What you should do if you fall behind with your rent
What to do if you fall behind with your rent and what Stevenage Homes will do to retrieve rent arrears from current and former tenants.
Stevenage Homes relies on rental income to pay for the services that it delivers to its tenants. If rent arrears increase, this reduces the services that tenants receive. For that reason it is critical that rent arrears levels are kept to a minimum.
What to do if you fall into arrears
The most important thing is that a person falling into arrears should make contact with Tenancy Services. We can only assist in solving the problem if the tenant contacts us to let us know what the problem is.
It is very important that tenants deal with arrears issues at an early stage, although the Tenancy Services Team are always happy to give help and advice at any stage in an arrears problem.
What Stevenage Homes will do if you fall into arrears
Stevenage Homes will keep tenants informed of the status of their rent account. Rent statements are issued to all tenants every quarter (July, October, January and April) so that tenants can check their payments and balances. We will also issue letters whenever there is an arrear on a rent account, even if it is very small. This is to give tenants an opportunity to pay off rent arrears, or to contact Tenancy Services if there is a problem paying rent, before the situation becomes unmanageable.
Stevenage Homes realises that people do sometimes fall into arrears and will be sympathetic to tenants who do so. Although Stevenage Homes will usually expect tenants to make up small arrears, such as one or two weeks' rent, without delay, we will permit repayment by instalments where the arrears are too great for the tenant to clear the debt immediately. If you fall into arrears and you cannot meet the outstanding payments immediately you can contact Tenancy Services to negotiate repayment by instalments.
What Stevenage Homes will do if arrears continue to increase
Although Stevenage Homes will always try to recover rent arrears by negotiating a mutually convenient solution, if the arrears continue to increase we may take the tenant to Court. Tenants should attend Court. At the Court we will normally ask for a 'Postponed Possession Order'. That is where the Court orders that the tenant must start paying the rent and a small amount per week, fortnight or month off of the arrears.
If a tenant has a Postponed Possession Order against them we would still wish to know if they encounter any difficulty in making payments. Even at this stage we would much prefer to have the problem of arrears resolved rather than have the tenant evicted. We will exercise some discretion, rather than just seeking to evict, as long as there is a realistic prospect of the debt being paid.
However, if a tenant misses a single payment under a Postponed Order, we can return to court to obtain a Suspended Possession Order and after 28 days the tenant will become a Tolderated Trespasser. The trespasser will lose all tenancy rights, even if we do not evict them. They remain a trespasser even if they pay all the arrears and legal costs, unless they ask for a new tenancy.
Regrettably, there does come a time when we appear to be faced with no alternative but to evict a tenant. This is very much a last resort and it is not an action that we take lightly.
If a person is evicted they do have a right to make an appeal to Stevenage Borough Council as being homeless. Whilst every case has to be dealt on its merits, Stevenage Borough Council may well argue that if a person had the ability to pay the rent, but did not do so, then they may be considered to be 'intentionally homeless' and Stevenage Borough Council would have no obligation to rehouse them, even where there are children in the household.
What to do if you think there is a mistake on your rent account or if you are waiting for Housing Benefit to be paid
You should contact Stevenage Homes if you think there has been a mistake. Stevenage Homes will examine your account to sort out any problems. If a payment you made is not showing on your account, you will need to bring (or send) your receipt into the office.
You should inform us if you are waiting for Housing Benefit to be paid. Housing Benefit claims should be sorted out within four weeks of the Housing Benefit office receiving your completed claim form and all relevant proofs. We will not usually take legal action against you if we know you are waiting for a claim to be processed and you are making payments. Remember that Housing Benefit will not pay for water rates, if this is included in your rent you will still have to pay this yourself.
Former tenant rent arrears
When a person leaves a Council tenancy they become a 'former tenant'. If there are arrears at the end of the tenancy Stevenage Homes will continue to pursue these. We will discuss repayment terms with the former tenant and could, if payment is not made, summons the former tenant to Court to get an 'Order for Payment'.
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If you are concerned about your level of debt or would like tips on how to avoid debt problems or how to manage existing debt problems, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has developed a Debt Awareness Test you may be interested in.