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Hello,
The Council have issued me a Court Summons for unpaid Council Tax. However, the Tenancy Agreement makes it clear that the rent is inclusive of Council Tax. Having researched this issue extensively on the web, it would seem that the Council sees me as the liable person and the clauses in the Tenancy Agreement are in effect irrelevant to them.
I've contacted the letting agent who is going to inform the landlord of his responsibilities. At this point I have no idea if he will pay or not. There are in effect two payments to be made: one for Council Tax of £496, the other for Costs for £86 that have been added on due to the issuing of the Court Summons.
If the landlord refuses to pay, then my understanding is that I would have to pay the £496 + £86 to the Council, and then sue the landlord in the small claims court for breach of contract. If this was to happen, I don't have a problem with the £496, as I'm confident that I would get that back, but I'm concerned about the return of the £86.
My argument would be that I signed up to a contract that said Council Tax included. The landlord broke the agreement and I had to pay out not only the £496 Council Tax but also £86 in Costs. If the landlord had paid the Council Tax as per the Tenancy Agreement then the issue of Costs would never have come up.
The landlord may argue that I was receiving Council Tax bills and reminders, that I should have contacted him to get him the opportunity to rectify the situation before it got to the Court Summons and Costs added stage. Would this be a valid argument to counter my argument above?
Furthermore, before we received our first Council Tax bill, the landlord introduced himself at the property (he has a block of flats, he was around attending other business). My wife and I are both on the Tenancy Agreement. He verbally told us that Council Tax bills would arrive soon, but that we should ignore them as he is dealing with the situation. A Council Tax bill duly arrived which was ignored as requested. (In hindsight, should never have accepted a situation where we were to ignore a bill with our names on it).
The second Council Tax bill arrived a good few months later, indicating a Court Summons and Costs would be added if left unpaid. Landlord clearly hadn't dealt with the situation, so this time I took action. I twice wrote to the Council disputing the liability but they weren't interested and issued the Court Summons anyway. When it became clear that I wasn't going to get through to the Council, I informed the Letting Agent who informed the landlord.
Is there an argument that the landlord should be responsible for the Costs as it was his responsibility to pay the Council Tax bill as per the Tenancy Agreement, and not my responsibility to ensure he pays his bills?
Is there an argument that I tried to get the situation resolved before Costs were added on, albeit not via the landlord, and therefore can reasonably expect the landlord to front these Costs?
Or is there an argument that the Costs are my fault as I should have notified the landlord when the second Council Tax bill arrived (which clearly states 'pay or Court Summons and Costs added')?
I doesn't feel like justice has been done if I end up £86 out of pocket.
If the landlord pays the Council Tax, but not the Costs, then I will have to judge whether or not it's worth trying to take the landlord to the small claims court for the small amount of £86. If I did, does anyone think I would have a case? Or maybe I should accept that I will be left out of pocket due to listening to bad advice (landlord saying to ignore the Council Tax bill) and bad decision making on my part (should have contacted both Council and landlord before Court Summons issued, not just Council).
Any thoughts will be appreciated.
The Council have issued me a Court Summons for unpaid Council Tax. However, the Tenancy Agreement makes it clear that the rent is inclusive of Council Tax. Having researched this issue extensively on the web, it would seem that the Council sees me as the liable person and the clauses in the Tenancy Agreement are in effect irrelevant to them.
I've contacted the letting agent who is going to inform the landlord of his responsibilities. At this point I have no idea if he will pay or not. There are in effect two payments to be made: one for Council Tax of £496, the other for Costs for £86 that have been added on due to the issuing of the Court Summons.
If the landlord refuses to pay, then my understanding is that I would have to pay the £496 + £86 to the Council, and then sue the landlord in the small claims court for breach of contract. If this was to happen, I don't have a problem with the £496, as I'm confident that I would get that back, but I'm concerned about the return of the £86.
My argument would be that I signed up to a contract that said Council Tax included. The landlord broke the agreement and I had to pay out not only the £496 Council Tax but also £86 in Costs. If the landlord had paid the Council Tax as per the Tenancy Agreement then the issue of Costs would never have come up.
The landlord may argue that I was receiving Council Tax bills and reminders, that I should have contacted him to get him the opportunity to rectify the situation before it got to the Court Summons and Costs added stage. Would this be a valid argument to counter my argument above?
Furthermore, before we received our first Council Tax bill, the landlord introduced himself at the property (he has a block of flats, he was around attending other business). My wife and I are both on the Tenancy Agreement. He verbally told us that Council Tax bills would arrive soon, but that we should ignore them as he is dealing with the situation. A Council Tax bill duly arrived which was ignored as requested. (In hindsight, should never have accepted a situation where we were to ignore a bill with our names on it).
The second Council Tax bill arrived a good few months later, indicating a Court Summons and Costs would be added if left unpaid. Landlord clearly hadn't dealt with the situation, so this time I took action. I twice wrote to the Council disputing the liability but they weren't interested and issued the Court Summons anyway. When it became clear that I wasn't going to get through to the Council, I informed the Letting Agent who informed the landlord.
Is there an argument that the landlord should be responsible for the Costs as it was his responsibility to pay the Council Tax bill as per the Tenancy Agreement, and not my responsibility to ensure he pays his bills?
Is there an argument that I tried to get the situation resolved before Costs were added on, albeit not via the landlord, and therefore can reasonably expect the landlord to front these Costs?
Or is there an argument that the Costs are my fault as I should have notified the landlord when the second Council Tax bill arrived (which clearly states 'pay or Court Summons and Costs added')?
I doesn't feel like justice has been done if I end up £86 out of pocket.
If the landlord pays the Council Tax, but not the Costs, then I will have to judge whether or not it's worth trying to take the landlord to the small claims court for the small amount of £86. If I did, does anyone think I would have a case? Or maybe I should accept that I will be left out of pocket due to listening to bad advice (landlord saying to ignore the Council Tax bill) and bad decision making on my part (should have contacted both Council and landlord before Court Summons issued, not just Council).
Any thoughts will be appreciated.
