Find out if my tenant is claiming any? Or even just plain ‘can I?’
I’m in the process of evicting him as he hasn’t paid me any rent for 10 months now, (I started the process in July!) & as he’s now disabled & not working I’m assuming he’s claiming benefits of varying sorts.
So If he’s on housing benefit/rent allowance or whatever, & he’s not paying me, is he committing fraud?
Yes I’m an orrible sod for kicking a disabled bloke out of MY house, but I aint a charity. 👿

Just ask the council.

If he’s in receipt of HB and has elected not to pay you, then that’s just
financial mismanagement (whether unintended or calculated). It isn’t fraud.

It must be a major headache for you, but is is part and parcel of being a landlord.

Nothing horrible about kicking someone out that hasn’t paid rent for 10 months. I do work for a charity, we do some housing, and we would have evicted a while ago..

If he’d kept the place in good condition & at least attempted to pay some rent I’d have been a lot more sympathetic.
But it’s now shithole & he hasn’t.

I thought the rules had changed so that the benefit was automatically paid to the landlord.

I thought the rules had changed so that the benefit was automatically paid to the landlord.

No idea but I’ve mailed the housing dept to see if they’re at liberty to shed any light on it.

no it changed so it was automatically paid to the tennant so they could learn to manage money
It is highly unlikely they are not claiming and they are most likely pocketing it

i find it hard to see how being given money to pay something and not paying one penny of it for 0 months is anything other than fraud tbh as it is clearly deliberate

No. Other way, just been changed to go to Tenant. If you want to be more charitable let the housing dept. at council know before you do. He might be on known to them as a ‘vulnerable person’ ( don’t laugh ). At best they might be able to help him to pay you. At worst they can help him get another house and your conscience is clear.

Edit: soooo slow. I would add that not everyone will be pulling fast one, there some absolute casualties out there who need housing who are on no fit state to get their benefits paid direct to them under this new system that’s why they are already in the social housing safety net. But in other cases some people are just jerks.

helping him get another house will almost certainly mean helping him rip off someone else
I think you owe them no favours and its their conscience that needs examining not the OPs

Not one penny in all this time !

He’s genuine as far as the disability goes. He was paying up ok till about last December, then he had kidney failure & while he was in hospital his mother died, then when he came out of hospital he had a mild stroke & lost his HGV licence.
Then the ‘I’m waiting for the council to sort my benefits out’ excuses started.
I’ve had mails from the council asking when he fell into arrears & why I was evicting him. (not like it’s obvious or owt)

if he only had a tia he would nt permanently lose his licence only for 1 month..

Totally with Eddie on this one.. The guy could be a crim, but could also be in big trouble trying to cope alone with the bewildering array of paperwork and red tape that is increasingly being heaped onto very vulnerable people..
I’ve known some folk that would never have kept their accommodation without lots of support and I also know first hand how easy it is to slip through the gaping holes in the safety net.. I would always have said that a legit case shouldn’t have anything to fear from investigation, but that is far from true in the present climate

You only need to have not been paid for 2 months for an eviction in England…

He’s genuine as far as the disability goes. He was paying up ok till about last December, then he had kidney failure & while he was in hospital his mother died, then when he came out of hospital he had a mild stroke & lost his HGV licence.
Then the ‘I’m waiting for the council to sort my benefits out’ excuses started.
I’ve had mails from the council asking when he fell into arrears & why I was evicting him. (not like it’s obvious or owt)

so he has had a life changing upheaval– councils can take many months to sort out HB–the stress on the claimant who is hassled by the private landlord can be very bad… sounds to me he needs help and support–not evicting–you said he was ok, now he has let things go–can you not see the connection ?? Have some humanity, as eddie says you have nowt to lose, and lots to gain by trying to help the guy…

You have no legal right to know that he is claiming housing benefit – he has a contract to pay you rent, how he gets the money is not (within reason!)your concern.

The council cannot discuss whether he is claiming with you unless the tenant gives permission – basic data protection laws.

If he is claiming the newer LHA (post 2008) rather than the old Housing Benefit, the rate payable was cut earlier this year, which may have left him with a greater shortfall. Best to talk to the tenant and see if there is a workable alternative – councils will sometimes work with tenants and landlords rather than get saddled with having to rehouse the tenant if he is made homeless. Although LHA (rather naively) was based on the premise that the money would always go to the tenant rather than the landlord, there is scope for the landlord to be paid direct, and one of the early reviews of LHA highlighted that councils were not being proactive enough about helping landlords in situations like this.

