http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/ en Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:32:24 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/images/misc/rss.png http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/ http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?55789-Housing-Benefit-Overpayment-Recovery&goto=newpost Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:10:58 GMT Dear all, Scenario is that our former tenants were evicted by bailiffs end of April 2013 and returned the day after to pack all their goods and leave (rehoused immediately by LA of course). They have arrears of circa £3000 not to mention damage/mess caused to property. They had been claiming... Dear all,

Scenario is that our former tenants were evicted by bailiffs end of April 2013 and returned the day after to pack all their goods and leave (rehoused immediately by LA of course). They have arrears of circa £3000 not to mention damage/mess caused to property.

They had been claiming housing benefit since mid 2012 (not paid a penny across though) although we were unaware and this was only discovered at our court hearing in early 2013. Since that point we had the Council direct payments to LL.

To my shock, have received a letter from LA stating "...we have had to replace our previous decisions..." and "we were notified about this change on date (2 days after eviction)

"I have decided that the overpayment is recoverable from you because I am satisfied that it was not caused by an official error."

Any advice please? The proposed change is only 20% of previous payment which even then did not even cover the rental amount and we already have massive arrears.

I feel this would be an official error as they were kept informed of the tenants imminent eviction by us and the tenants were visiting the LA during this time. Furthermore, the tenants had commited benefit fraud anyway for claiming and not passing this onto LL.

Can the LA make a decision after the date of eviction? Lastly, surely they should retrieve from the tenant (or reflect in their future benefit payments) as we no longer have contact details to pursue ourselves anyway.

Help greatly appreciated. I have a couple of weeks to appeal. ]]> Housing Benefit Questions (HB, LHA, DSS) Nelly30 http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?55789-Housing-Benefit-Overpayment-Recovery http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?55369-Renting-to-my-mother&goto=newpost Tue, 21 May 2013 12:37:52 GMT Hi All I bought a 2 bedroom house 23 years ago and let my mother and father live there rent free to this current time. Ten years ago my father passed away so it is just my mother living alone there now and she is 84 years old and not on any benefits. I am now struggling in today’s... Hi All
I bought a 2 bedroom house 23 years ago and let my mother and father live there rent free to this current time. Ten years ago my father passed away so it is just my mother living alone there now and she is 84 years old and not on any benefits.
I am now struggling in today’s financial climate to carry on not charging rent so I am enquiring whether she could get housing benefit and I could charge her rent. She only gets £140 per week pension and a 2 bed house is approx £100 per week. Because we have never claimed any benefits, when perhaps my mother could have years ago, we haven’t a clue whether she is entitled, or the procedure to follow. . If this is possible what order of events do I proceed with before she applies for her benefit?
What do I need to do to satisfy the benefits office ?
Do I now charge her rent before she applies for benefits ?
Do I take a deposit ?
Get a rent book
Is there any other things I need to do before she applies and what is the procedure ?

Would greatly appreciate some advice. ]]> Housing Benefit Questions (HB, LHA, DSS) arsene http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?55369-Renting-to-my-mother