never hurts to go and see Shelter, if you google them you will see if they have an office near to you, they are everywhere these days.

 

I do hope it can be resolved for you, fingers crossed and good luck with everything.