Housing Authorty Scare Tactics

[Lazaruseifer]

Hi all,

 

Long story short - I'm living with my partner and have been for some years now.

 

However, the local housing trust (my parents' house), has received letters saying their rent is in arrears. I think it was around £13-15 per week.

 

When my father questioned it,

they said that new information had come to light that I had been living there (which obviously I wasn't).

They said (verbally) that unless they provided them with an address for me

that they would keep putting the charge on and evict them.

 

To my mind, this is wrong. Whichever way you slice it, to do that to pensioners is shocking behaviour.

 

The vitriolic thing is, is that, there is no reasoning on any of the letters, no explanation as to why the charges

- it is all word-of-mouth upto now.

 

I'm appalled if I am honest at this and before I act, would like to gather some advice if possible.

[ericsbrother]

your parents should send in a complaint in writing to the boss of whoever signed the arrears notices and demand to see evidence of their assertions that anyone else it resident at their address and an explanation of how this scurrilous assertion came about. Copy the letter to local councillor or council cabinet member responsible for housing.

Your parents should now put the phone down on anyone who tries to hold a conversation on this matter and say everything is to be in writing only from now on.

I bet someone has told the HA that someone is living at an address they shouldnt be and may well have got the wrong house number, which will be even more embarrassing when it all comes out in the open. In the meanwhile they should get a copy of the HA complaints procedure and follow it if the above letter doesnt yield a quick result.

[Lazaruseifer]

your parents should send in a complaint in writing to the boss of whoever signed the arrears notices and demand to see evidence of their assertions that anyone else it resident at their address and an explanation of how this scurrilous assertion came about. Copy the letter to local councillor or council cabinet member responsible for housing.

Your parents should now put the phone down on anyone who tries to hold a conversation on this matter and say everything is to be in writing only from now on.

I bet someone has told the HA that someone is living at an address they shouldnt be and may well have got the wrong house number, which will be even more embarrassing when it all comes out in the open. In the meanwhile they should get a copy of the HA complaints procedure and follow it if the above letter doesnt yield a quick result.

 

Thank you very much - I very much appreciate the reply.

 

As I say, the trust are known for their bullying tactics and have recently taken a hit to the workforce - I think everyone knows that their time is almost up.

 

There are a number of inaccuracies between the letters and obvious intimidation tactics at play, for example, the initial 'charge' was for X amount per day. The arrears have now bumped above that rate and the timeframes used seem deliberately set so 'customers' can't receive advice.

 

I am deeply angered at this as even in the slimmest chance that I may have spent one or two nights on the couch when I've had fallouts with my partner, I was still on benefits. I'm not sure if that matters, but again, the bullying is frustrating.

[stu007]

So a Housing Trust has went and put up the rent on the property as they supposedly believe or have been told someone else has been living there and they never investigated, consulted nor informed said tenants.

 

You need to exhaust the Housing Trust Complaints Procedure to the end and then if still not satisfied with the response you can then complain to the Housing Ombudsman Service.

 

Housing Ombudsman Service link: http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/

 

Make sure and Title your letter Formal Complaint and also ask for the following documents:

 

1. Complaints Procedure.

2. Customer Care Standards/Policy.

3. Copies of Rent Statements (from when they applied these charges to date.)

4. Rent and Service Charges Policy.

5. Arrears Policy.

6. For a complete breakdown of what investigation has been carried out to investigate the claims of someone else living at the property and when this was carried out.

Edited June 10, 2016 by stu007