Agreed, it’s a sad reality
Thank you for sharing. 
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Oh God Sally, hope things are brighter at your end now. I was just scrolling thro the topics and came across your nightmare. Thanks for sharing it. I came from a hard working country ethos, no work, no money, no free lunches or any other facilities by the govt. Over the yrs I learnt how some people here exploit the system to their advantage. To this day, my blood boils to see my hard earned tax goes to such crooks.
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thats because of all the do gooders and a welfare state. It will never change . People are out there who really need help, then there are the scammers . Who checks up on how our tax money is being used? Who holds L A to account for stupid spending? How many times do we hear the statement “lessons will be learned”? Again
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agree, transparent accountability for money spent at the centre is lacking. I was told once by a NHS finance auditor that for one 5 P pencil (manufacturing cost) to reach a desk the true cost of spending is 1 pound. Having lived in entirely 2 different systems, I still believe we are in a good system and most of them are law abiding. Justice prevails, no better example than the recent changes in our political map😊
£1 for a pencil is insane. If it where in another country It would likely be £3 or not get there at all… Why does justice take so long?
Its been horrendous but I am almost over the line. There is nothing left now bar tenant won’t go.
I have a repossession order with a clause I have to sit tight for just a few more days before starting bailiff action.
Still no rent payment. The benefit tenant simply tells/responds to our UC applications for direct payment that “its in dispute” or “there is no arrears”. She has a publicly funded solicitor who still pours me the most unbelievable drivel and helps her to write to UC on tenants behalf ( publicly funded solicitor so no idea why they are still involved, the matter is closed, I think they feel empathy towards the poor tenant).
So its pointless asking Universal credit to pay rent direct as you are told they will/can.
I have had 3 years of hell, no rent, staggering legal fees, life savings are gone, £23,800 of debts/loans and I still haven’t got access to my property yet. I have been on anti depressants for too long but I have recently started to feel better, I don’t think it can get any worse now and I am not waking up with the dread of another letter from my solicitor going nowhere on a case I know I will lose but costs going sky high and no means to pay.
Council tenants are funded to the hilt to obstruct eviction/repossession, can create and get away with fraud and deceit and expect (and get) a payoff to leave. In the end legal costs were breaking me, I could not match fund a state funded tenant who would win as the technicalities and minefields for a landlord are relentless.
In the end I went open access (thats where you instruct a barrister directly) and I 110% recommend a landlord does this, solicitors (I used a large firm in Ipswich) turned out to be very expensive project managers with no end or depth to understand how the benefits/DSS type of funded crowd will operate.
The amount of loopholes and protection deceitful benefit tenants have is jaw dropping
Yet there is a housing crisis (so we are told) so why reward this?
and the Govt plan to abolish S21 (my mistake was using S8 which as sure as night follows day if S8 is page 1 then page 2 is a tenant counter claim for dilapidations)
Councils just confuse things even more, making promises they can never keep and telling you things that are untrue. Never ever accept a deposit from a third party.
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you cannot trust the local council
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Sally get hold of the tenant’s solicitor and talk face to face to end this matter. It is easier rather than getting bogged down by reading in between the legalities. Might have to give away money for the greedy. Health is wealth is health. Money will come and go, peace is in your hands. Some in this world donot understand good things prevail in the end. What if the tenant is idle and has all the time in the world to plot against you vs you the opposite?, Good luck
lol
1pound is still better than 3, this is what happened in srilanka, politicians sold out to China projects, they in turn emptied the core resources, country in huge debts. UK we have a voice atleast and probably won’t get so worse, hopefully.
I am on housing benefit every month I follow a strict routine with my benefit I have been with same landlord for ten years never have I been in rent arrears and I get UC which includes my rent strictly thats not my money so that is the first thing I do pay rent,I am looking for a flat in Wallasey Wirral due to getting out of a controlled marriage and want to relocate back to Wallasey but I have saved really hard and I have finally got a deposit and rent together my only problem is I cannot get guarantor as my exhusband violated friends and family also I am going to be honest I have 3 ccjs which I have now taken control and paying them off I hate debts so dont right of all people on benefits as I say i make sure I pay all my outgoings including food before I decide on any luxury items for myself. I take pride in my house but I now looking for a flat more secure where I can just sit and do my hobbies
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I now have tons of questions I put ti tenants & never say no DSS but do let them know they have to pass the affordability checks & give the link to renting calculator and I even give the amount which is considered the bottom amount of income in order to pass checks and then ask people not to contact if they will not pass this. It feels a bit harsh but I don’t have the time for time wasters! It’s a simple reality that they have to pass the checks. So if someone can show they have the income on DSS to rent my property then it’s fine by me as long as I want them in my property. It’s MY CHOICE who lives in my property. I was a single mum working 50 hours a week & still had to rely on top up from housing benefit as I was in london. I was a fantastic tenant!! So I’ve got absolutely no prejudices it’s just about affordability. And then it’s about whether I think someone is a good match for my home, someone who has a track record of looking after property, and ultimately it’s a gut feeling about a person too.
