landlord to repay due to councils overpayment

[hobbitt]

Hi
I am being persued for £3000.00 which my local council say has been paid to me as LL in error or my tenant has lied? HOw could I be aware of this at the time as due to data protection I have no access to my tenants file or indeed any knowledge of her income so difficult for me to know if they were lied to or not. All I know is that I certainly have not been overpaid Just wondered what legislation they will be using in persuit of their claim. Will be speaking to manager tommorrow so would be good if I could at least sound knowledgeable there must be some get out clause as I have certainly not fraudulently :confused:accepted this money or been in collusion with my tenant
Regards
hobbitt

[jta]

Was the allowance paid to the T who then paid you, or did it come to you directly?

Did the tenant have to add a 'top-up' to the allowance?

[hobbitt]

The benefit was unfortunately paid directly to me by cheque The amount received was variable sometimes due to her circumstances i.e. income at the time they paid it all and at others they partly paid her rent: The overpayment was made perhaps 3-4 years ago.

[Michael Clayton]

The local authority is treating you as a 'person affected' by a housing benefit decision. Thus, they believe that they have legitimate reasons for pursuing you.

Alarm bells are ringing. For what reason has an overpayment occured? Has the local authority notified you as to the circumstances? Why has it taken this long? Is it because they have failed to recover from the former tenant?

Options
You can request a statement of reasons.
You can ask for a revision of the overpayment and / or decision to recover from you.
You can appeal against the decision.

Due to the time that has lapsed, you may find that the local authority tries to envelope the issues in a smoke-screen. This creates its own problems. However, it might be that the crux is very straight forward and to the point. Naturally, I would be concerned as to the amount of money involved.

HB Regulations cover 'overpayment' issues. Principally:
100 - which overpayments are recoverable?
101 - who to recover from

There is an extensive set of case-law that has tested these areas. My advice would be to seek consultation.

Michael Clayton - 18 years as a Housing Benefit professional

[hobbitt]

Hi Michael
Have been to council and seen manager. Armed with various reasons as to why they could not claim from me the council have backed down and said that in actual fact they had no right to issue this demand in the first place. I have obviously told them that I expect a full apology for this error as it could have caused alot of sleepless nights I am assured that a letter will be winging its way to me. I told them that as landlord I had no access to my tenants personal income or expenditure and due to data protection could not be held responsible for her truthfullness when filling out forms If they thought I had in any way colluded with my tenant or had any knowledge of her overpayment they should show me the proof. I have also advised my tenant to seek proof that she was overpaid at all as this seems doubtful .Do you know of any legislation which could help her???
Thanks hobbitt