Council Tax on rented property - unaware of liability and now bailiff involved

[bluebottle]

Re: Council Tax on rented property - unaware of liability and now bailiff involved

If you are up to date with council tax at your current residence and the council are aware of where you are, the obtaining of a LO by sendinmg all mail to your previous address is maladministration at best. I suspect LB Harrow engineered the situation to garner fees for themselves andf Newlyn, if indeed that is true, and not just a feck up, then legal advice is essential, but bear in mind that will remove the right to go to Ombudsman, if you take legal proceedings.

However as BB points out there prima facie breaches of ECHR.

I agree, BB. However, in addition to prima face breaches of ECHR and, consequently, breaches of Section 6, Human Rights Act 1998, on the part of LB of Harrow and Newlyns, there may also be evidence of Perverting the Course of Justice (Common Law), in respect of the LO hearing, and a number of offences under the Fraud Act 2006, in relation to the actions of council officers in sending mail to a previous address, knowing the OP had moved and they knew of the OP's current address. In short, the local authority obtained the LO by fraudulently failing to disclose information. This has to be fraud and corruption at its most blatant. Professional legal advice and guidance is now essential.

[bizzybob]

Re: Council Tax on rented property - unaware of liability and now bailiff involved

I agree, BB. However, in addition to prima face breaches of ECHR and, consequently, breaches of Section 6, Human Rights Act 1998, on the part of LB of Harrow and Newlyns, there may also be evidence of Perverting the Course of Justice (Common Law), in respect of the LO hearing, and a number of offences under the Fraud Act 2006, in relation to the actions of council officers in sending mail to a previous address, knowing the OP had moved and they knew of the OP's current address. In short, the local authority obtained the LO by fraudulently failing to disclose information. This has to be fraud and corruption at its most blatant. Professional legal advice and guidance is now essential.

Absolutely, as the kangaroo council tax LO system has no redress or appeal procedure for an aggrieved debtor, or alleged debtor. Only the council can apply to quosh a LO, which even if challenged is usually granted in spite of any evidence that it is vexatious or wrong.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Council Tax on rented property - unaware of liability and now bailiff involved

Rather than suing the council or Screwlyns, I'd favour taking the complaint through the council's complaints procedure and taking up the matter with the CEO, before taking it to the LGO. That route is not likely to be any more protracted for the complainant, whilst it would not involve any legal costs or court fees.

[bluebottle]

Re: Council Tax on rented property - unaware of liability and now bailiff involved

Rather than suing the council or Screwlyns, I'd favour taking the complaint through the council's complaints procedure and taking up the matter with the CEO, before taking it to the LGO. That route is not likely to be any more protracted for the complainant, whilst it would not involve any legal costs or court fees.

Sensible advice. Exhaust all informal avenues of resolution first, but have Section 6, Human Rights Act 1998 on standby. My gut-feeling is that the local authority and Newlyns would shy away from a confrontation under Section 6 of the HRA as it would bring into question their actions as well as expose the corruption and unlawfulness of LO hearings. The court hearing the case would have the power to quash the LO, but also order the local authority, Newlyns and HMCTS not to engage in such behaviour. I suspect this would have a devastating effect on Council Tax collection as the ruling would apply not just to the OP's local authority and Newlyns, but to every local authority and civil enforcement company in the UK.

[enquirer]

Re: Council Tax on rented property - unaware of liability and now bailiff involved

So at that time, before the property was vacant, my partner visited the Council and updated the planning department with her address and also the front desk. So we DID update the address and there was no reason for the bills and court order to be sent to our old address ...

The Planning department does not deal with Council Tax.

Furthermore, data gathered for one purpose may not be used for another, unrelated, purpose. The Council might actually have been in Breach of the Data Protection Act had it swapped data between departments.

It is always wise to notify changes to each department separately.