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Dear Sally,
This is the most horrendous case I’ve ever heard. Your communication is thoughtful & calm despite the horrors you have been through. I really appreciate the time you have taken to share this. It’s very very scary. I want to get out now as it’s too risky.
Please do keep us informed.
I’m so so so sorry you have been through this. Something has got to be done. This is so wrong.
I know you will just want your life back and some peace though.
I think the general public need ti know but then at the same time, this may just move to inform ruthless tenants what they can do!!
I hope you find peace soon & get your life back.
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Im so sorry you have had a very bad experience with someone on DSS but please let me put something straight. Not everyone who is in receipt of DSS and need a home are like this. It seems to me that people think everyone on DSS are just using the system and are lazy non working drop outs. Im a mature lady of 63 years old im on DSS for medical health reasons because i can’t work, im honest, clean, pay my bills, and i cant find anywhere to live because of the attitude of landlords not accepting DSS. We are not all cheats most of us have worked all our lives but for what ever reason we end up on DSS at not fault of our own. Don’t put us all in the same basket. Its terrible that there are people out there that do wrong against the landlords and these people ruin it for good people like me. I will probably end up on the street when our landlord develops his site, with no care about what happens to his present renters. Its very very sad.
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I agree with you it’s very sad and worrying.
There are a lot of threads here that explain why. It really isn’t simply landlords objecting to DSS, it’s the government and Shelter penalising landlords at every turn.
The system that allows tenants to keep the rent they are claiming from the state, and meant to pass on to their landlord, without any questions or penalty and then provides free legal advice to such fraudsters to put the boot in further.
There’s a thread on here whereby the landlord cannot match the amount for the same legal advise that their DSS tenants are given in unlimited resources.
I agree not all are like this.
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I sympathise with your situation, but many landlords are also living close to the breadline. We aren’t zillionaires. All it takes is one bad tenant to not pay for 3-6 months and we are broke.
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I would be interested to c whether there are landlord lobby groups, Parliament petitions who raise landlord concerns. I have no hopes of getting pension for my day job since the govt keeps pushing age up, might have to work till we die! hope in rental income also is fading away.
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Thank you but i would like to say, that for an example someone on DSS who likes to cheat paying their rent, whos to say if that same person had a job, why would it make any difference if even with having a job they decide not to pay their rent, there are thousands of people who have a job and don’t keep to their commitments, so being on DSS dosent limit the ones who dont pay. For me i am desperate to find a place to live, im on DSS and PIP due to health reasons, i struggling to keep my place warm, feed myself etc but each and every month i always pay my bills including my rent, whats left is survival money.
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My sister is in exactly same position as you so I understand, she is afraid to ask the landlord to do anything to repair her house in case they use it as an excuse to kick her out. If you are on UC and get PIP then your housing element of UC should have no upper limit so perhaps you should try and identify a place that fits your health needs then go and argue with the council that they should pay what the landlord is asking, and not be limited by the normal UC housing cap for your area. The council has the ability to do this.
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A landlord can’t sue DSS to cover expenses.
Honestly this is the #1 biggest thing that the government could change to reverse the discrimination. Actually act as guarantors and reimburse landlords when a DSS tenant causes damages to the property. Let the landlords go after DSS if the tenant stops paying rent, and have DSS pay the landlord and deduct it from the tenant’s benefits.
If a tenant has a job, they’re more likely to have savings and assets. They also demonstrably have an income. In the case of damages the landlord actually had a chance in heck of getting their money recovered if they go after a tenant with a job.
The tenant is also less likely to disappear because they have ties to the area - their job - whereas unemployed tenants can move to a completely different area, not leave contact info, and make things really hard for the landlord if they’re trying to go after damages.
Like it or not - having a job also displays a certain level of responsibility and behavior. While unemployed people can certainly be exemplary citizens, there are those who are unemployed because their behavior gets them fired due to being irresponsible, rude, even violent.
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