Letter to vacate home help!

lukesmom · 26-05-2012 12:07am #1

Hi hoping somebody can help me with this.

My husband and I and our two children have been renting a house for almost three years. Last year my husband lost his job in construction and we had to seek rent allowance. We have had this for a year and all has been fine, it's paid directly to the letting agent and we pay the balance.

Five weeks ago we received a rent allowance renewal form which we filled out that day and brought into the letting agent to sign. The usual girl we deal with has gone on maternity leave and another girl took over her role. She was five days late sending the form back to the community welfare officer so missed the deadline!!! In the meantime we received a call from her to say that the rent allowance had not arrived to their office and my husband called down to see them. This is where they explained that the form had been sent in late and this is why our claim had not gone through. So we have been waiting for this backdated rent allowance to be sorted out the last 5 weeks but there is a delay obviously to backlog.

This new girl sent us out a 14 day notice to pay rent and we called to say we are still waiting. So this morning I was greeted at the door by the boss of the letting company and he handed me a letter to evict the premises in 28 days! My husband explained to him what had happened with the form being sent back late by THEM and this is why our rent allowance is taking a while to come through and backdated. He told me that the agent said he understood. I'm not sure what to think now. My husband will go back down to cwo on Tuesday to find out when the hell this will be sorted.

Question is: Can a letter to vacate be revoked? and have we a leg to stand on?

Thanks. Also due baby number 3 in 8 weeks so hoping this mess gets sorted out asap.

kdowling · 26-05-2012 12:21am

i'll sure someone more qualified will answer soon but just to put your mind at ease from reading similiar threads there is not much they can do if you just refuse to leave (especially with kids involved) and in that time you should have your RA sorted.
There are plenty of cases where I would side with the landlord/letting agent, this is not one of them!

lukesmom · 26-05-2012 12:37am

kdowling wrote: »

i'll sure someone more qualified will answer soon but just to put your mind at ease from reading similiar threads there is not much they can do if you just refuse to leave (especially with kids involved) and in that time you should have your RA sorted.
There are plenty of cases where I would side with the landlord/letting agent, this is not one of them!

Thank you. I don't like the thoughts of just refusing to leave I suppose I'm just hoping that it can be turned around. It's a horrible situation to be in and not one I would wish on anybody

How Strange · 26-05-2012 7:22am

If I were in your situation ie you had a very good history of rental payment, have a family, due another baby in 8 weeks I'd contact threshold and ask for their assistance to mediate the letter to vacate.

My dad has tenants who haven't paid rent since January, he's been getting the line 'rent allowance is coming any day' however they've made no attempt in 5 months to pay anything, not even their portion of the rent. He recently had to take similar action but he did it reluctantly because he has a mortgage to pay.

However your case, according to your post, seems very genuine and the letting agent has been surprisingly and disproportionately heavy handed. I wouldn't advise refusing to leave as firstly it's the wrong thing to do even if you feel you have good reason, secondly it undermines your position for mediation and thirdly it will put additional pressure in you at a time when you least need it. Contact threshold immediately and see how they can help.

engineermike · 26-05-2012 9:42am

Hi OP,
Bring the letter and a summary of the situation to Threshold for advice on your rights.
Also explain the situation to the rent officer - and ask them to place a call on your behalf to the letting agent,
mike f

odds_on · 27-05-2012 10:23am

What type of lease do you have _ do you sign a new fixed term lease each year or have you taken the option of a Part 4 lease?

lukesmom · 27-05-2012 11:48pm

odds_on wrote: »

What type of lease do you have _ do you sign a new fixed term lease each year or have you taken the option of a Part 4 lease?

Hi afaik we took the option of a Part 4 lease. I will see what the cwo say on Tuesday and then I will contact Threshold like a few have advised. I hope it can be overturned, the notice to vacate that is. Have been happy living here. Thank you for all the replies.

odds_on · 28-05-2012 9:50am

lukesmom wrote: »

Hi afaik we took the option of a Part 4 lease. I will see what the cwo say on Tuesday and then I will contact Threshold like a few have advised. I hope it can be overturned, the notice to vacate that is. Have been happy living here. Thank you for all the replies.

My understanding is that with a Part 4 tenancy, the following is required for a Notice of Termination for rent arrears:
1. A notice of rent arrears.
2. A 14 day notice of rent arrears
3. A notice of termination specifying rent arrears.

With a Fixed Term lease, only notices 2 ans 3 are required.

lukesmom · 30-05-2012 10:50pm

Husband went to see cwo yesterday and he has promised to look through 'suspended' applications and call us today but he didn't. It needs to be backdated to 5 weeks in order for us to pay the arrears plus our portion also. It's extremely frustrating waiting to see if he will in fact process our application any time this week as we have been given until the 22nd June to get out of the house! There is alot riding on it and I know they must be extremely busy but still so frustrating being left hanging like this when you have 2 children and another on the way very soon

Graces7 · 31-05-2012 7:29am

lukesmom wrote: »

Husband went to see cwo yesterday and he has promised to look through 'suspended' applications and call us today but he didn't. It needs to be backdated to 5 weeks in order for us to pay the arrears plus our portion also. It's extremely frustrating waiting to see if he will in fact process our application any time this week as we have been given until the 22nd June to get out of the house! There is alot riding on it and I know they must be extremely busy but still so frustrating being left hanging like this when you have 2 children and another on the way very soon

It is inexcusable. It is what CWOs are paid for.

