help decree granted for eviction on council house

[graemeg]

hi a decree for eviction has been granted on my house mostly due to bungling jobcentre and housing benifit staff. is there anything i can do to stop this ? i also noticed the european court recently ruled it would be a breach of european human rights to evict someone for rent arrears . would this help my case even tho the decree has already been granted ? please help iv only got till march 23 then me and my daughter are homeless.

[maroondevo52]

Hello and Welcome,

 

I've moved this thread to a more appropriate Forum.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[mariner51]

Is it a council owned house or private rented paid for by housing benefit?

[graemeg]

it is a council house that i rent from the council

[Conniff]

These things don't happen overnight or even weeks or months, so I can't see how you can blame a 'bungling' council for your problem.

Edited March 8, 2011 by Conniff

[pt2537]

http://www.supremecourt.gov.uk/decided-cases/docs/UKSC_2010_0086_PressSummary.pdf

 

Yes the Supreme court ruled in favour of Miss Powell, in an eviction proceedings, you may want to read the summary above

[MrShed]

Worth mentioning that the court case mentioned applies to a very specific subset of tenancies, and even then only in specific circumstances.

 

Not that I am unsympathetic but I have to agree with Coniff that council/local authorities do not evict overnight, so it is short sighted to blame rent arrears merely on HB/JobCentre issues.

 

In any event - what is your monthly rent and what is the current level of arrears?

[graemeg]

my monthly rent is 244 pounds and the arrears are 700 . the reason i blame jobcentre and housing benifit is it took them months to sort out my claims and my arrears then built up to a stage that it had to go to court

[pt2537]

Then id say that it is utterly disproportionate to evict someone for such a low sum of arrears.

 

Have you made payment offers to reduce the arrears?

[graemeg]

the housing office have told me that i must pay 400 pouds before they will agree to work out a payment plan for the rest im also in the middle of a backdated housing benifit claim that should reduce the arrears by another 260 pounds and im also paying what i can when i can

[Aviva]

Is it that the Council got an outright possession order and now have a warrant to evict and an eviciton date? Or was a postponed/suspended posession order made (usually made on terms of tenant has to pay current rent plus x off the arrears every week) and then a warrant obtained, etc?

 

If it was the latter then what terms were made and have you stuck to them?

 

If the problem was that it took a long time for your benefits to be paid why do you still owe nearly 3 months worth of rent? Why did HB not cover this amount?

 

You will need to apply to the Court for the warrant to be suspended.

[maroondevo52]

graemeg, are you in Scotland ?

[graemeg]

yes north ayrshire

[maroondevo52]

Did you attend court when your case was called or was someone else there on your behalf ?

[graemeg]

no i wasnt able to attend court and had no one there on my behalf

[maroondevo52]

Your landlord should have sent you a letter telling you when the eviction date is, did you receive this.

Edited March 8, 2011 by maroondevo52

[maroondevo52]

You did, 23rd March.

 

You may be able to get your case heard in court again. To do this you must lodge a minute for recall of decree.

 

You have to apply to court by filling in a form explaining your circumstances and the reason you want the eviction to be stopped or delayed.

 

You will have to show that you had a good reason for missing the first court hearing. This could be because:

 

* you did not receive the court papers, or

* you did not know that you had the right to defend yourself, or

* you did not reply to the court summons in time but that you have good reason for this and you think if you had, that the court's decision would have been different.

 

It's very important you fill the form in correctly, in your situation I would advise you to get advice immediately from Citizens Advice or similar.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

Edited March 8, 2011 by maroondevo52

[graemeg]

hi thanks scott iv got a lawyer to apply for another court date which should get the eviction stopped

[maroondevo52]

hi thanks scott iv got a lawyer to apply for another court date which should get the eviction stopped

 

Good stuff, let us know how you get on.

[raydetinu]

Shelter are the people to contact for this sort of thing, the earlier the better.

[sir_gilmour]

Hi

Welcome to The Consumer Action Group.

 

 

I am just letting you know that as you haven't had any replies to your post yet, it might be better if you post your message again in an appropriate sub-forum. You will get lots of help there.

 

Also take some time to read around the forum and get used to the layout. It is a big forum and takes a lot of getting used to.

 

 

Once you start to find your way, you will soon realise that it is fairly easy to get round and to get the help you need.

 

It can be bit confusing at first.