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The Council Are So Shit To Landlords With Problem DSS Tenants (Part 2)

Written by The Landlord on 13 Oct 2009

I say “part 2″ because I’ve previously thrown my toys out of the pram over this shitty little issue, DSS Tenants And The Shitty Council. I’m writing about it again for 2 reasons. Firstly, the issue still frustrates the fuck out of me, and secondly, I’ve recently been reminded of how incompetent and lackadaisical the council are towards landlords with DSS Tenants that don’t pay rent.

Here are segments of an email I received the other day:

Ive got the horriblest tenent in the world!

I rented out to ‘a desperate, friend of a friend’ and my children and I moved in with my partner. Problems started straight away with none payment of rent and Housing Benefit were a nightmare.

Housing Benefit started paying direct to me and I asked my tenent to start paying off the arrears.

She blathers on about missing payments and that the benefits people are looking into it but then still makes no attempt to pay anything.

I issued her with a Section 21 on 27 August 09 and told her to be out by 23 October – she’s still dragging her heels. The Council are worse than useless, and treat me with utter disgust because I’m making a lone parent with 3 kids homeless.

That was just the corpse of the email, but you get the general gist.

My beef is that the council try and house these people and even supply them with a financial allowance, but when DSS tenants don’t use their allowance to pay rent, the council don’t seem to give a shit, and in this specific case, they evidently use emotional blackmail as their defence. It’s bullshit because I bet if an employer of the Housing Benefit Department was going through the same issue, they wouldn’t give a shit if their tenant had kids. The point is, the tenants are receiving benefits and still failing to pay rent. It’s criminal as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve been through the same experience, and it’s ridiculous. The council are so careless and clueless about the whole ordeal that they make life so much more difficult. Surely they should be trying to help landlords that accept DSS tenants (especially since the kind that do accept DSS tenants are a dying breed)?

Not only is it frustrating for Landlords, but I imagine it’s a kick in the tits for those genuine people that are struggling to get the benefits they deserve because of these lowlife parasites consuming all the resources.

This is also another reminder of why tenants shouldn’t receive benefits directly. Whichever hermit conjured up that idea should be peeled like an orange and thrown into a pot of disinfectant. Bring back the old system, when landlords received rent directly from the council. I rememeber the good old days when I had a DSS tenant and I received rent every month from the council directly into my bank account by BACS payment.

If it were running things the country would be awesome. DSS tenants that fail to pay rent would be given damp, piss-smelling box rooms to reside in. As for overcrowded prisons; I’d INSIST on overcrowded prisons. Why the fuck are criminals entitled to a prerequisite amount of living space? Madness.

It’s all, basically, a bag of shit…

Shit

Reasons Why Landlords Shouldn’t Accept DSS Tenants

Common Misconception: Rent Is Guaranteed With DSS Tenants

DSS Tenants And The Shitty Council

Landlords With Empty Properties Are Entitled To Council Tax Exemption

Why The Fuck Do The Council Side With Rent Dodging DSS Criminals?

The Council Stopped My DSS Tenant’s Benefits, I’ll Probably Starve To Death Now

20 Comments - join the conversation...

Matthew2009-10-14 12:52:32 All these problems would be avoided with the use of a letting agent, who would vet the tenants and ensure that the rent is collected and repairs carried out with the help of insurance if applicable and they charge a small amount, which is well worth it for the peace of mind! Each tenant is an individual and one shouldn't tar all DSS recipients with the same brush, as mine, housed with letting agents have been fine! 1

twattybollocks2009-10-14 13:06:45 Thats rather like putting Dracula in charge of a blood bank! I agree there are some very good agents out there but there are some very bad ones!

Bad Letting Agent + DSS = A F*****g nightmare!

TB 2

The Landlord2009-10-14 20:08:13 Hey Matthew,

I think you misunderstood what my rant was about. These problems wouldn't actually be avoided if I used a letting agent. My rant has nothing to do with DSS tenants per'se. My rant is about the council being useless when something goes wrong with a DSS tenant!

Even if I used a letting agent, the council would still be shit! Moreover, this has nothing to do with DSS tenants being good/bad.

Kind regards 3

mark2009-10-16 13:52:33 The decision to start paying local housing allowance direct to tenants was a very short sighted one. For many tenants the temptation to spend their rent money on other things is just too great. The result is landlords leaving the social housing sector en masse and a rapidly increasing shortage of housing for LHA tenants. The council are then left with the problem of housing all these people. 4

SN2009-10-16 19:31:50 My local authority are useless, as I've said before, they refused to even discuss anything with me.