Can you go over the CWOs head to his supervisor? Go to the HSE website for your area and they will be listed.

We had a similar problem when RA took 7 months to come through and then the CWO said all the paperwork was out of date and demanded a whole new set. It was that bad winter and we were left without food money after paying the rent.

I emailed the supervisor and the CWO was at the door the next morning and the RA came though and tha back money with it. Well, half of it; I had to repeat the process to get the rest;)

HSE have a strict complaints procedure and the words "formal complaint " are very effective indeed.

You have your kids and the coming baby to think about; as they must also do.

Always go over the head and in your case it is very urgent indeed.

lukesmom · 01-06-2012 2:02pm

Thank you Graces7. I am going to do just that now.

Graces7 · 01-06-2012 2:09pm

lukesmom wrote: »

Thank you Graces7. I am going to do just that now.

Good! lol!

Our CWO was not answering emails and claimed later she was not getting them so I sent her a message through her Supervisor asking her to check her spam/trash box....

lukesmom · 06-06-2012 9:59am

Update: Husband went to CWO yesterday morning and guess what!!!!!! The CWO 'cannot find' our application! :mad: This is turning out to be somewhat of a joke at this stage. And he said he will look again for the form and we have to call him today to see has he found it.

And Grace he is the supervisor unfortunately. I'm at a loss of what we can do. Its like we are hanging by a thread waiting for people to do their jobs efficiently.

We have to be out by 22nd June!

quozl · 06-06-2012 10:24am

lukesmom wrote: »

We have to be out by 22nd June!

Let's be clear, No you don't.

If you do not vacate it will be months and months (and months and months!) before you can actually be evicted.

You intend to pay the money, you are doing everything you can to pay the money, it is to an extent the letting agencies fault.

Calm down, and please don't even consider going anywhere on the 22nd if the CWO hasn't sorted it by then.

Personally in your situation I would try and contact your landlord directly and explain the situation to him/her. Just out of politeness as this is an inconvenience to them through no fault of their own or albeit yours IMO.

They may not entirely believe you and if I were them I would also have started the formal eviction process too - as it will take forever, and can be stopped immediately if/when your story turns out to be true. So it makes sense to send the correct notices of termination immediately - although I think they may have not sent them correctly anyway as I thought there was a requirement for a notice of late payment before the notice of termination - IANAL but letting agencies aren't either

Anyway, long story short, don't go anywhere, you can't be made go anywhere, try and not get too upset and stressed even though this is a horrible situation to be in, and personally I'd try and explain to the landlord too.

Zamboni · 06-06-2012 11:19am

lukesmom wrote: »

Update: Husband went to CWO yesterday morning and guess what!!!!!! The CWO 'cannot find' our application! :mad: This is turning out to be somewhat of a joke at this stage. And he said he will look again for the form and we have to call him today to see has he found it

I've learned from experience that it is good practice to keep a copy of anything that you hand to a civil servant.

I would encourage you to listen to quozl above in relation to not moving out and focus on your pregnancy.
You should not be worrying about this. Let your husband deal with the CWO and the Agency.
Best of luck with number 3.

Graces7 · 06-06-2012 1:20pm

lukesmom wrote: »

Update: Husband went to CWO yesterday morning and guess what!!!!!! The CWO 'cannot find' our application! :mad: This is turning out to be somewhat of a joke at this stage. And he said he will look again for the form and we have to call him today to see has he found it.

And Grace he is the supervisor unfortunately. I'm at a loss of what we can do. Its like we are hanging by a thread waiting for people to do their jobs efficiently.

We have to be out by 22nd June!

Words fail!

OK; make a formal complain to HSE in that area. He may be a supervisor but he has a boss.
He is way out of order here.
See

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/how_health_is_organised/making_a_complaint_about_the_health_service_executive.html

Actually. a very good idea to go to the Citizen's Infoi; can you do that? Take all the paperwork etc with you and explain as you have done here.

It was they who finally sorted the matter for us when the CWO was stonewalling re the RA. Hot knife through butter.

Can you get there today? And no; they cannot evict you but they can make you more tense than is healthy.

NB, what did Threshold say?

lukesmom · 07-06-2012 1:17pm

Okay got a phonecall from the CWO and he has now found our application. He has assured us that it will be released on Monday with all back dated funds. My husband went down to the letting agent this morning and they have moved 15 miles away to their other office. Hopefully the letter to vacate can be overturned.

Graces7 · 07-06-2012 3:29pm

lukesmom wrote: »

Okay got a phonecall from the CWO and he has now found our application. He has assured us that it will be released on Monday with all back dated funds. My husband went down to the letting agent this morning and they have moved 15 miles away to their other office. Hopefully the letter to vacate can be overturned.

Wonderful;see what mentioning supervisor etc does. Please God this will sort fast and easily now and you can rest these vital weeks.

Should not be like this, but we deal with realities.

Blessings and peace

Letter to vacate home help!

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