Got myself into a right mess with rent

[Holly03]

So as the title explains I’ve gotten myself into a right mess. I had a very difficult few months at the end of last year and now owe just under two months rent. I had fraud on my account for one of the months and lost over a thousand pound, which in effect left me struggling in December. Now my landlord has been ringing me everyday since it was two days late, he rings at least 15 times in ten minutes and it’s a struggle to actually be able to sort my finances out as I’m always on the phone to him or he is on the doorstep. A bit of a backstory I’ve never heard from my landlord until now as he has refused to do repairs and deal with the damp and mould in the house, the roof/ damp leaking into the lights and tripping the electrics. Whilst I understand he wants his money right now, I’m struggling to sort anything with his constant contact. Even trying to contact my local council to see if any help is available then leaves me having to hang up the phone because if I don’t answer immediately he will turn up at the house. This is through an agency but the agency deny having anything to do with the property as they say it’s let only but agents from other departments (friends with the landlord) have come to the property even when the rent was only a day late. Any advice on how to deal with this as I’m trying to get the money together asap but struggling with the constant contact all of the time from my landlord who says he will ring and call at the house until he is paid, yet ignores the phone throughout my tenancy about any repairs (I was left most of the night without electric due to the damp problem that caused the switches to trip and the red button wouldn’t push back up- no electrician has been called this was in October the electrician only attended a week ago after speaking to the council). I just feel like I’m struggling so much right now to try and get on top of it all, I try to deal with the rent and then have my landlord, guarantor and the agency ring all in the space of 20 minutes and it’s all day

How can you offer £100 to pay off arrears when you e only managed to pay £200 in rent this month?

I have no idea only then to use the 106.00 I’ve got coming in a week but it would mean using a food bank every week until paid and also vouchers for gas and electric which I don’t think my local citizens advice would do every week but I’m not sure how to balance it other wise

What your offering then is sustainable and won't be accepted by the Landlord or a Judge.

What has your Guarantor said to you? You say that they've been ringing.

i proved the fraud but the following month all of my bills came at once due to the loss of not paying them in November and I ended up overdrawn in December and couldn’t pay the rent. Priority payments are rent and council tax, what else went through first?

Are you paying all of your rent out of your UC or are you just paying the top up amount each month that you mention?

I totally agree that the excuse of him ringing you off the hook is stopping you sorting your finances does not old any water!!
Your landlord is not a charity. He is not responsible for your situation you are with the exception of the fraud.
You need to ask relatives for a dig out / go to council etc etc.ok

He is not a great LL regarding repairs but that is beside the point. You are living in his house and havent paid him. He has bills to pay too ! Yab completely unreasonable. If i was him id hope you would up and leave so he can get a more reliable tenant in. There is a housing crisis and lack of available property. Pull every favour to sort this asap . He is the owner and has rights as you have also

Paying the arrears ASAP needs to be your priority. Having these arrears put you at risk of eviction and will also impact finding alternative housing.

The easiest way to sort this is get reimbursed by the bank and pay the arrears off in one full lump-sum. Assuming the fraud was in October/November. It really should have been sorted by the bank now. What are they saying?

However, seeing as the fraud was in one month and you've missed two months. Would the fraud refund even cover the arrears in full?

If not you need to speak to CAB. There are charities such as Christians Against Poverty who can help with payment plans.

Going forward, look into getting UC to pay your rent direct to the landlord. This is likely to put him/her at ease, and can help you avoid this situation again in the future.

Repairs wise you need to deal with this as a separate thing. Document the issues, with photos, and send them to the landlord straight away.

Personally, I wouldn't escalate the issues past this point until the arrears are sorted (via an agreed payment plan being set up, or being paid off in full). Just because I'd be worried about pissing the landlord off too much. I know that not right, but the unfortunate reality of renting when there is a huge housing shortage.

Hopefully you get it sorted soon .

What are these school runs you have been doing in the past two weeks that have stopped you answering your phone or calling him back?

You are avoiding him and I'm not surprised he's starting to lose patience with you.

Can you get your guarantor to help you? Maybe you could make an arrangement with them so that your landlord gets paid what is owed and you can pay back the guarantor.

Did the bank refund you the money lost through fraud?

I think you're avoiding him which a lot of people would do. Debt is overwhelming especially when it will keep increasing along with the pressure of the person you owe money to.
I'd be straight onto citizen's advice shelter and step change when they reopen.
Could you send your LL a message asking him to give you the week to arrange things/support and that you will contact them first thing Friday with an update.
In the meantime just be on at the bank constantly to see whats happening with the fraud refund.
A lot of people on here won't understand that people live hand to mouth so one month of you being the victim of fraud will leave you drowning as it will have a knock on effect because you don't have any more resources to get money from but the bills won't stop.

