Council rent arrears and eviction

ZOLTAN28

Hi

has anyone any experience or knowledge of Dublin city council' eviction policy?

We have just been assessed and landed with 20 quid extra week rent and 2600 in arrears.

THe 20 quid a week I may be able to manage but the 2600 arrears may as well be 26 million as we are struggling to pay our existing debts which are a lot more than 2600.

What I need to know is if we don't pay the arrears but keep paying the weekly rent can they evict us and if so how difficult a process is it for them?

Thanks for your help

Victor

I think once you are paying the current rent and at least something off the arrears that most creditors are reasonably happy. The housing department's job is to house people - they don't evict peopl willy-nilly. However, if you pay nothing in a situationw here more people are reliant on housing support than previously, then they may have no choice.

Have you spoken to MABS about you household budget? Are you claiming all supports that you are entitled to?

ZOLTAN28

We can manage the debt so I haven't gone to MABS as I figure that will be the end of any credit rating I may have left - have never been arrears on anything before in my life.

These arrears were sprung on us today. I am going to appeal first and send in as much documentation as possible but they didn't take any debts into account so i doubt if it will help.

I worked like a swine last year doing overtime to try and pay off debts and then what happens? My P60 sees our FIS stripped to nothing and the council take this as my weekly wage and backdate the difference - at least hard work and graft has been rewarded - I'd be better off on the dole to be hnest.

Jemmy

Well if you have arrears its for a reason, im not trying to be nasty but they didnt just make up the amount. You need to speak to you rent collector or ring/drop into the housing department. It should state the procedure in your tenants handbook also. But like was said if you to speak to them an arrangement can usually be made to pay it off over time by a little extra payment each week.

ZOLTAN28

The reason being as stated above I worked a lot of hours extra last year and they have taken my P60 from 08 as being my weekly wage and then decided we have been uderpaying for a couple of years so backdated the difference - result 13 year tenants who never missed a payment are now 2600 in arrears.

You can be nasty if you wish it doesn't really bother me - I just want to find out how easy it is for them to kick me, my wife and four children out of the house? And whether anyone has had similar experience - the official tenancy stuff is vague and unhelpful and anyway I always find people with experience far more informative.

Jemmy

Well because the rent you pay is subject to the income brought into the house any changes to that should be made known to the housing department afaik. Again the only way to get an answer is to speak to the housing department.



On another note, have you ever considered the tenant purchase scheme?

Victor

I would ask them to state how soon they want it paid off and what procedures are involved.

I think back-dating it by several years might be harsh and they will need to give you time. They might argue that you should have kept them informed.

You might write to them and clarify that you did exceptional* overtime and that your base pay is X - include some current pay-slips.


* I presume the overtime is no longer available.

ZOLTAN28

Victor wrote: »

I would ask them to state how soon they want it paid off and what procedures are involved.

I think back-dating it by several years might be harsh and they will need to give you time. They might argue that you should have kept them informed.

You might write to them and clarify that you did exceptional* overtime and that your base pay is X - include some current pay-slips.


* I presume the overtime is no longer available.

Yeah the OT has been fairly knocked on the head by the current economic situation.

I will write to them and include some pay slips - all my recent ones are basic without OT so it might do some damage to the arrears. I will also send previous P60s as these will be a lot less than 2008 also.

They do say we should inform them and yes I probably should have - I am not really debating the rights and wrongs - I am annoyed that my hard work has led to nothing but heartache but most of all I am just concerned about the possibility of eviction.

K_P

The best thing for you to do would be to make an appointment with the rents office and come to an agreement about paying back the arrears. I would very much doubt they would be expecting the €2,600 up front and it doesn't seem as though you were deliberately trying to do them out of money.

Bring all the documentation you can with you regarding your income and other debts and be prepared to make an agreement with them regarding repayment. I don't know how lenient they will be regarding how much they'll allow you to pay back per week but as long as you're willing to address the issue, are honest with them and keep up with repayments then this will be fine.

Now, if you come to an agreement about repaying X amount per week and then consistently ignore that, then there might be a chance of eviction. But for now, you're fine. Just make sure that you make them aware of your financial situation and don't make repayment promises that you can't keep. Good luck.

ZOLTAN28

Thanks KP - we have spoken to them - seemingly they are willing to look at my P60s from 07 and 06 so I will be sending them in and see what happens from there - hopefully it will mena a reduction in the arrears.

We have always paid prompty and have been pretty much in credit up until now so I will continue to pay and try and squeeze out a bit extra to clear up the arrears - hopefully they won't expect too much extra per week.

Vel

I attend the District Court quite a lot as part of my job and have seen some of DCC's eviction cases. From what I've witnessed they tend to work with people up to a certain point but they certainly seem proactive in taking action if arrears are being built up. I've seen cases vary from arrears of €2,000 to arrears of over €15,000. The judges tend not be swayed too much by personal circumstances and usually grant DCC an order for possession of the house but with a stay period of a few months. From my impression, if you engage with DCC rather than ignore the problem they may be able to come to some kind of agreement and the judges always seem to be more leniant with people who are attempting to sort their problems out but I have yet to see a judge refuse DCC a repossession order.

ZOLTAN28

Cheers for the info Vel - I worked for a TD some years ago and remember a lot of contacts from council/corporation tenants that had huge arrears and were worried about eviction - by the sounds of things DCC have got their act together since then - as I said we have always paid and will continue to do so - I am trying to work out some payment plan with them but they need to see the documents sent in first.

We have also received a separate letter for them since the initial one saying stating our new rent which is less than the previous letter and seems to have been sent independently of the first letter - I have asked for clarification on this too.

foxy06

I was told by wicklow county council to go to them if you have any problems with rent payments as if you don't communicate with them they will go through the courts.