Was speaking to a letting agent yesterday who had just had to evict a tenant, they’d gone to a lot of extra effort to try and avoid it coming to that.

Before you drag him into the street and put his wheelchair on Ebay, something to bare in mind:

Since the changes in benefits, the crooks at ATOS have been finding many disabled people ‘fit for work’. In fact, I think you pretty much need to be in a coma or in an iron lung to convince them that you can’t work. He may have been denied sickness benefits, and also the dole because, well, he’s disabled. Housing benefit may have been his sole source of income. It’s not right I know, but when it comes to a choice between starving to death or paying your rent I know which one I’d choose.

There was a very strong letter posted somewhere the other day from a woman whose 3 year old son is fit for work according to the ATOS guidelines..

incredible..

at best the ongoing ATOS testing will prompt yet another round of expensive appeals and tribunals and at worst there will be more deaths and homelessness and suffering like the last round..

Your tenant could be planning to pay you when his appeals etc get sorted. Unfortunately, he could die before that happens. Which seems to be part of the governments plan.

You’re able to have Housing Benefit paid directly to you as the landlord if there’s more than 8 weeks arrears. Just contact the council and request this. That’s the easiest way to find out. Oh and get some rent…

I’ve got an even better idea Rudebwoy, gimme your address & I’ll send him to live with you for free, seeing as your so sympathetic.
In case you don’t comprehend… He owes me over 3K in rent & I’ve still been paying the mortgage.
Failing that, you find somewhere for him to live eh?

He’s had his chance to correspond/catch up with rent (with no attempt whatsoever on either points) & I really couldn’t give a monkeys if he’s on the street at Xmas.

May I add (as it wasn’t relevant earlier) that his 20 yr old son lives with him, & his Dad lives round the corner.
He’s ‘taking the Michael’ to another level.

+1 esselgruntfuttock

As my missus rents her house out we have a buffer to cover 1 or 2 months out but after that it’s difficult. Especially with the way the housing market is there are lots more people renting their house out enable them to move.

We are not charities, we don’t have huge reserves, we are not faceless companies with big portfolios of property.

Ask him to sell an organ. A kidney perhaps?

Or sign him up for medical trials. If he’s f*cked anyway…

Grasping land-barons the lot of you.

😉

I’ve got an even better idea Rudebwoy……

Why are you focusing on Rudeboy’s post ? winstonsmith has offered you the perfect solution and yet you haven’t commented on that.

You asked if you could find out whether a tenant was claiming housing benefit, winstonsmith has told you how to do it, and how you can get the housing benefit paid directly to you.

Isn’t that what you wanted to know ?

Change the locks and leave his stuff in bin bags outside. Can’t stand people who take the mick at the expense of others. Selfish, greedy. Disabled or not this is about one humans attitude affecting another, a basic case of respect, responsibility, decency. I can’t offer any practical advice as I’m not sure…maybe “Call Saul”? 😉 Get him to send Mike around.

I don’t want to confuse the issue, the bloke may well be a right toerag, and whatever the situation, it’s not really your responsibility..

But when my grandad had a mild stroke, we used to get a phone call from the local chippy saying that he’s been in four times that day for a fish supper, only to take him home and discover a small mountain of uneaten fish and chips in the dining room, with my nan sat in the front room moaning at him that she was hungry..
It came to a head when he was found at the precinct weeping with frustration as he tried fruitlessly to open his car with a shed ley, too proud to ask for help..

We obviously had to step in and take over for him at that point, maybe your fella hasn’t got that support from his family?

I dunno, perhaps some of the little kids posting here are right though, maybe just give the cheeky **** a good shoeing..

find your attitude wrong essel’– you admit all was fine until a series of catastrophes’ befell the guy– has he had a personality change as well, or just unable to cope?– you only care bout your money, you see that guy as a means to your ends, when his life goes wrong, and it affects you –he’s the demon ??

All you ‘landlords’ need to have a little think–yoou aint doing it for altruistic reasons–its about your own self serving ends–don’t dress it any other way !

10months is hell of a long time. Ive had to evict someone who was blatantly ripping the piss-he went to a homeless charity and we ended up having to pay lawyers to do it. He stayed rent free in the flat for almost 9 months.. asked the charity about the fact he hadnt paid any rent and funnily enough he hadnt told them.
Aye its a business and youre taking risks but if you pinched somethingnout a shop you’d be charged for it and have a criminal record but rip off a money grabbing capitalist landlord and its fine..
Im assuming the op has been fairly decent with regards to dealing with the tenant and trying to get the unpaid rent btw.. I know we gave the guy every opportunity to pay us, let him go a month without, then pay up arrears, etc..