Have a look at Shelter for some advice:

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/get_help_with_rent

you can’t magic up money from nowhere but get some advice and support in your corner so you can talk to your LL confidently and get more control for yourself

I was in a similar situation although it was 20 years ago now. The turning point was seeing a welfare rights adviser and debt counselor who rang places on my behalf to make sure I was getting all the help I qualified for (turned out I wasn't) and sort out reasonable payment plans. I was running on vapour at that point and it took so much stress and pressure off knowing that I didn't have to speak to an angry landlord or indifferent bank rep again. In time I got it paid off and turned things around. It sounds like you need an advocate who will help you directly if you don't already have one.

Thank you. I’m waiting for a benefits advisor to be back after the bank holidays which I think is covered by citizens advice. I’m just feeling so overwhelmed and like it’s really impossible. I’m hoping someone seeing it from another angle may help and also I’m not sure if I’m claiming everything I should be or entitled to. I waited until my son was 8 before I claimed dla for him and was told I should have been claiming it 7 years ago. I find a lot of it overwhelming as I’m not really aware of what we are entitled to with him having such high daily needs. I’ve just been muddling through it all.

Yes when it took 1200 I didn’t have that spare that was everything in November for my bills and rent. I had no spare money and had to resort to using food banks as it wiped out all my funds and borrowing off the gas and electric company . I’ve pushed on at them as they stated it would be solved this month, I just didn’t see until it was too late because i had so much going on and 1200 was due to go out with rent and bills so without checking my statement my balance looked right. I did get child maintenance for my children but this has gone down as my sons dad has had it put down to 6.00 per month and my daughters dad doesn’t really pay when he is supposed to so I can’t rely on him paying, unfortunately he is also living the same situation as us all hand to mouth (even though he has no contact and really should pay towards helping with her costs even if it’s only a small amount). I’m hoping once I’ve got some advice I can turn this around quick as family don’t have money to borrow and my guarantor doesn’t have the cash for me to borrow either

I do call him back the school runs are over 30 minutes each way and near traffic you can’t hear the phone. I contact back as soon as I see the calls which is only ten to 15 minutes after the calls so it is a reasonable time frame but by that point the landlord is driving up to the house. I don’t have my phone to hand all of the time so I think 10-15 minutes of contacting after missed calls is reasonable time

PP probably means that schools haven't been on for at least a week.

Best thing to do is put this ALL in writing to the lettings agency and send a copy to the landlord explaining the situation and outlining a payment plan.

He doesn't have to accept the payment plan, it's down to him but that's what I'd do and explain when you get the money back from the bank you will pay the arrears off in full. It may be best to get a month ahead too to stop this happening again in future.

And contact CAB too, he's not allowed to turn up at your house without 24 hours notice, that's considered harrasment.

I am a month ahead so technically it’s only 5 weeks in arrears but my landlord is adamant that it’s 9 weeks because I pay a month upfront.

The landlord has you living in substandard conditions. Do you get damp and mould?

Another tenant would have had in up in court for not providing adequate living conditions. It’s not life style it’s your landlord not paying for repairs.

Just want to add, I've worked very closely with the Salvation Army and a homelessness charity as well.

I've liased with several council housing teams as well.

The Tory government under Johnson made it easier than ever to remove a tenant for non-payment of rent. The only current delay is court date backlogs.

And yes, non-payers of rent when you've got a tenancy you agreed to with that sum, is intentional homelessness.

Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 implies an absolute and non-excludable obligation upon landlords to carry out basic repairs. It is implied into all tenancy agreements unless the tenancy: began before 24 October 1961.

Perfect reason not to pay the rent. Once section 11 is in action he has 28 days to do something get a damp survey done or repairs.

Yes I have it really bad because the electrician says there is a leak in the roof or damp in the attic and it’s leaking through the lights which is shortening the fuse and tripping the electrics so I have to use lamps upstairs and not use the lights. It’s really damp in the cupboards, my wall in the bedroom is soaking and it’s got like yellow damp mould on the walls in my room and my sons room. There’s mould and damp above the front door and all over the kitchen and bathroom. I made the mistake of putting clothes in the corner in my room and they ended up soaking from how wet it was so had to be binned.

In some cases landlords who don’t listen end up paying out compensation to their tenant.