Yay more Fun - Housing Association Rental Repossession

[PlanB]

Re: Yay more Fun

If things went how i'd like them to then we'd be replaced on the housing register as to be able to bid for other properties with other HAs in our area but not given a definitave time in which we'd be made to leave.

Well then tell them that

You may not be placed on the housing register if you have rent arrears, and I'm fairly certain you won't if you get repossessed for rent arrears (back to the *intentionally homeless* thing)

Maybe leaving your departure date open-ended won't tempt the HA if you say they really want you out, so why not set a mutually agreeable date in the diary of (say) six months time

The HA is not seeking possession on the grounds of your conduct so next week's battle is really all about the money. If you haven't got any arrears then the Claimant will have to tell the court why they want possession and saying "we don't like him" isn't necessarily a good enough reason

[kilasuit]

Re: Yay more Fun

That's a very logical answer and one which a DJ may well understand

So consider whether that should be spelt out in your WS for the judge and the Claimant to read before the hearing starts. You would be telling the court that you now have the funds to pay the rent arrears (from the unexpected unfair dismissal payout), but fear that if you do pay them you'd have no money left to pay your rent elsewhere if you get your home repossessed and your family is evicted and made homeless Maybe even say that if the Claimant were to consider granting you a new Starter Tenancy then you would be willing to pay all the arrears within 14 days of the hearing.

You could even ask for an adjournment of the hearing or an indefinite stay of the proceedings to give you time to honour this commitment. Some DJ's love to adjourn (delegate responsibility back to the HA) and the Claimant would not look good if they refused your offer since they are meant to be acting ike a social landlord

thing is i could even make the payment there and then as after almost 3 months of arguments in the compliant i got their details to pay via SO this was again ignored on a few occasions.

If things went how i'd like them to then we'd be replaced on the housing register as to be able to bid for other properties with other HAs in our area but not given a definitave time in which we'd be made to leave.

Ie on our terms.


my biggest gripe is that this last year has been a waste of time if this all goes pear-shaped.

When we moved i researched the Right to Buy/Acquire and this time is able to be used towards the 5 years rule. If DJ gives them possession then we may as well have been in a private rental the whole time.
Heck looks like we will be renting rest of our lives at this rate.

[PlanB]

Re: Yay more Fun

In regards to not paying them we have the court date imminent and also if we had to go down Private rent we'd need to pay the 6months up front as things stand so that would be (6 x 500 = £3000) plus the deposit too.

I think that is a reasonable reason not to have paid them yet and also to be wanting to pay them in installments if we are given a possession order etc.

Everything i say or do at this point equals risk risk risk.

So even though its a priority debt as things stand if we were given a suspended possession order or such until that point it is just another debt.

Like now i could in theory pay off the RA's and Utilities arrears too but that leaves us looking like being in a ditch.

My hopes are that HA sees that i'm defending and attempt to gauge an acceptable to both parties offer that consists of me paying RA's and them giving us a further 6 month starter tenancy (not that they will - almost guaranteed )

That's a very logical answer and one which a DJ may well understand

So consider whether that should be spelt out in your WS for the judge and the Claimant to read before the hearing starts. You would be telling the court that you now have the funds to pay the rent arrears (from the unexpected unfair dismissal payout which came after these proceedings had been issued), but fear that if you do pay them you'd have no money left to pay your rent elsewhere if you get your home repossessed and your family is evicted and made homeless Maybe even say that if the Claimant were to consider granting you a new Starter Tenancy then you would be willing to pay all the arrears within 14 days of the hearing.

You could even ask for an adjournment of the hearing or an indefinite stay of the proceedings (with conditions) to give you time to honour this commitment. Some DJ's love to adjourn (delegate responsibility back to the HA) and the Claimant would not look good if they refused your offer since they are meant to be acting like a social landlord

[kilasuit]

Re: Yay more Fun

I will have to concur 100% with the above, you have posted the printout from your bank account showing the £3.5k, so you can't really say your account has just £0 because it would be a lie. You may well have spent some of the £3.5k on essentials, utilities, etc. but if so you will have to be prepared to elaborate rather than just saying £0. Also rent arrears are a priority debt, so you'll have to explain why you haven't paid those when you've got that money in your account.

