Told dss tennant want rent to landlord!??

[standingorder]

HI,
over the last 9 months have bought 3 properties in leeds area, all rented but have had a future tennant contact me on dss benifits.

said i want rent paid to myself, she has applied but said they will not give her a answer untill she agrees a new agreement somewhere.
she is 35 been on dss for 15 years, and has been in a council property so, they have always paid rent to the council direct. Seems genuine enough seems nice.

she works 15 hours a week so has a work ref, told her rent is 395 and deposit is 500. I said i want another 400 deposit, and if the do pay us direct will, give her 400 back! she says ok! anyone give any advise??

[davidjohnbutton]

I suggest you get clued up, pretty fast!!!

Firstly the DSS dont exist - its DWP, secondly, they dont pay housing costs, the local council do in the form of either Housing Benefit or Local Housing Allowance.

As she will be a new claimant if she moved to your houssing, she will claim the latter, it is always paid to the tenant - she has no choice in the matter unless she becomes 8 weeks in arrears or unpaid in which case they will pay to you as landlord.

Deposit must be protected unless you fancy forking out a 3x penalty when she realises she can claim this if you dont protect it and tell her within 14 days of her tendering it where you have placed it!!!!!

[standingorder]

I suggest you get clued up, pretty fast!!!

Firstly the DSS dont exist - its DWP, secondly, they dont pay housing costs, the local council do in the form of either Housing Benefit or Local Housing Allowance.

As she will be a new claimant if she moved to your houssing, she will claim the latter, it is always paid to the tenant - she has no choice in the matter unless she becomes 8 weeks in arrears or unpaid in which case they will pay to you as landlord.

Deposit must be protected unless you fancy forking out a 3x penalty when she realises she can claim this if you dont protect it and tell her within 14 days of her tendering it where you have placed it!!!!!

dont fancy that 1 bit thanks!! Tendered do you mean 3rd party hold it no charge,they work of the intrest i suppose! all my other deposits on my properties, are held like this!

[davidjohnbutton]

See http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTax...me/DG_10018928

and

http://www.depositprotection.com/

and

http://www.thedisputeservice.co.uk/

[perk]

I had the same with a tenant just recently. They only now pay direct to the tenant and it is down to her to pay it on. She got 9 weeks in arrears and then they paid it directly but only because she was in arrears as mentioned above.

Plus if you say the rent is £395, that is all the council will give her. The £400 would have been a maximum.

Good luck!

[standingorder]

I had the same with a tenant just recently. They only now pay direct to the tenant and it is down to her to pay it on. She got 9 weeks in arrears and then they paid it directly but only because she was in arrears as mentioned above.

Plus if you say the rent is £395, that is all the council will give her. The £400 would have been a maximum.

Good luck!

thanks for your help! do they not in certain circumstances pay the landlord, if tennant states they are not comfortable with handling money, and they might of fallen behind with payments in the past??

[perk]

No apparently not as she asked originally if it could come direct to us! But if a tenant said to you 'I have fallen behind with the rent in the past' they may make me worried to let to her at all, especially as the rent wont come direct......
Call the council and see what they say.
What did the previous landlord say when you called for references?

[standingorder]

No apparently not as she asked originally if it could come direct to us! But if a tenant said to you 'I have fallen behind with the rent in the past' they may make me worried to let to her at all, especially as the rent wont come direct......
Call the council and see what they say.
What did the previous landlord say when you called for references?

shes been in a council properties for 7 years! they still get paid direct, one rule for them etc!!

so thus she has never fallen behind, because she has never had any rent! she was in dispute she says with council over works to be done on her house and they moved her out for a while in that time they were not going to pay x2 rent she said thus the areas!!

seen a agreement she is paying back £5 a week when there was a shortfall!! she got work ref aswell!

[mjbfire]

Sounds like a story to me, as the council under law have to rehouse her, if works they was doing made it unsafe.
I wouldn't touch her, and unless you know what you are doing and all the cons, beware!

[perk]

I agree with mjfire.

If the council re-house for works to be done, then they would pay the rent.

I have had a dodgy tenant who forged documents to get the agreement including a fake boss reference which I unfortuately did not find out until after. Some people have all the answers for you and I did smell a rat a little and now wish I had followed that smell and never rented to him.

It may be different for you but I really would speak to the council as I wonder if they will tell a different story......

[Poppy35]

councils will generally only pay it direct to a landlord if the tenant is classed as vunerable or upon the tenant being 8 weeks in arrears.

[standingorder]

councils will generally only pay it direct to a landlord if the tenant is classed as vunerable or upon the tenant being 8 weeks in arrears.

thanks, if i take a deposit of £900 can this only be used for damges etc, if they are behind in the rent when they leave can i deduct that from there deposit??

[Snorkerz]

thanks, if i take a deposit of £900 can this only be used for damges etc, if they are behind in the rent when they leave can i deduct that from there deposit??

There is no reason you can't, providing your AST provides for it. Obviously, if the tenant denies the debt, you may ned to prove it to whomever protects the deposit. As a rule, deposit claims for missing rent are more straightforward than 'damages' claims.

[Springfields]

prior to the start of the tenancy the housing benefit will not be paid direct to you unless she has had a history of poor payment, is classed as vunerable or has a dependancy to substances.

However.....

If it is a condition of the let, ie if she were to say my landlord will not let to me unless I pay him direct they may as they could be making her essentally homeless by not agreeing.

Of course the alternative for security is to get her to provide a guarantor and make this a condition of her let.

[leaseholdanswers]

caution

If the tenant makes a fraudulent claim or does not report a change of circumstances, a council may attempt to recover from the landlord.

the contract is between you and the tenant, how they get the money is their concern.