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Is housing benifit not paid to landlord is it fraud?

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cassa333 | 08:48 Wed 13th Jul 2011 | Law
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If a tenant is getting housing benefit paid directly to them but doesn't then pay the landlord, is this fraud?

And if so, why don't they get done for it?

If not why not?

Thank you
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If a tenant stops paying their rent it can take a while for the LL to get them out of his property.
It should be paid directly to the LL but it isn't.
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I am very easily confused.

I don't see what prompted the question as being relevant. Unless I have missed something.!! Not impossible lol

A tenant gets HB to help with or pay in total the rent they owe.
Tenant doesn't pay the landlord the rent owed.
Logic (for me at least) says that they are getting money fraudulently as they are not paying rent as they should.

Child benifit coul be spent on almost anything (except booze,fags and drugs) as most other things could be seen as a benefit to the child. However Housing Benefit has a specific conotation. IE to help with housing costs. Ergo if you don't pay your rent you perhaps shouldn't get HB!!?
ok, so you;re saying the tenant is not up to date with their rent?
but using HB for anything other than rent payment will only be a temporary thing until the tenant is thrown out of the property.
most if not all tenancy contracts allow LLs to give 2 months notice, they do not een have to give a reason. so this fraud would not be something that would go on over a period of months
2 months notice to leave *
With your line of thinking CB should be spent solely on the child
JSA should be spent on bus fares and train fare getting to and from interviews

What you are saying is completely unreasonable to expect - your money will go into one bank account. Are the bank supposed to say 'no, I'm not sending that DD to your landlord cos it's not made up of any HB'? Ridiculous, or have I missed your point?
And you still haven't said whether or not said tenant is up to date with their rent?
LL's very seldomly let tenants live rent free, most families want to keep a roof over their heads. if a tenant stops paying rent then eviction proceedings begin which is costly to both parties. do you think a family in receipt of HB cant be trusted if the money goes into their account?

Im not sure what angle you are looking for here..
Strictly speaking, it isn't 'Fraud'.
They will have been assessed as fulfilling the requirements in order to receive Housing Benefit.....there is no fraudulent claim being perpetrated against the Housing Benefit Department.

They are failing to pass on this money to their Landlord. This is a matter which the Landlord will then have to take up directly with his tenant...as s/he would with any tenant failing to pay their rent, for whatever reason.

The Landlord can contact the LA to ensure that rent is paid directly to him/her, but is often likely to have lost money before they do so.
ask a solicitor? CAB? I was merely curious as to why you asked,if there isnt a legitimate LL or property being rented i dont see how a claim can be paid, and if there are rent arreas LL's are pretty quick to kick off, esp if its a council property, so i cant see how the benefit can be used and no rent paid, it seems a bit stupid but obviously i am missing something, however, no worries am sure somebody will come up with the answer, i am bored with it now.
apparently its a new rule to make people more responsible for their budgeting and cash flow etc...rather than having them have no involvement with teh arrangement...
eh? joko? The money can (still) go to either LL or tenant as directed by the tenant to the council HB department. The LL can make it part of their tenancy agreement that the HB is paid directly to them

purplepolkadot, didn't mean to confuse you :)
pink-kittens i confused myself lol ... am moving myself to other posts lol
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Pink Kittens Does this help clarify your statements "And you still haven't said whether or not said tenant is up to date with their rent? "

A tenant gets HB to help with or pay in total the rent they owe.
.........Tenant doesn't pay the landlord the rent owed........

"With your line of thinking CB should be spent solely on the child "
Child benifit coul be spent on almost anything (except booze,fags and drugs) as most other things could be seen as a benefit to the child. ie: Food, clothes, lifestyle etc.

"What you are saying is completely unreasonable to expect - your money will go into one bank account. Are the bank supposed to say 'no, I'm not sending that DD to your landlord cos it's not made up of any HB'? Ridiculous, or have I missed your point? "

Yes. You have missed the point. It has nothing to do with the bank. It has everything to do with personal responsibility of the individual in receipt of state benefits. And I suppose why and the way in which taxpayers money is accounted for.


"JSA should be spent on bus fares and train fare getting to and from interviews"
Yes. I think Job Seakers Allowance should be spent on activities that will ultimately generate a job and not on other things. Stationary and a new suit perhaps as well.

The truth of the matter appears to be that people can get specific benefits, such as HB and not pay the assosiated costs of housing.

They can claim job seekers allowance and not actually look for a job. Get HB and not pay the LL any rent.

Surely unemployment benefit (or whatever it is called nowadays) is your living cost payment and the other benefits are for those areas covered by the individual benefit?

But I think this is too political for the rather simple question of is it a benefit fraud to claim housing benefift and not paying houseing costs as the answer is obviously no.
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Purple Pokadot, Yes I am the LL and they have been given notice. She is going to be given a nice three/four bed council house. That is possibly one reason why she hasn't paid her rent!

We have written to her gaurantor as well and because she is 6 weeks in arrears the council will stop her hb and pay the last three weeks of her rent, before she gets her nice new council house, directly to us.

This question isn't about 'getting her done' it is about the 'rightness' of getting a benefit from the taxpayer and then not sticking to the agreement sort of thing.
well i make you right cassa333, you let your property in good faith and expect to be paid, if i were you i would insist that anyone claiming HB had it paid direct to you to cover the rent.
I've just flicked through all the answers so sorry if I've missed something. HB may be paid directly to a LL but it doesn't have to be. When HB is paid directly to the tenant and the tenant has signed a lease agreement it then becomes the tenant's responsibility to ensure the due rental is paid. I'm not sure exactly what the question is getting at unless it is that the tenant is claiming HB but is in arrears to the landlord.
I think you also missed my point

It is nothing to do with the bank, but yr CB is also paid into your bank along with JSA, DLA etc etc so how do you know whether or not its the CB, JSA, DLA or HB being spent of clothes, drugs etc? You don't and never will

It's still not fraud if the claimant is entitled to HB but they will find themselves homeless if they don't pay their rent. If they do, it wont mean they wont get HB in the future
pink kittens - apparently that option is only available for people whose claims were already set up before the rule came in...for new claims it is supposed to go to the tennant...unless you can create a very good case to state otherwise such as the tennant being a known drug user or something

at leats this is what i was told by my local authority about 3 years ago

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