is this fraud

[lotty-1957]

i am a landlord of a private property, my tenants boyfriend lost his job and they claimed housing benefit but they did not pay it to me for their rent. they claimed over £1,000 but when i questioned this with the housing benefits office they said "it was at the discretion of the tenant if they paid me or not"? surely claiming this money was to pay rent? what do other people think ive now lost £1,000. I now have the house up for sale (they new a year ago that i was going to sell) since then the boyfriend has threatened to trash the house and smashed the sign the agents put up where do i stand on this

[sandyRoe]

Evict them. I doubt if you'll see a penny of the rent.

[ummmm]

You could take them to the small claims court.

Phone the police regarding any threats. Even if it's just so they have it on record.

[daffy654]

It isn't fraud.
I agree with SandyRoe that you should evict them asap, and I also doubt you will get the rent owed. You can claim through the small claims court as ummmm has said for the amount they owe you but all this will do is issue a judgement against them for the money, they probably still won't pay you though.

[ummmm]

Yes, but they'll find it harder to find rented accommodation again.

[lotty-1957]

i have reported the threats to the police so they have that on record, i would think taking them to the small claims court will cost me and as they dont work now (but still manage to go out to the pub!!!! they will probably have to pay a penny a week, mind you he still manages to smoke great big cigars!!!

[ladybirder]

lotty I have read what you have said and I can't think of a single reason why you should not evict them. You mention your tenant's boyfriend, so presumably his name isn't even on the tenancy agreement so he shouldn't be there anyway. If he trashes the agent's board I think the agent might have something to say about this. As you have told Housing Benefits the rent has not been handed to you, is the future benefit, up until they leave, now going to be paid directly to you? Because if it isn't it should be. You have my sympathy. A pity NOX hasn't seen this as he would probably have something more useful to say than me.

[tonywiltshire]

No it is not fraud, the argument is that by paying HB to the tenant it will make them budget and act in a more responsible manner (this is the argument), this only applies to tenants of private property not tenants of social housing. If they are not paying you the rent you can apply to your LA to have the rent paid direct to you, which they will probably do.

You may want to get rid of these tenants before the house is sold in which case give them the required two months notice, if the minimum fixed term is complete and it is an assured shorthold tenancy, if they do not move on the correct date obtain a possession order from the court and use bailiffs to remove them. You will then have to take civil action to recover any unpaid rent.

[ojread2]

your tenants are the reason I think all HB should be paid direct to the landlord, always

If it's for rent why the hell is it not criminal to claim and not pay the rent?

[IggyB]

I suspect this is benefit fraud and you should contact the benefit fraud helpline to report them.

I also think you should discuss getting payment made directly to you rather than the tenet while you are sorting out the eviction. The law around payment going to you rather than the tenet is covered in The Housing Benefit Regulations 2006. See the relevant section below:

http://www.legislatio...13/regulation/95/made
95.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and paragraph 8(4) of Schedule A1(1) (treatment of claims for housing benefit by refugees), a payment of rent allowance shall be made to a landlord (and in this regulation the “landlord” includes a person to whom rent is payable by the person entitled to that allowance)—(a)where under Regulations made under the Administration Act an amount of income support or a jobseeker’s allowance payable to the claimant or his partner is being paid direct to the landlord; or
(b)where sub-paragraph (a) does not apply and the person is in arrears of an amount equivalent to 8 weeks or more of the amount he is liable to pay his landlord as rent, except where it is in the overriding interest of the claimant not to make direct payments to the landlord.

I think you may well lose 8 weeks of rent but hopefully you can limit your losses there - good luck with your sale and evicting the present occupants

IggyB

[joko]

as they have defaulted on the agreement dont bother give notice, wait til theyre out, bag up their leave in garden and change locks

[kelfoan]

It is not fraud. If they have a liability to pay rent, then they can claim Housing Benefit. However if the do not then pay you the rent and If they are more than 8 weeks in arrears then you can apply to the council to have the HB paid dircet to you