In view of the above, the question of why you would like to pay the arrears in £20 installments could also arise. I can understand that, if you were going to get evicted anyway, you'd probably pay in installments rather than a lump sum. If you moved out of that property that debt would move down the ladder and would no longer be a priority. However, for now, the arrears ARE a priority and you'll have to come up with a good answer to the question as why you haven't paid them/don't want to pay them in a lump sum.

The DD glitches and errors are all well and good as an explanation as to how the arrears came to be in the first place, especially with HB paid directly to the HA, however, they do not explain why you still haven't paid them.

One thing to bear in mind is that, whilst debt, arrears and repossession are all civil matters, any attempt to lie to, or mislead the court, could constitute a criminal offence!

In regards to not paying them we have the court date imminent and also if we had to go down Private rent we'd need to pay the 6months up front as things stand so that would be (6 x 500 = £3000) plus the deposit too.

I think that is a reasonable reason not to have paid them yet and also to be wanting to pay them in installments if we are given a possession order etc.

Everything i say or do at this point equals risk risk risk.

So even though its a priority debt as things stand if we were given a suspended possession order or such until that point it is just another debt.

Like now i could in theory pay off the RA's and Utilities arrears too but that leaves us looking like being in a ditch.

My hopes are that HA sees that i'm defending and attempt to gauge an acceptable to both parties offer that consists of me paying RA's and them giving us a further 6 month starter tenancy (not that they will - almost guaranteed )

[The Tech Clerk]

Re: Yay more Fun

That makes sense. I wasn't meaning to sound accusatory I was hoping to be helpful so that you don't get wrongfooted by the DJ at the hearing In which case you should give some thought to your potential answer to this possible question from the DJ: "If you've got £3,500.00 in your bank account why haven't you paid off these rent arrears?"

The court has to be seen to be even-handed to both the Claimant and the Defendant and you may well get asked some tricky questions so rehearse these before the day when you'll be feeling nervous

Taking a big chance there?? as above!

[kilasuit]

Re: Yay more Fun

That makes sense. I wasn't meaning to sound accusatory I was hoping to be helpful so that you don't get wrongfooted by the DJ at the hearing In which case you should give some thought to your potential answer to this possible question from the DJ: "If you've got £3,500.00 in your bank account why haven't you paid off these rent arrears?"

The court has to be seen to be even-handed to both the Claimant and the Defendant and you may well get asked some tricky questions so rehearse these before the day when you'll be feeling nervous

originally at 29. i pointed out the list of flaws and errors with thier statement of truth.

2000 character limit forced me to remove about half of the things i placed in that bit.

[PlanB]

Re: Yay more Fun

I have also put in an additional statement stating that my finances are more complex than just 1 bank account as i have 5 bank accounts and 7 savings accounts hence not putting it into 1 singular amount. I feel that if i had put it as 1 singluar amount i would have had a massive headache.

That makes sense. I wasn't meaning to sound accusatory I was hoping to be helpful so that you don't get wrongfooted by the DJ at the hearing In which case you should give some thought to your potential answer to this possible question from the DJ: "If you've got £3,500.00 in your bank account why haven't you paid off these rent arrears?"

The court has to be seen to be even-handed to both the Claimant and the Defendant and you may well get asked some tricky questions so rehearse these before the day when you'll be feeling nervous

[kilasuit]

Re: Yay more Fun

There's an inconsistency in your Statement of Truth which is a worry and you don't want it to worry the DJ either In Questions 20 and 21 you've entered a £0 balance for both your savings and current accounts but that may not be the case since you banked £3,500.00 from McDees last Friday

It's a worry because in Question 29 you've put "I was then the victim of unlawful dismissal . . ". A smart DJ may pick up on that and ask you what happened and whether you anticipate a payout or ET I believe you also said earlier that the CAB had tried to negotiate a deal for you with the HA and had told them you were expecting an imminent payout from McDees so if the Claimant remembers that you may find they raise the issue of the £3.5k even if the DJ doesn't

All the other figures you've entered on the form look fine

The contents of a Statement of Truth is taken seriously by the courts, and if you make one small error you could be looking at Contempt of Court if it's perceived as deliberate and not a typo

I have also put in an additional statement stating that my finances are more complex than just 1 bank account as i have 5 bank accounts and 7 savings accounts hence not putting it into 1 singular amount. I feel that if i had put it as 1 singluar amount i would have had a massive headache.

