Unable to pay full rent

[bratzdoll]

I'm a single parent currently on maternity leave so I receive UC monthly to help pay my rent and further bills. I'm private renting but I got the flat through the homelessness scheme (when you're homeless and in temporary accommodation but willing to take a private flat instead of waiting years in temporary accommodation until a council flat is available)

The benefit of private renting through the homelessness scheme is that the council are in contact with Landlords that are happy to rent to someone on UC and are usually happy to negotiate the monthly rent price.

I moved into the flat a few months ago and always pay my rent to the Landlord's agent one day before it's due just so the receive it without any problems or anything.

This month my UC was around £1100 less than it should have been because my employer incorrectly reported that I had earned around £2500 last month
I'm still only receiving SMP so I have no clue how they made such a drastic mistake but this means DD and I are living on near to nothing this month.

I sent an email to the Landlord's agent a few days before the rent was due to let them know the situation. I included screenshots of my UC Payment page so they could see the breakdown of what I normally get and see what was deducted. I did say I was able to contribute a small amount to the rent (less than £200 as I was given less than £400 from UC to live on for the month)
I also let them know that I spoke to my work coach about what happened as she's raised this with the investigation team so hopefully she'll hear back from them soon.

I spoke to the agent on the phone the day before the rent was due (I always speak to the manager btw) and she was very understanding and just said to update her with what happens. The next morning I get an email from her saying the Landlord was not happy at all (understandingly) and that I need to do whatever it takes to be able to pay the rent in full including taking out an overdraft!

I've never not paid my rent since I've lived here and it's not as if I got the dates mixed up or I spent the money on something else. The rent amount wasn't given to me for no fault of my own. I was a bit shocked at the Landlord's response as I'd literally given him more than half of what I received just to be able to contribute something. When in reality I could have kept it and spent that on myself and my daughter as we desperately need it!

There's often a discussion on Twitter about some Landlords and how they refuse to be understanding even in unavoidable situations. I understand I'm renting and effectively helping to pay off his mortgage, but this wasn't my fault at all.

(just in case anyone wants to bash me for being on benefits, I've been working full time since I was 17. It's more or less impossible to be a single parent living on SMP)

Yeah OP just starve you and your baby so you can pay a landlord rent that he is going to get anyway.
Bloody hell some of these replies.

The landlord absolutely should not be relying on your payments to pay a mortgage and if they are then they are renting/being a landlord all wrong

So long as you make up the payment when you get your UC sorted that's all you can do. They can't force you to take an overdraft and please absolutely don't go getting yourself into debt to pay this,

The worst they can do is start an eviction order but based off just this they will have no justification for this so it won't happen

Your landlord is the one being unreasonable.

(I say this as someone who works as a letting agent)

Or maybe OP should just sell her baby instead?

@Skyll

5 times in how long though? Rent is usually due 1st of month - 5 times in 3 weeks isn’t much. If, however, your rent was due on Monday past (ie 22nd) then 5 times is reasonable.

Seeing as you keep banging on about it, my rent was due yesterday. I've been contacting my work from the beginning of the week

Make sure you have a CMS claim as well op

Your baby’s father should be contributing as well.

@LolaButt

Some people really don’t understand what it’s like living hand to mouth. You end up living a really precarious life where any change sends your life tumbling like a house of cards.

OP, personally I would be communicating with your employer by phone and backed up with email each day. Let the landlord know that you’re proactively chasing this every day and will communicate that with him every day. You appreciate it’s concerning for him etc blah blah blah and you want to reassure him and demonstrate to him that you’re doing anything and everything in your power to resolve it.

Please don’t take out high interest credit to resolve this. I’ve done this before many years ago and got myself in a right state. At the moment, this is a situation that with time and chasing will be resolved when you receive a back payment.

It’s unfortunate for the landlord but no business will ever run 100% of the time perfectly.

Really appreciate this comment @LolaButt I'll definitely take on board what you've said (as have others) regarding chasing the employer and contacting my Landlord's agent as much as possible

@willithappen

The landlord absolutely should not be relying on your payments to pay a mortgage and if they are then they are renting/being a landlord all wrong

So long as you make up the payment when you get your UC sorted that's all you can do. They can't force you to take an overdraft and please absolutely don't go getting yourself into debt to pay this,

The worst they can do is start an eviction order but based off just this they will have no justification for this so it won't happen

Your landlord is the one being unreasonable.

(I say this as someone who works as a letting agent)

Absolutely. Anyone relying on each months rent as a landlord to pay that months mortgage has no business being a landlord. You are running a business. Businesses need reserves. It is basic business 101.

@bratzdoll I second not getting into debt for this. It could mess your finances up for a very long time.

Your LL is not being unreasonable, they may most likely need that money for their mortgage.

However your not being unreasonable either, you've done everything possible you can do. The only thing you can do is try and hurry universal credit up.. but that's not easy either. I've seen it before where people can't pay their rent from incorrect wage reports and they've had to wait 2-3 months.
Nobody's in the wrong. I hope you get it sorted soon.

@TheCheesyBakedBeanGetsGlam

If you paid £180 for a £900 rental amount, for example I have no idea the actual amounts, then the landlord will think a) you didn't try that hard to pay the rent or b) you are in an incredibly vulnerable financial position and this is likely to happen again. Either way, it is no a good impression to have early on.

