Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 years?

[Louby-Lou]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

Sorry, the above post was supposed to contain Ian's post, and I don't yet know how to remove a quote I have inserted and insert another.

[Inca]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

Be careful with Common Law, Freeman on the Land remedies, you could come seriously unstuck with those. By leaving your payment card with your sister, the HA would have thought you were still resident, and therefore so would the council, professional legal advice is essential now.

As Bizzy says,,get legal advice as soon as possible. You only have the word of the other people you refer to that the HA let them stay for whatever reason,and it's not applicable to you ( as in,,won't help you)
I live in an HA property and if I leave I have to inform them in writing and get acknowledgement from them of the date my tenancy ends. I cannot 'sub let' my property nor allow my son to stay here without formal agreement (they would draw up a totally new tenancy agreement and they also don't have to allow it to happen).
And seriously reconsider the FMOL course of action,,it only buys time,,and delays the inevitable.
As I said,,you really need good legal advice as soon as possible,,and you need proof the HA allowed you to 'pass the tenancy' over.

[bluebottle]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

SAR = Subject Access Request

It is made under Section 7, Data Protection Act 1998. Any non-compliance with an SAR should be reported to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

[Inca]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

Personally,,if it was me,,I'd check my credit files (Equifax etc,,the other guys on here know more about that than me)..and I'd make darn sure quickly that my name was on NOTHING associated with that address.I hope for your sake nothing has been done to cause you grief but get it checked and sorted as soon as possible.

[enquirer]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

As of 4 or 5 years ago, yes [...] As I said in my op, I had a phone conversation with the HA about 5 years ago and they knew I wasn't there.

Can you prove this? You didn't follow up with a letter, and they never confirmed the conversation in writing? It is possible that someone might have made a note of the conversation. If so, you would need to obtain this.

Even if they claim they didn't know, can a LL reasonably claim not to have visited a HA property in 10 years?

Yes - many HA's are hopelessly incompetent.

What about repairs? Did they do any work to the property in the last 10 years? Any associated paperwork?

[wales01man]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

when a Ha does repairs on a property they dont ask for ID of the person there same with a visit from a HA person
Best to find out what has happened before more bills come out the OP may be liable unless they can prove different

[bizzybob]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

even if Op didn't formally relinquish the tenancy when they left, they still may not be liable as they should not show on the Register of electors, therefore are non resident.

[wales01man]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

Im not on register of electors im still resident here

[bizzybob]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

Im not on register of electors im still resident here

Wwell yes many people aren't since the Poll Tax days, but it would be the first piece of evidence the council would need to ground a liability. This one is going to be a difficult one to solve, as there will be increasing demands for evidence that may be impossible to provide,

[wales01man]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

I would agree this is a difficult one the OP may have done something illegal doubtful but they need to get to the bottom of the problem if the council tax bill is for a year where she can prove she was not there and had no connection with the property it will be fine if the bills has been paid by someone else since they left its hard to see why they should be liable ,is it the case that all the bills since they left have been paid and they were still in there name.

[bizzybob]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

I would agree this is a difficult one the OP may have done something illegal doubtful but they need to get to the bottom of the problem if the council tax bill is for a year where she can prove she was not there and had no connection with the property it will be fine if the bills has been paid by someone else since they left its hard to see why they should be liable ,is it the case that all the bills since they left have been paid and they were still in there name.

Quite possibly fpr at least some of the time.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

I live in an HA property and if I leave I have to inform them in writing and get acknowledgement from them of the date my tenancy ends. I cannot 'sub let' my property

Nor even license someone to take up residence?

nor allow my son to stay here without formal agreement (they would draw up a totally new tenancy agreement and they also don't have to allow it to happen).

They'd be daft not to, as they'd have continuity of income and no need for the property to remain vacant whilst they advertised for a new tenant.

And seriously reconsider the FMOL course of action,,it only buys time,,and delays the inevitable.

Are you sure the FMOL clap-trap is even capable of that?

As I said,,you really need good legal advice as soon as possible,,and you need proof the HA allowed you to 'pass the tenancy' over.

Rather than considering this to be a sub let, which implies that monies were paid by the resident to the tenant and the tenant paid the landlord, might the arrangement have been one where the tenant granted a licence to the resident to live in the property for as long as the resident paid the rent directly to the landlord or their appointed agents?

[CleverClogs]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

Im not on register of electors im still resident here

Unless you are proscribed from voting because you are a lord, a lunatic or both, you must provide accurate data when asked.

[Inca]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

Nor even license someone to take up residence?


They'd be daft not to, as they'd have continuity of income and no need for the property to remain vacant whilst they advertised for a new tenant.


Are you sure the FMOL clap-trap is even capable of that?


Rather than considering this to be a sub let, which implies that monies were paid by the resident to the tenant and the tenant paid the landlord, might the arrangement have been one where the tenant granted a licence to the resident to live in the property for as long as the resident paid the rent directly to the landlord or their appointed agents?

I dunno Cloggy.......I only know what my Housing Association rules are..and that is..the tenant named on the Agreement must reside in the house or relinquish the property formally in writing to the HA. I didn't think a tenant could decide who stayed in the property after they left?

[Inca]

Re: Liable for council tax and in a property I haven't stepped foot in for over 10 ye

I dunno Cloggy.......I only know what my Housing Association rules are..and that is..the tenant named on the Agreement must reside in the house or relinquish the property formally in writing to the HA. I didn't think a tenant could decide who stayed in the property after they left?

Social Housing is becoming more and more difficult to get so I would imagine any HA has a list of people waiting to move in to properties.
As regards FMOL,,you're right.....I gave them kudos they don't have.