Hold on he has not paid rent for 10 months if I’ve read this right.

That’s plenty of time to get “sorted”

Taking the piss imo!!!

No sympathy from me.

Good luck sorting it out essel!

All you ‘landlords’ need to have a little think–yoou aint doing it for altruistic reasons–its about your own self serving ends–don’t dress it any other way !

Cobblers.

He’s not paid anything for almost a year.

You think that’s somehow ok ?

As suggested earlier, if you think that’s acceptable, either let him stay at your house for nothing (while you live somewhere else) or pay his rent for him.

Stop making other people out to be the demon if your not willing to step up and prove you are any different.

I really couldn’t give a monkeys if he’s on the street at Xmas.

And I can’t give a monkeys’ if you get your rent paid or not.

Works both ways, this ’empathy’ thing… 😉

He was asking a specific question. Not looking for any emotional support.

All you ‘landlords’ need to have a little think–you aint doing it for altruistic reasons–its about your own self serving ends–don’t dress it any other way !

I think too many have lost sight of the fact that owning another home that is surplus to your needs, is a great privilege, with which must come responsibility. Someone needs a home; you’re in a privileged position to provide them with one, so you need to consider which is the greater need: for someone to have a home (A basic Human Right), or your desire to make more money (a privilege).

That you have chosen to exploit a situation that allows you to profit from others need, does not automatically make you someone worthy of respect. There are ways to resolve this situation without making somebody homeless. Why not explore those avenues first?

…with which must come responsibility.

Why ?

I think too many have lost sight of the fact that owning another home that is surplus to your needs, is a great privilege, with which must come responsibility. Someone needs a home; you’re in a privileged position to provide them with one, so you need to consider which is the greater need: for someone to have a home (A basic Human Right), or your desire to make more money (a privilege).

That you have chosen to exploit a situation that allows you to profit from others need, does not automatically make you someone worthy of respect. So don’t expect any.

Complete and utter BS, many people these days have a rental property to enable them to move when you can’t actually sell your property. Not all landlords are mad money grabbing bankers some people are just trying to make things work. Though I suppose the handwinrging leftie guardian reading champagne socialists don’t get that 🙂

Someone needs a home; you’re in a privileged position to provide them with one, so you need to consider which is the greater need: for someone to have a home (A basic Human Right), or your desire to make more money (a privilege).

I have never heard such nonsense.

Sometimes some of the rubbish that gets spouted on here in some kind of hippie, left wing, tree hugging fantasy view of the World and how it works amazes me!

I got screwed by a tenant once and had to write off £2750 in missed rent/costs.
Got a ccj against her which was useless waste of money. Got fed up with throwing money away after she changed her name. It was going to cost me £100 to change the name on the ccj.
She now drives round in a brand new Ford S max.

I am a big believer in what goes around comes around.

Had a fantastic tenant for nearly 5 years now.

for someone to have a home (A basic Human Right)

Google the 1988 Human Rights Act.

Read it.

Then point out the bit that you are talking about that’s relevant here.

I was forced to become a landlord for over 2 years as I could not sell a property and had to move for work.

It was a **** nightmare! I seemed to get useless tenant after useless tenant.

I have every sympathy with the OP. He is not a social worker and has no responsibility towards the social care of a tenant. He has a responsibility of maintaining the property to an appropriate standard and that is it.

The tenant has the responsibility of paying his rent and treating the property correctly. He has not done either. The stress this puts on the landlord can be massive and can have a knock on effect to his family. It certainly did for me. Why should the OP be out of pocket?

It’s the social services and the council who are failing to provide support and fulfill their duty of care.

Some of the tree hugging replies here are hilarious. Do you live in the real world?? Essel should pay for a stranger toive in his house? Er no don’t think so unless he’s running a homeless shelter. All those saying he should let him stay, should offer this chap a room in their house if they are so accommodating.
I’ve got to rent my house soon and go into rented accommodation myself, due to having to work in another county that’s in commutable daily (I intend to go back to my home in the future). If some idiot pulls the same thing on me I will be struggling financially. It’s all so clear cut isn’t it!!! Bloody idiots lol.

Good luck getting it sorted mate.