Obviously this is not your fault at all, I understand how it feels to have your money messed up and be unable to pay your rent, I've been there. But your landlord is coming from their own perspective. Rent should be your absolute priority above all else. If that means eating from the food bank and getting a voucher from social services or the council to pay for your gas/electric then that's what you should do. If you only get £400 UC you should give them £400 in UC. Giving them half of that seems like a piss take and like you're not prioritising your rent properly.

If the landlord needed a late payment to realise that someone he took on from a homelessness scheme is in a very vulnerable financial position then they have no business being a landlord.

Giving them half is more than a lot of people would do. Food banks round here only give out food for 3 days - the OP would be stupid to give all the money out without any knowledge when this would be fixed.

I wasn’t banging on.

You have got angry with me for no reason. I’m sorry this has happened to you. I’m sorry you feel your landlord should be more sympathetic to you but that’s unrealistic. And in the absence of dates and/or amounts I was explaining why they may feel that way.

You’ve jumped down my throat when I made up numbers and also when others have said the right thing.

I’ve been where you are. I’ve been on benefits with young children and I know how much it can fuck things up and I’m really sorry you are going through this but it isn’t your landlord’s fault and you need to push your payroll and UC to sort it.

I can't believe some of these replies though!!

How can you really tell someone to give every penny of the money they got away and force herself and child into food banks.

The Asda analogy is complete crap also, absolutely NOT on the same level.

So long as OP takes the measures to sort this and pay the outstanding amount due when she gets it then there's absolutely no reason to be putting this extra stress on

We get this happening so many times and not once has any of the landlords I work for demanded the payment be made then and there or that the tenant take a loan or overdraft to pay it. Completely unreasonable

Sorry, OP, I realized that as soon as I'd posted. But I'd still do as @LolaButt suggested and keep in communication with the LL so he knows you're doing everything possible to get it sorted. More communication is always better than less, IYSWIM,

This must be so stressful, I'm sorry you're doing through this, your employer's Payroll dept. sounds shit.

@julieca

Yeah OP just starve you and your baby so you can pay a landlord rent that he is going to get anyway. Bloody hell some of these replies.

Honestly!!

*Said the same thing

*going

Some of these comments! What do you expect OP and her baby to live off for the month? Thin air? Not to mention she'll need money to keep warm this winter.

@JustLyra

You really can't get insurance for this sort of tenancy nor for this sort of eventuality.

You can get insurance for this type of tenancy.

However, you are right that you can’t claim it for one month of late rent.

Well I'd love to know where as I am a LL and have recently tried to do just that. Even with a guarantor it wasn't possible as the gurantor wasn't earning the £55K per annum that apparently would have been necessary for a rent of £1600. And I can assure you I tried nearly every bloody company Google could throw up. There are rent guarantee schemes of course, but they involve effectively renting the house to the agency and having no control over the tenants and is a minefield.

It’s also hilarious that normally on MN landlords are the scum of the earth.

Yet this time this one is a poor landlord for being temporarily out of pocket despite being part of a scheme for vulnerable tenants and knowing his tenant completely relies on UC.

If they have no cash reserves for the length of time it would take to get UC paid directly to them then they have no business being a LL on such a scheme.

And I say that as a LL who rents out on a scheme similarly.

I don’t know anything about UC OP so I can’t help but I hope it all gets sorted very quickly so you don’t have to worry about it anymore

Well I'd love to know where as I am a LL and have recently tried to do just that. Even with a guarantor it wasn't possible as the gurantor wasn't earning the £55K per annum that apparently would have been necessary for a rent of £1600. And I can assure you I tried nearly every bloody company Google could throw up. There are rent guarantee schemes of course, but they involve effectively renting the house to the agency and having no control over the tenants and is a minefield.

We’ve had this conversation before I’m sure (if that wasn’t you I apologise, the username was definitely cat related).
And the other poster on that thread whose workplace offer such insurance offered for them to be contacted.

I haven't read the full thread so apologies if I'm repeating anything but you need to be contacting your work every single day and harassing them to rectify the issue that they have created. It's the only way that this will be sorted anytime soon.

@Skyll

I wasn’t banging on.

You have got angry with me for no reason. I’m sorry this has happened to you. I’m sorry you feel your landlord should be more sympathetic to you but that’s unrealistic. And in the absence of dates and/or amounts I was explaining why they may feel that way.

You’ve jumped down my throat when I made up numbers and also when others have said the right thing.

I’ve been where you are. I’ve been on benefits with young children and I know how much it can fuck things up and I’m really sorry you are going through this but it isn’t your landlord’s fault and you need to push your payroll and UC to sort it.

I'm not angry with you at all. I found your first few posts to be really snarky and unnecessary. Now it seems you want to offer helpful suggestions and be somewhat sympathetic. As I said, I know I have an employer problem and not a landlord problem. I will continue chasing my employer as much as I can

I know it wouldn’t solve the immediate problem, but have you tried to get maintenance from the child’s father as that is not deducted from your Universal Credit.

It is nothing like going to Asda and not paying

People on here do talk nonsense sometimes. The landlord can be unhappy all he wants but there is a procedure to follow for non payment of rent. And this isn’t even non payment.