We work to resolve any arrears problems before they become unmanageable.
The tenancy agreement is a legally binding document in which you agree to pay your rent. If you do not pay, we can take legal action.
Rent arrears procedure
The following steps describe our procedure for dealing with rent arrears:
- If you fall behind with the payment of your rent and do not get in touch with us to let us know that there is a problem, we will send you a reminder letter to let you know that your rent account is in arrears.
- If you do not pay your rent or get in contact with us after we have sent you a letter, you will either be visited at your home or you will be sent a second reminder letter asking you to contact us.
- If you still have not paid your outstanding rent after our second attempt at contact, we will serve a legal document giving you notice of our intention to seek possession of the house - the initial stages of an eviction.
- We will write to you to let you know that we will be going to court to take the first step which could result in your eviction. This is done to give you the opportunity to pay your arrears before your case goes to court
- We will apply to the court for a hearing date.
- At the court hearing, the judge will be asked to make an order for you to pay your rent and also pay an amount of your arrears each week. This is a legal order and you will be required to do this by law. You will also be liable to pay court costs, which will be a minimum of £355.
- If you do not comply with the court to pay the amount ordered, we will obtain a warrant for your eviction from your home. You will be given notice of the eviction. You should note that at this point to stop the eviction from going ahead you must pay your arrears and court costs in full.
Benefits
A number of tenants will be in receipt of benefits which will cover a part, or all, of the rent.
It is your responsibility to ensure your rent is paid. Benefit is paid to your rent account automatically, it is not our responsibility to ensure your rent payment continues, it is yours. Therefore, if you are asked to complete benefit forms, or supply information, this is all part of your responsibility to ensure your rent is paid, whether you pay it yourself or receive benefit to pay for it. If you are a new applicant you must pay your rent while your benefit claim is being assessed. If you have any doubt about this please contact us. Please remember, if you do not pay your rent, or ensure your benefit is being paid for you, the procedure listed above will still be applied.
We do not want to evict you from your home. We are here to help you, but to do that we need you to let us know if you are having problems paying your rent. We will try to help you avoid getting further into arrears. The sooner you contact us the sooner we can help to sort the situation out.
Garage arrears
The following steps describe our procedure for dealing with garage rent arrears:
- If you fall behind with the payment of your garage rent and do not get in touch with us to let us know that there is a problem, we will send you a reminder letter to let you know that your account is in arrears.
- If you do not pay your garage rent or get in contact with us after we have sent you a letter, you will be issued with a legal document giving you notice to quit your garage, giving you seven days to clear the arrears or contact us to make an arrangement to clear the arrears.
- If you still have not paid your garage rent or contacted us to make an arrangement to pay the locks on your garage will be changed and any contents cleared and disposed of. You will be charged for all costs incurred.