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Social benefits rent payment cut off without notice

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  • 08-05-2007 11:31am
    #1
    blue5
    Registered Users Posts: 181 ✭✭


    I have a tenant who was getting social benefits to pay the majority of his rent.
    Only after inquiring why the rent had not been paid for 2 months (after 2 years
    of it being paid this way) did they say that they should only have been
    paying the rent for 3 months. Is this possible or an excuse?

    There was no warning given to either myself or my tenant
    that payment would be stopped. This has left him with a bill of
    what is now 3 months rent, without any advance notice to allow for
    such a big bill.

    Anyone any ideas how to handle this?


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    #2
    The_Conductor
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    Unfortunately, irrespective of whether the tenant was aware or not that his rent was only supposed to be paid for 3 months- technically he/she is at fault for not checking that it was correct. The Department of Social and Family Affairs are fully within their rights to cut-off the rent-support without any contact with you whatsoever (they will normally have advised the tenant of this in writing though). The DSFA are also entitled to reclaim the monies that were overpaid to the tenant- normally they will organise a meeting with the tenant where a repayment schedule will be agreed (it is not in their interests after all to leave the person totally destitute).

    Irrespective of the length of the period in which the overpayments occurred, or whether they were as a result of error on the part of either the Department or the recipient- the simple fact of the matter is the person was not entitled to the money and not only will it be stopped, it must also be repaid.


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