Being Evicted by council any advice would be. so appreciated

[helloall22]

So i have had some rent arrears and as the past year has been horrible i’ve missed the repayment plan
Ive had my life turned upside down and now im going to lose my home.
Ive been attacked in the street badly beaten up and then we lost our baby, had his little funeral, then my son was harassed by his ex girlfriend endlessly and her family she then had our house front door burned by my sons ex partner, then we were burgled, had my husband work van burnt out at night, we have been threatened by these people to drop the court cases as all have been reported to the police
Now my aunt has cancer of the liver
My kids are are scared to leave the house and dropped out of college after my daughter was threatened with a attack
So then i lost my job this week and im
beyond worried

I received a letter for a court date for a possession order by the council i have a secure tenancy.
they said they sent a notice of possesion letter a year ago.
I have misssef a couple of payments this year as i had large stomach operation and had to go on the sick and wasn’t entitled to sick pay after three months
so arrears started again. Then i got back to normal again when i started working
So then on the Beginning of march 26 was contacted to say i needed to start making payments to cover the debt
So by email i contacted the office and said i would
I did make payments for march
Then i made payments for April
and intend to make payments for may in two weeks

however in mid april she applied for the possesion order and now it’s likely i will lose my home and have no where to go plus im worried i am main carer for the person with cancer

I have emailed her over a few things but she hasn’t replied to me and even accused me of stealing housing benefits however i had to get prof from the benefits to prove i wasn’t paid anything and showed her that, that’s when she started to ignore me

can anyone offer advice or if they may have been through this the total arrears are 10months over 10 years that i have missed for different reasons

Her husband has a work van so presumably works too.

Could you move in with your aunt?

Many years ago I worked in our local authority, mainly in housing and litigation (part of the legal department). It was in litigation where all payment plans were agreed and eviction notices were applied for to the courts.

I would immediately ring the number on the last letter you’ve received. If you’re being evicted it will have a date on it, our litigation manager would attend them with a joiner, to change the locks and the police, in case of violence.

Ask to speak to the manager of the department, escalate it, explain to them there are mitigating circumstances. Also as others have mentioned, call Shelter for legal advice. All the best, I can’t imagine how you are currently feeling, I hope you can sort the stay of eviction. We used to try everything we coulde to sort payment plans out due to extenuating circumstances, take care 🌼

Op, please reach out to your local council website if you can for financial help/help to keep your home.

the council want tenants who pay the rent, so ensure you are currently doing this.

do you have a suspended possession order - you would have been written to already about this and had a court hearing?

if so, it is likely they are applying for outright possession unless you pay the full rent plus the SPO agreement off the arrears.

court will have legal advisors who can support you.

She states a repayment plan is already in place that she hasn’t adhered to, and she has also increased her arrears.

Sounds like your neighbours will have complained to your landlord about the trouble that your household has caused, plus the rent arrears, you surely can’t be shocked they want you out.

A lot of judgement for the OP for the legal advice board, some of it quite nasty.

The victim-blaming on this thread is shocking. On what planet is it reasonable to beat up a pregnant woman, causing her to lose her baby, and to set fire to her house and her husband's work van? No doubt someone will be along in a minute to insist that "there's two sides to every story".

I would advise you to go to CAB or a good local law centre, OP. Also speak to StepChange.

Sorry for your troubles but what are you not telling us OP? It takes a LOT for a council to evict a tenant, not just rent arrears. The council would have worked with you to help clear the arrears, they would have not instantly go down the eviction route.

She doesn’t say she lost the baby as a result of being beaten up. But in any case, sad though many of these events are, they are irrelevant to the issue of arrears which predate them.

If you make your payments, can start to pay back additional debt and can demonstrate you/all your household have made changes to be able to increase the debt repayments plus be more secure in the future you stand a chance for it to be overturned but you op (and I mean this with kindness) need to demonstrate you are prioritising this debt and not just giving a long list of excuses, they can all be real but still housing costs need to be a priority and all those over about 16 in the house need to be working, additional jobs if needed to decrease that debt.

im sorry that life isn’t easy at the moment but you need to understand that they won’t give you more chances unless you show a lot of effort

It doesn't matter. It's so hard to convince a judge to give possession of a social house for rent arrears. She will be allowed to set up a court ordered payment plan. It would be different if we were talking about private rental, but in social we really wouldn't gain possession for this at a first hearing in practice - nor are we aiming to really.

She already has a repayment plan that she has not been keeping up with, and has increased her arrears this year.

There is also this; “they said they sent a notice of possesion letter a year ago” and the existence of a repayment plan that she has not been keeping up with. It may well not be the first hearing.

The letters are standard when you reach two months arrears, unless it's been to court already (which I couldn't see it has), then this will be the first time they have actually sought possession formally. Presumably after the first letter, the OP arranged a payment plan (which is what we're attempting to induce with the letter) and has since defaulted on it. Which has sparked the recent NOSP and why this time it will almost certainly be taken to court for a possession order. We would then ask for the order to be suspended, provided that the rent arrears are repaid as agreed.

In social housing, we have a duty to be seen to exhaust every available avenue to help tenants - and one (or even two, three, four, five attempts at payment plans aren't enough).

Which (just to add) means when someone has been actually evicted from their social home you know they really did do something to warrant it. It's never 'unfair' or 'targeted' in the way a private eviction might be.

I’m referring to the victim-blaming comments such as:

“Seems like a lot of hassle coming from your home. I’m expecting a lot of complaints from neighbours may have prompted the eviction?”

“Most people go through their entire life without any thing like this happening, so there probably is a pretty extensive backstory.”

