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Hi all - and thanks in advance for reading this.
I left a Housing Association property approximately 10/11 years ago as I bought a property 120 miles away to live in with my family.
At the time my younger sister was still in residence at my former address, along with 2 lodgers. The lodgers were helping her to pay the rent while she was at university.
My sister left the property about 6 months later and the lodgers remained and paid the rent themselves, direct to the Housing Association.
I have never returned to the property since leaving it 10 years ago.
Approximately 5 years ago, I received a phone call from one of the lodger's who asked me if I would consider signing the tenancy over to him. I told him that he would have to contact the Housing Association about this as only they could give permission for this.
At some point thereafter, I received a telephone call from the housing association asking me if I still resided in their property. I told them that I wasn't, and as I was completing my NQT induction year as a teacher, I could not consider moving back until completion. I cannot remember anything else of the conversation, but I think they mentioned repossession as I was no longer living there.
I heard nothing further until about 2 months ago when a woman arrived at my door from the housing association.
In brief, it appears that the lodgers remained in the property until it was repossessed in or around November 2011. For whatever reason they stopped paying the rent many months beforehand.
I have now been billed with both the Council Tax for 2011 and the rent arrears. I wrote to the relevant Council and asked them why I have been billed for a property that I have not lived in for over 10 years. They declined to comment, and instead wrote to me saying that 'we can confirm you owe...'
I have been waiting for some weeks now to receive a court summons so that I can clarify this point with the magistrate in person as I cannot afford legal advice. However, I have not been invited by the court to discuss this: rather, they have sent a bailiff around today. (I was not home.)
I received a summons in respect of the rent arrears but as the case was being held in Northamptionshire, I could not afford to travel there. I wanted to submit an income/expenses form to the court, together with a letter, but there was not the option to do this.(By completing such a form, I was apparently admitting liability, and nor would the court accept a letter.)
My contention with the housing association is this: they knew full well that I was not resident there for at least the last 5 years, but as they were receiving rent they chose not to repossess the property. Surely, they were in breach of their own tenancy rules?
Even if they claim not to have been aware of me not being there, can they seriously claim that they had not visited the property in over 10 years?
I have thought of offering to pay each 'debt' a nominal amount of £1.00 a week until I can find a way to challenge this.
Can someone possibly advise me of the best course of action to take?
As for the Council Tax, can I seriously be billed for a borough that I have not even visited in many years?! It kind of makes a mockery of what council tax is used for - provision of services to local residents.
I have lived at my current address for 1.6 years and my previous address for a year. Prior to that I was in another part of the country altogether and getting relevant proof could be time consuming. Would proof of address (tenancy agreement/council tax) for the last 2.5 years be sufficient to stop this in its tracks?
I do not own a car but my partner does. Having read some of the things bailiffs can do, could they take his car away for this debt? He is not named on the Bailiff's letter.
I left a Housing Association property approximately 10/11 years ago as I bought a property 120 miles away to live in with my family.
At the time my younger sister was still in residence at my former address, along with 2 lodgers. The lodgers were helping her to pay the rent while she was at university.
My sister left the property about 6 months later and the lodgers remained and paid the rent themselves, direct to the Housing Association.
I have never returned to the property since leaving it 10 years ago.
Approximately 5 years ago, I received a phone call from one of the lodger's who asked me if I would consider signing the tenancy over to him. I told him that he would have to contact the Housing Association about this as only they could give permission for this.
At some point thereafter, I received a telephone call from the housing association asking me if I still resided in their property. I told them that I wasn't, and as I was completing my NQT induction year as a teacher, I could not consider moving back until completion. I cannot remember anything else of the conversation, but I think they mentioned repossession as I was no longer living there.
I heard nothing further until about 2 months ago when a woman arrived at my door from the housing association.
In brief, it appears that the lodgers remained in the property until it was repossessed in or around November 2011. For whatever reason they stopped paying the rent many months beforehand.
I have now been billed with both the Council Tax for 2011 and the rent arrears. I wrote to the relevant Council and asked them why I have been billed for a property that I have not lived in for over 10 years. They declined to comment, and instead wrote to me saying that 'we can confirm you owe...'
I have been waiting for some weeks now to receive a court summons so that I can clarify this point with the magistrate in person as I cannot afford legal advice. However, I have not been invited by the court to discuss this: rather, they have sent a bailiff around today. (I was not home.)
I received a summons in respect of the rent arrears but as the case was being held in Northamptionshire, I could not afford to travel there. I wanted to submit an income/expenses form to the court, together with a letter, but there was not the option to do this.(By completing such a form, I was apparently admitting liability, and nor would the court accept a letter.)
My contention with the housing association is this: they knew full well that I was not resident there for at least the last 5 years, but as they were receiving rent they chose not to repossess the property. Surely, they were in breach of their own tenancy rules?
Even if they claim not to have been aware of me not being there, can they seriously claim that they had not visited the property in over 10 years?
I have thought of offering to pay each 'debt' a nominal amount of £1.00 a week until I can find a way to challenge this.
Can someone possibly advise me of the best course of action to take?
As for the Council Tax, can I seriously be billed for a borough that I have not even visited in many years?! It kind of makes a mockery of what council tax is used for - provision of services to local residents.
I have lived at my current address for 1.6 years and my previous address for a year. Prior to that I was in another part of the country altogether and getting relevant proof could be time consuming. Would proof of address (tenancy agreement/council tax) for the last 2.5 years be sufficient to stop this in its tracks?
I do not own a car but my partner does. Having read some of the things bailiffs can do, could they take his car away for this debt? He is not named on the Bailiff's letter.
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