Rent arrears

[monty0703]

I rent a home from a housing association and have never been in arrears for my rent. Yesterday I had a visit from one of their staff saying that I owed them �140 as they had underestimated the amount of rent I should have paid for last year. Surely as this is their fault I shouldn't be expected to pay?! Any info gratefully received.

[flyciderman]

My starting point would be the tenancy aggrement, if you are paying the rent stated then that is all you have to pay.

If they made an error that is not your fault.

How would they like it if you said you had over estimated the rent you could pay and ask them for money back.

[buildersmate]

It rather depends the basis on which you pay the rent. 'Estimating' seems to imply there is some variable in the amount you pay -perhaps dependent on your income. Are you clear yourself about how the calculation on the amount you pay is done? if so, was there some factor that they had to estimate (like the amount of your income) that they couldn't know until after the end of the year.

[monty0703]

Hi and thanks for answering. The amount of rent I pay is the full rent for my property and does not depend on any variables. I pay the same rent as my neighbours who live in identical houses. I haven't had the chance to speak to them to see if they have had the same problem. I have been told by the housing association that the mistake was their fault as they miscalculated the monthly rent I should have paid.

[pingping]

I can't comment on the legality I'm afraid, but if it is legal for them to charge you this extra money, then you should insist on setting up a payment plan and set the amount as being ridiculously low (e.g. �2 a month) explaining that otherwise you can't afford the repayments. You never know, they may decide not to bother re-couping the costs.

[flyciderman]

Have they yet told you why they expect you to pay for the error that they made?

When they do, ask them to direct you to the particular clause in the lease that allows them to collect extra/top up rent as and when they wish.

Please let us know how you get on.

[monty0703]

This happened 4 days ago now and I haven't even received a letter from them which I think is odd (unless they are inefficient about that too). Thanks pingping and flyciderman - they are good ideas. I'll do some phoning around and I'll let you know what happens in case it's useful to anyone else.

[monty0703]

My neighbours who pay exactly the same rent were never approached by the housing authority and I never received a letter so I have decided to ignore it. I've kept all my receipts etc. should I ever need to prove that I've always paid what the housing authority demanded as rent. Thanks to all who replied.