”Sounds like your neighbours will have complained to your landlord about the trouble that your household has caused, plus the rent arrears, you surely can’t be shocked they want you out.”

Plus, there was an even worse comment which was deleted.

You need to ring them and find out exactly what’s going on.

Emails are nice because you can see what they’ve written and go back over it but sometimes you need to just speak to someone and ask all of the questions you need to.
You can always email again afterwards.

You need to be proactive about this and stop burying your head in the sand.
Yes you’ve had a lot on, but your bills don’t disappear.

Ask them to set up a payment plan through direct debit so the money comes out automatically.

This sounds like it’s been an ongoing problem and so I’m not sure why you’re so surprised.
If this was a private landlord you’d have been been kicked out ages ago.

Ring them and get it sorted today.
After all of this you need to focus on moving asap and having a completely fresh start.

What was the reason you initially had rent arrears? How much did they total? How much do you now owe? Are you a HA tenant? Have the HA offered you financial advice? Has your Housing Officer come out to see you personally?
I was faced with eviction due to unpaid rent as I had a mh crisis and didn’t engage until last minute. My HA were very supportive - I had to pay arrears within 2 months and I had something that meant if within 6 years I got into arrears again they could go straight to eviction (this was done at the local court). My HA asked what they could do in the future to stop this happening again (if my MH went down again) so we agreed that a HO would visit my home twice and if I didn’t answer the door or my phone that they had my permission to phone a member of my family and a friend to say they needed to talk to me. Their financial team and my HO still regularly check in with me just for a chat and to see how I am even though I am no longer in arrears and over pay a little each month. Honestly, I know a lot of HA’s get a bad rep but mine have been incredibly supportive. Have you been totally honest with yours? Have you offered an affordable repayment plan?

I’m sorry for everything you have gone through and I hope you can get it sorted.

It takes a lot to be evicted from social housing. I've worked as a housing officer and it's always a last resort. There will have been visits, letters, warnings of legal action, and then a notice being served. OP I suggest you get yourself to a housing advice/law centre or contact Shelter. At the moment you need proper advice and practical assistance. If you can't keep up with the payment plan then you need to think about how you can clear the arrears. And speak to the housing officer in person, sending emails doesn't sort it out.

See my comment above yours and what my HA agreed to in order not to evict me (though we still went before a judge with our plan) genuinely curious if what my HA agreed with me re calling a family member/friend if I don’t engage and having a 6year thing is something that other HA’s offer? Likewise ongoing support even when rent is being in paid. Thank you

It's the council.

Yes - we go far above and beyond what would be reasonable expectations from any other landlord IMO. We are basically social workers in many cases. I would also be happy to offer something like your HO did in your case.

Thank you. That is good to hear - and I agree with your social worker comment. Hopefully this gives the OP some hope if she fully engages.

Hello sorry i might of explained wrong
the neighbours have been very supportive and I have never been in a situation like this in my life this is very new to all of us. The council have also been very supportive too.

This is not racist this info is am about to give

Hello sorry i might of explained wrong
the neighbours have been very supportive this is due to a strange situations and i think it’s all been down to this one girl my son briefly dated her brother is part of a large gang that recruits new young immigrants well
known to the police. We ignore the situation thinking it was just kids and honestly never thought much of it all at the start so my son stated he had dumped her and she was upset, he did point out she was acting psycho and i told him he’s not to say that and try and understand i dismissed it
My son met another girl and you know he’s young was not taking this seriously at all. He then ended up on the wrong side of her and her family as she was heartbroken and angry
I thought nothing much of it given they are teenagers and he only knew her a few months
Next thing she’s following him, threatening to have him beaten up, here at my gate all hours, sending off videos and numerous calls when he was able to block then it was me next and in the end i had to tell her look you need to move on that’s life unfortunately I work with troubled young people and felt i handled it well but could see there was issues here and definite obsession
This continued and the turned nasty with threats so o sent the police round as she was sending image of the gang with huge knives and said we would be looking to get a injunction or similar, Her mother didn’t understand english so i mistakenly spoke to the brother after the police went round and she turned up again. It’s started very soon after stupid things like we would find pebbles through the door, i noticed a scratch on my car, then another, a nail in my tyre just odd little things
Then i called the brother and said i will be going to the police again for sure and we will be taking this further He went berserk saying he would kill my son so i said bloody try it and see what you will have to deal with we wil have you jailed your not i your country now!! I realise now that was inappropriate but i was upsety husband his dad was very laid back at this point was like oh they are just kids forget it your gonna upset yourself it will blow over they are trying to look tough!!
Then we just received a text saying we are coming tonight at the time i was on nightshift and my husband had my son camping so i honestly thought it was all ridiculous but that’s when all the trouble started with the door.

We have had a few people arrested, we have faced two in court and waiting on another court date and now she’s free from any blame god knows why the rest are mostly 16 and 17 so won’t face any repercussions really other then youth services and free mcdonald’s each week
The police said the gang are notorious and they rob old people young people mothers all sorts, they attacked a old man and even smashed a car up with someone in it The police had encouraged us to go through the process of arrest but no offer of protection.
They are about 12 -21 in age and seem to think they are the next best thing trying to rule the city it’s so ao scary
In all my life i have never heard of anything like this i’ve never even had to report a crime it’s just all come at once from these crazy people over nothing she’s a dangerous young girl that didn’t like the rejection and then being told off by me
My husband had to replace tools and it’s just a huge ripple effect due to what they have done and only two are in prison but will be out very soon.
Ots been so hard to prove they are all linked but obviously are she’s just been very clever in how she’s threatened me.
The whole thing has devastated the family i have been to the council for a move but that’s been difficult too i would love to move but give the situation we are not very deserving of that right now due to finances i think