Are there any landlords that could help me please?

[ChilloHippi]

We need to write a letter to our landlord to explain that we cannot pay the full rent this month. Is there anyone about who could offer some advice about this, where we stand legally and how we should phrase things?

Lady if you read the posts the op lets her dh do the budgeting - she isn't looking after the money this time.

Have you something constructive to say or are you going to jeer over the fence?

Lady you don't the ins and outs so please don't make sarcastic comments.

Lou, that planner is good. I will sit down and do it. You ladies have given me the kick up the bum that I knew I needed. I have to take control of this.

Stephief, it's reassuring to know someone understands with regard to DH.

I wasn't aware that I said I didn't care about the rent being late. Surely if that was the case I wouldn't be asking for advice.

Some excellent advice here which I will keeping note of for myself.

Hope you manage to get things sorted.

Thanks Knickers. I WILL get it sorted once and for all.

Do check out your Tax Credits also

Sorry to hear that your DH has bi-polar Chillo. I expect that you don't need me to tell you that extravagent spending accompanied by a belief that all will be OK is unfortunately a symptom of a "high" period so leaving all money management to him at a time when he is having problems is really not ideal.

Are you in touch with any of the MDF foundation support groups?
www.mdf.org.uk/

As for the unhelpful posts, I think you've fed into some fears that people have here about their tenants not being able to cover their rent.

Do you know what, anauntie, I was talking things over with my cousin yesterday and she said had I ever contacted any support groups, and I can't believe that I never thought about it before.

You may be entitled to housing benefit. Can you go and see a CAB adviser and get them to check. Also, if you are awarded even a small ammount of housing benefit you can then apply for a discretionary housing benefit and this can increase your award. Many people do not know about the latter it is well worth applying for and if you are refused appeal the refusal.
Talk to your landlord and expalain the problem. Prioritise your outgoings. Make sure next months rent is paid on time and that the arrears are cleared as soon as you can.
Re intentionally homeless comment, I think it is extremely unlikely that the local authority could defend an assertion that you are intentionally homeless. So don't worry about that. Hopefully you will not lose your home over this, but if you do get some expert housing advice from a CAB or a solicitor.
Good luck you can sort this out.

Thanks eggandsoldiers.

Soudsn like it may be a m,roe ongoign problem than ayou will be able to fix by a few weeks' supply did you have any financial assessment when you had to deal with the CT arrears ? It should have taken into account your regular basic outgoings such as rent, when the court decided the level of repayment, if not then perhaps now is the time to do so and find out what is actually likely to be manageable longer term as clearly you cannot currently afford your home . CAB or one of the charity debt management services can help you take control again and renegotiate if needs be - but both you and dh need to face it together, not pass the responsibility.

Sadly, as it seems circumstances will very hard for you to make up the missed payments quickly, I suspect your landlord may decide to cut his losses and issue notice (usually 2 months' if a rolling Assured Shorthold Tenancy), although this may mean you can put more pressure on the council. You can really only hope that the landlord can cut you some slack, given your long tenancy, if he doesn't in turn depend on the income.

Does your dh's bipolar condition makes him unable to deal properly/consistently with the family finances? If so, am afraid you can't escape with an 'i'm rubbish with finances' excuse.

The fact that you're not a little short the rent money, but a whole lot short (with absolutely no idea how it happened), indicates to me that it is time for you to get involved. At the very least, you and dh should have weekly discussions about the family budget so you both know where you stand.

Do you have a family budget?

I would move heaven and earth to pay as much as possible right now, and be specific about when you will pay the rest. With an assurance that this won't happen again.

If you can't give that assurance, you shouldn't have signed the tenancy agreement.

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but looking at it from the other side of the fence, as landlords, we've been really stung when a tenant has messed us about. We relied on the rent to pay the entire mortgage at one point - so what were we supposed to do when the tenant 'couldn't afford it'?

You need to be careful, if you landlord commences proceedings to have you removed you may not pass the credit checks with many new landlords due to your bankrupt status.

Your comments re the landlord show you are not really taking this seriously and that a letter saying you cant pay will be ok. It should at least be a phone call with a letter to agree any payment plan. You not paying may cause the landlord financial troubles as well, you dont know his/her intimate financial details.