It goes something like this...
Tennant recieves LHA, tennant buys other shit and doesn't pay the rent, Tennant has baby, I get pissed off (at the rent thing!), I start reposession process, councilo dont give a fuck, tennant gets letter she wants from me telling her shes to get out....runs to council, gets a council house, buggers off owing money.

Well it's not got that far yet, but I'm predicting that its going that way.

Only doing DSS again if they tick the pay landlord direct box. 5

twattybollocks2009-10-22 19:18:18 I see that the Conservatives have said that if they come to power they will return to the old system of Payling Local Housing Authority benefit directly to the landlords.

Well lordy fuckin lordy - it's taken a while but it would appear that someone has finally woken up. Waiting for Labour to U turn, re-install the old system and claim it as their idea.

Why are politicians so thick? 6

Paul2009-10-26 17:33:22 Fucking totally correct, which ever minsterial cunt thought up this regulation knows FUCK all about HB claiments, no they are NOT all the same, but a sensible policy of paying the landlord direct wouldnt have created this shit in the first place.
I am currently handling a cunt from hell, i have just been verbally abused by her and 12 other under fucking 20 year olds while watching them fucking about in my house.
I want someone to fucking punch. 7

anokuk2010-01-08 11:28:06 Not all Councils are SHIT. Some landlords think it is the job of the Council to act as their Agents and collect their rent monies. Why do landlords accept the type of tenants that obviously are going to be problematic - no one cries when they are raking in the money and all going smooth.
landlords should put their business skills to use - either vet tenants for an easy life or accept some times they going to have problems.

make appointments with Councils and discuss options regarding issues.

Its a landlords responsability to collect his/her rent. 8

Uni2010-01-31 02:32:00 Unfortunately, the councils are run by uneducated clerks, who are either immigrants or asylum seekers. They should be on commission based on how they resolve problems.
Frankly, UK is going down the drain. Here in mainland Europe its a laughing stock and US doesn't give a toss about UK. Its a country of thieves, immigrants and uneducated class and all trash from all over the world kicked out of their own country, which england gladly accepts with open arms. They all land in London, never paid a dime in Tax, cannot speak the language but live in riches out of the council and landlords.
Pity! the politicians in selling their country so cheaply! 9

twattybollocks2010-01-31 08:11:24 Totally agree but if we try to do something about it they cry rascism or abuse under the human rights act! Complete bollocks. What we need is a political party who will not pander to Europe, repeal the human rights act, make asylum once again political asylum andcome down hard and fast on asytlum overstayers and ferrel youths. My country HAS gone down the drain but until we the people are prepared to do something about it we are screwed! Sometimes wish we were a bit more like the French in our militancy! 10

julia2010-02-17 21:55:41 Yes i agree its a f***************************g nightmare with dss l.h.a tenants i have had 4 years of crap and even if you use a letting agent they produce rubbish tenants who abuse the system and comitt frud by stealing all my money that is owed to me ie rent the council are useless and yoy have to threatin court action against them if they fail to pay the landlord direct after 2 mths of arrears i have even contacted my mp to sort out this problem l.h.a payments should never be paid direct to the tenant it is fraud when they do not pass on the rent sods up landllords lifes living in r.ct south wales due to these gits i have ended up ion this dhss land of theives bring back direct payments to landlords .
Julia
Aberdare 11

paul2010-02-18 10:14:03 1) As landlords we DONT rent houses to twats, we look long and hard at people, and even take up references, they end up claiming benefits, often NOT their fault, the council steps in to give them a helping hand, the tenent then THINKS that this money is theirs to spend, and away we go.
The point we are trying through gritted teeth to fucking make is that the money is called HOUSING BENEFIT, its there to keep a roof over their heads, why o fucking why do folk keep banging on about it being the landlords job to collect the rent, if its the stupid fucking governments responsibility to pay housing benifit then logically its in the governments/councils interests for that money to go where its supposed to FUCKING WELL GO! Not on 20 fags, 20 scratch cards and a fucking weekend in Cleethorpes. 12

Michael Kenton2010-04-14 11:06:03 I deal a lot with a council in NW London for LHA tenants and find them pretty good. However, councils are not aware that if rent is one month and one day overdue it should be paid directly to the landlord, see Doncaster V Coventry City Council.
In my opinion if the tenant is not passing on rent to the landlord which they receive from DSS it is fraud and should be treated as such! 13

