Hello to everyone and can some one help me please?

[KAY1]

Hi there to everyone on this great and informative site. Is there any one who can help me with my dilemma that i face it's to do with the liability of council tax. I had a property and decided to rent it out anyway i advertised for tenants and the next day i met a man i'll call him mr x and he was interested in renting the whole house from me and he had the deposit and 1 month's advance rent so therefore i was more than happy to deal with just one tenant so i agreed. When it came time for him to sign the tenancy agreement he said that he needed the council tax to be registered in his name and that he would be responsible for paying it because he needed some kind of official letter to be in his name so that he could prove who he was and where he lived, so there being quite naive is said ok. So the council tax was transferred in his name. He was paying me rent on a regular monthly basis and i was happy but one day a friend of mine said i should check if the council tax is up to date so i agreed and went to the council tax department but they said that they could not discuss the account with me because i was not the account holder so i left. I got in touch with the tenant and asked for proof of payment so he met me and said that he could not find the payment receipt's and instead showed me a couple of photocopy's of the cheque's that he had made out to the council tax payment office. So i believed him, but then my problem's began he would not pay any rent and i tried to phone him and went around the house but no luck and a couple of month's passed and i was in serious arrears with the mortgage company. I fell seriously ill and i was bed bound for many month's and unfortunately the house was repossessed. I recently received a letter from Bristow and sutor Bailiffs stating that i have been made liable for the council tax arrears for the property that had been repossessed and furthermore they are stating that i am mr x. I have had no chance to defend my self and i have been made liable in my absence also the council did not know that the property had been repossessed and kept on sending the arrears letter's to that property which was repossessed up until know. I can not believe that they think i am this mr x. Please let me know what my rights are and do the council have any case at all also it is quote insulting to say that i have been using an alias when i clearly have not, so what are my options and where do i stand. Thanks for listening and i know that this was a bit long winded but i am not good at trying to explain thing's.
KAY1

[Guest]

Re: Hello to everyone and can some one help me please?

Hello Kay and welcome to Legal Beagles.

Please read the information at the link here, as it will explain a great deal about what bailiffs can and cannot do and what councils must do. Bailiff Guide - Legal Beagles Consumer Forum

If you did not live in the property, even if you owned it and someone else was living there, that person is responsible for the council tax.

You must write to the local authority and explain to them what you have explained here. This should be relatively easy to fix, but be prepared to get frustrated. Local authorities are creatures of habit, hidebound, stubbornly prejudiced, narrow-minded and inflexible organisations and they will always take the easy option. They want money and do not care how they obtain it.

If you would like help in drafting a letter, please come back and ask. However, you should attempt to write one first, since you are in possession of the facts, but feel free to post it here prior to sending it for comments and suggestions.

[scoobydoo]

Re: Hello to everyone and can some one help me please?

Can I ask you did you at any time get permission from your Building society to rent out the property ?
If so they could back up your story.

Also was the tennants agreement drawn up by you or through an agent?

[KAY1]

Re: Hello to everyone and can some one help me please?

Hi there,
yes the building society did know because it was a buy to let mortgage and also i bought the tenancy agreement from staple's stationer's which sell's tenancy agreement's which are backed by the law society and then i filled it out along with the tennant so therefore no agent was involved. Thank's and i hope to hearr from you.
KAY1

[scoobydoo]

Re: Hello to everyone and can some one help me please?

As suggested draft a letter and then you can attach a copy of the mortgage agreement plus the tennancy agreement as evidence.

Post the letter without personal info and then you will probably get some comments.

[KAY1]

Re: Hello to everyone and can some one help me please?

Thank's for the valuable advice i just wish they listen and use their common sense.
KAY1
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Thank you very much for your advice and i will be writing a letter to explain why i think i am not liable and see what the council say, so therefore i might need further help. Thank you very much.
KAY1