[PlanB]

Re: Yay more Fun

There's an inconsistency in your Statement of Truth which is a worry and you don't want it to worry the DJ either In Questions 20 and 21 you've entered a £0 balance for both your savings and current accounts but that may not be the case since you banked £3,500.00 from McDees last Friday

It's a worry because in Question 29 you've put "I was then the victim of unlawful dismissal . . ". A smart DJ may pick up on that and ask you what happened and whether you anticipate a payout or ET I believe you also said earlier that the CAB had tried to negotiate a deal for you with the HA and had told them you were expecting an imminent payout from McDees so if the Claimant remembers that you may find they raise the issue of the £3.5k even if the DJ doesn't

All the other figures you've entered on the form look fine

The contents of a Statement of Truth is taken seriously by the courts, and if you make one small error you could be looking at Contempt of Court if it's perceived as deliberate and not a typo

[PlanB]

Re: Yay more Fun

My defence consists of a more personal approach and quite blatantly points out that HA are going against their own principles by attempting to remove us from property under s21 regardless of whether there is reason for it.

This is the N11r attached

That's looking good I see you've referred to that recent Supreme Court case law which Paul posted on your thread so take three copies of the actual judgment with you to the hearing. One for the DJ, one of the Claimant's solicitor (or advocate), and one for you. These possession proceedings are in the county court so the DJ in theory has to give regard to that ruling

Do you need to complete question 5 where it says "If No give details below" which is left blank although you've ticked the "No" box

I still think you would stand a much better chance if you paid off some if not all of those arrears so the DJ doesn't think you're withholding them just be be bloody minded

You said earlier that the CAB may send someone to represent you at the hearing, is that still on the cards because lawyers like talking to lawyers and statistically LIPs don't do as well in court expecially when the other side will have a lawyer of some sort If the CAB can't send someone to be there, get to the court an hour before the hearing and ask for the Duty Solicitor who will represent you. Most county courts have one on the housing day (they list these cases together).

We're all supporting you and your family through this

[kilasuit]

Re: Yay more Fun

Are you able to say what your defence is and was this done for you by the CAB or that solicitor you went to see last week ?

My fingers are crossed for your hearing and maybe it would be a good idea to take your missus and your young son along with you to give the DJ a full picture of the consequences of his actions

My defence consists of a more personal approach and quite blatantly points out that HA are going against their own principles by attempting to remove us from property under s21 regardless of whether there is reason for it.

This is the N11r attached

[PlanB]

Re: Yay more Fun

I have just submitted my defence to the Court claim.

So will see what that brings now

Are you able to say what your defence is and was this done for you by the CAB or that solicitor you went to see last week ?

My fingers are crossed for your hearing and maybe it would be a good idea to take your missus and your young son along with you to give the DJ a full picture of the consequences of his actions

[kilasuit]

Re: Yay more Fun

I have just submitted my defence to the Court claim.

So will see what that brings now

[PlanB]

Re: Yay more Fun

There was a case i read, about human rights in the context of housing

Heres a link, it may help

http://www.supremecourt.gov.uk/decid...essSummary.pdf

^^^^ Read Paul's post again and then find a lawyer who understands these things if the CAB can't help. See if the CAB will give you a referral to the Bar Pro Bono Unit so that you can have counsel represent you at the hearing. No disrespect to you, but having someone else to represent you at the hearing will give you a miles better chance.

[PlanB]

Re: Yay more Fun

CAB have attempted negotiations and still dont think that there is any chance of us reaching any agreement at all.

Think the clear cut of it is that they want us out. Regardless of anything else.

That's not necessarily their decision to make