my lodger has bailiffs coming

[trippiest]

my neice moved in with me 6 months ago as she had got behind on her bills (council tax) and had the bailiffs at her flat threatening to remove her property to pay the debt, this evening as i was coming to work i found a hand posted letter stating they would be coming to my house to remove goods to pay the debt and that goods would be removed weather she was present or not, they did gain "peacefull possesion" to her flat but have never set foot inside my address,can anybody tell me if they have the right to force entry into my property and seize goods, i will be getting a statutory decloration to say she owns nothing in the house other than her bed and her clothes but obviously wont be able to do this within 24 hours and i dont have reciepts/proof of payments for all my furnishings and i would like to be fully armed with the facts before they arrive.

[TUTTSI]

Re: my lodger has bailiffs coming

Please let me put your mind at rest, the Bailiffs cannot gain entrance to your home unless you invite them in. Please have a read of the bailiff guide here
http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ad.php?t=14113 They have given you a scare tactic notice with the intentions of making you cough up. Obviously if you leave a door open they could walk in but they cannot break in as they would then be breaking the law.


Ask you niece to call the council to make arrangements to pay them direct and she should do this as soon as possible.

my neice moved in with me 6 months ago as she had got behind on her bills (council tax) and had the bailiffs at her flat threatening to remove her property to pay the debt, this evening as i was coming to work i found a hand posted letter stating they would be coming to my house to remove goods to pay the debt and that goods would be removed weather she was present or not, they did gain "peacefull possesion" to her flat but have never set foot inside my address,can anybody tell me if they have the right to force entry into my property and seize goods, i will be getting a statutory decloration to say she owns nothing in the house other than her bed and her clothes but obviously wont be able to do this within 24 hours and i dont have reciepts/proof of payments for all my furnishings and i would like to be fully armed with the facts before they arrive.

[trippiest]

Re: my lodger has bailiffs coming

thanks tuttsi, after 12hours of of fact findin i think ive got all the info i need and im gonna ring the bailiff now and see what he says & will post an update on what his response was.

[Amy]

Re: my lodger has bailiffs coming

Whatever he says to you, it will be a lie.

[WendyB]

Re: my lodger has bailiffs coming

Whatever he says to you, it will be a lie.

Without a doubt.

[trippiest]

Re: my lodger has bailiffs coming

i rang the bailiff explaining the siuation and told him if he was to make another [ayment arrangment with her, if i was to know what the arrangment was id attemt to make her honour the aggreement while she's residing in my home and he said he asnt making an arragment with her and to get her to ring him, i told her all the info found on this forum and wen she rang the call ended with him sayin he was handing the debt back to the council and she'd end up serving jail time when it went back to court. can anyone tell me :- if the council refuse an offer to make a standing order paymen directly to them and the matter goes back to court can my niece request an attachment be placed on her earnings and what the likelyhood the courts would say yes to this and what the chances of them sending a working single mother to jail are if shes offered a vol agreement or requested an A O E

[WendyB]

Re: my lodger has bailiffs coming

Jail time? There's the first lie... It is not an offence to be unable to pay Council tax. Refusal to pay is an offence.

Put everything in writing to the council and point out the disgraceful conduct of their bailiff who is employed by them so they are vicariously liable. Also put in writing the offer to pay. I don't see why they would refuse an AoE but this would be down to the individual council I suppose. I think an AoE may have to be ordered by the Court, not sure if you can actually request one.

If it's Nulla Bona the bailiff will have no option but to return it to them and I would think they have no option but to accept it. Providing she can make a reasonable arrangement with the Council and stick to it then there would be no reason for it to go back to Court.

[Amy]

Re: my lodger has bailiffs coming

As per post #4, he has lied to you.

It is not an offence to be unable to pay your council tax, it is an offence to refuse to pay it. Your niece shouldn't wait for an agreement to come from the council because they are hugely inept and she could be waiting a very long time, by which time, she'll be further behind with her payments and the council will pass it to more bailiffs for collection. Instead she should pay what she can as soon as she can. She can do this online.

[wahoo_thomas]

Re: my lodger has bailiffs coming

Trippy,

This is perfect for your friend the Bailiff returns the debt to the council and she pays them direct .Do not believe a word the bailiff says they are lying scumbags.The only way someone can be sent to prison is for refusing to pay council tax not for being hard up and unable to pay so get your friend to make regular payments direct to the council.

[BAILIFFCHASER]

Re: my lodger has bailiffs coming

It isnt a offence but the council may drag you into court to explain what is what.