Lawrence2010-07-04 03:48:59 How about the other point of view, my partner and I are professionals we were both made redundant within months of each other. We applied for all the usual benefits but due to a simple error the council were able to avoid paying our rent for two months. Regardless of the fact that we both paid tax and NI for over twenty years. We are now in rent arrears for the first time ever. We get £100 per week to keep two adults and our 15 year old son.
Tried appealing turned down flat, the council don't give a shit if we are evicted any more than they give a shit if you don't get your rent, the ONLY thing councils give a shit about is collecting money PERIOD.
Our rent is £400 per month which the council now pay to us and we pass on to our landlord we asked that the rent be paid directly to the landlord, they refused. We give our landlord an extra £40 per month towards the arrears which is the very best we can afford.
My partner got a job which lasted four weeks before she was made redundant again, we had to reclaim all the benefits which took six weeks to sort out. We are lucky that our long suffering landlord is aware how useless the council is otherwise we would have been on the streets long since.
Councils are totally unaccountable and a law unto themselves, the staff have a 'surly, holier than thou' attitude towards anyone on benefits who they clearly treat as a lower form of life. One final point when you claim jobseekers you have to make a separate claim for housing benefit which is not paid from the date of the jobseekers claim but from the date the council staff open your claim envelope which can be anything up to two weeks later immediately putting you in rent arrears. According to our Council this is all within the rules.................. 14

kevin2010-08-27 15:22:46 i recently took on a tenant claiming housing benefit in brent
the tenant moved in and visited the property over 2 days only
i obviously became concerned after not seeing him using the premises (with the aid of internet linked CCTV !) and contacted the council . i was told that i have no right to any information regarding this and they even suggested that he may be on HOLIDAY !!! i wont bother you with detail but i finally evicted him 7 weeks later and he escaped with £637.00 paid direct by Brent Council, basically FRAUD !! i have never recieved any letters regarding this from the council Hmmmmm !anybody want to buy some old cloths and a pair of size 9 worn out trainers, only joking i now have to keep these for 3 months as this is his rights and after that he has up to 7 years to contact me enquirering as to the whereabouts of his PROPERTY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15

agibsonallan2010-09-26 13:31:54 Benefit cheats told not to pay any rent
in glasgow and edinburgh

EXCLUSIVE
By Iain Harrison

COUNCILS are advising rent-dodging benefit claimants how to avoid eviction.

Landlords claim local authorities routinely tell tenants who refuse to pay rent to stay put until the owner gets a court order.as we dont have a council house for you

Full story in The Sunday Post 16

Liz2010-12-18 22:22:12 I agree with every word. And I'm a DSS tenant. 17

David Booth2011-11-24 21:08:39 A solution for landlords & councils

I would like to take my time to introduce you to our new company Tasker Payment Services. The company is designed as a one of it's kind payment service for DSS claimants and their landlords. Customers who do not have a bank account, or have large overdrafts eating into their Local Housing Allowance can use our service to have the peace of mind that their rent is paid straight to their landlord's bank account on time, every time.
With much experience in dealing with such payments, landlords can rely on Tasker Payment Services to provide them and their tenants with a reliable and secure way of receiving their rent.
We are fully registered with the FSA (registration number 564939) and can be found on the FSA's register of payment service providers.

The idea behind our company is simple the tennant agrees to pay our company (Tasker Payment Services) the money they get from the LHA and the landlord gets paid from us fortnightly. All we take £4.00 transaction fee for transferring the money to the landlords bank account.
This also helps out the council because they dont have to deal with arrears and it could help the council because more landlords would want to register because they know they are going to get paid.
If you would like to visit our website http://taskerpaymentservices.co.uk/ and read a little more about us if you have any questions please feel free to ask. 18

David Booth2011-12-06 21:44:27 I would like to introduce a new company to you all not only helping landlords but helping councils.
We are called Tasker Payment Services and we offer a one of it's kind payment service for DSS claimants and their landlords. Customers who do not have a bank account, or have large overdrafts eating into their Local Housing Allowance can use our service to have the peace of mind that their rent is paid straight to their landlord's bank account on time, every time.
We are fully registered with the FSA (registration number 564939) and can be found on the FSA's register of payment service providers.

So how can we help you? Well in the first instance councils can only normally pay the landlord directly if the tennant is:

vulnerable and can't manage their financial affairs
unlikely to pay their rent and have got into arrears before
in rent arrears of eight weeks or more (the 8 week arrears period takes into account an advance payment, if this is part of the tenancy agreement)

But what if this could be avoided in the first place? meaning the council don't have to deal with lengthy paper work, back log of arrears and potentially councils could get more landlords advertising for DSS tennants because they know they are going to get paid!

All the landlords have to do is go to our website fill out the forms along with the tennat and they get paid by us.
Take a look at www.taskerpaymentservices.co.uk 19

Benji2011-12-06 23:06:21 David,

What happens when you go bust?
E.g You build up 3 or 4 months of all your punter's rent money and then disappear to Spain with it overnight.
You are offering a payment service, therefore you are not covered by the FSA financial services compensation scheme. 20