Social Welfare not paying Rent

cisseb

I'm hoping you can advise me please?
I haven't received Social Payments in over 3 months from Social Welfare. The Tenanent hasn't received them and as a result my Mortgage is now in arrears. It is putting a terrible strain on my family as we have no money now to cover our own basic living.
Please can you advise me on my rights as a landlord and how to ensure the money from the last 3 months is recovered & future payments paid on time?
Many thanks
C

ShaShaBear

I'm assuming you mean Rent Allowance?
Do you get their Rent Allowance payments made directly to you?
Is the tenant still giving you the remainder of the rent that he/she is required to pay regardless of the fact that Rent Allowance is not being payed, or are they missing rent every month?
If the tenant hasn't paid rent in three months, I advise you speak to them directly about this - I do not know the laws for landlords regarding evicting tenants, but I am sure eviction can be put in place if they haven't paid you rent in three months. And I would recommend this. But would need to understand a little more what payment you are not getting, and from who exactly are you not getting it from.

odds_on

Are you sure the tenant has not received their SW allowance? If the SW claim is new, have you filled in all requested forms.
You could also contact the SW office and advise them the your tenant has not received their allowance.

As regards evicting your tenant, there is a strict proceedure to follow. Read the following:
http://public.prtb.ie/DownloadDocs/Termination%20of%20Tenancy%20for%20non-payment%20of%20rent-%2023rd%20March%202011.pdf

cisseb

odds_on wrote: »

Are you sure the tenant has not received their SW allowance? If the SW claim is new, have you filled in all requested forms.
You could also contact the SW office and advise them the your tenant has not received their allowance.

As regards evicting your tenant, there is a strict proceedure to follow. Read the following:
http://public.prtb.ie/DownloadDocs/Termination%20of%20Tenancy%20for%20non-payment%20of%20rent-%2023rd%20March%202011.pdf

Thanks for the response. The Tenant hasn't received any payments. I've been on to SW but they won't speak to me, only the Tenant. My Tenant has been several times but they keep saying it will be paid by cheque in the post to the Tenant on the last Tuesday of the month. However, three months later and still no cheques. Any advise would be great. Is anyone else experiencing the same? Thanks

the_syco

cisseb wrote: »

Any advise would be great.

So for three months they've lived there rent free? It sounds like they see you as a soft touch. Look into starting the eviction process, as I can't see them paying up anytime soon.

cee_jay

Its your tenant that hasn't paid rent in three months, they are responsible for the rent being paid, not social welfare.
SW can't discuss anything with you regarding your tenant's claims.
Your contract is with your tenant not SW.

UDP

cisseb wrote: »

The Tenant hasn't received any payments.

How do you know?

The_Conductor

cisseb wrote: »

Thanks for the response. The Tenant hasn't received any payments. I've been on to SW but they won't speak to me, only the Tenant. My Tenant has been several times but they keep saying it will be paid by cheque in the post to the Tenant on the last Tuesday of the month. However, three months later and still no cheques. Any advise would be great. Is anyone else experiencing the same? Thanks

How do you know the tenant hasn't received the cheque?
Further- its a matter for the tenant- not you- if the tenant is not paying you rent- they are in breach of their contract to you, and you should evict them- unless of course you're happy for them to continue to live there rent free?

cisseb

No cheques have been issued or cashed in according to SW.

ProudDUB

How do you know that FOR SURE? You said in your original post that SW will not talk to you. Are you getting that info from the tenant? Whether or not he is telling the truth, it is still his responsibility to pay his rent by whatever means he can. If he is lying and has misappropriated the funds, start eviction proceedings and get a new tenant. If there is a problem with his claim and he is unable to pay his rent, evict him. Three months is far to long to let this drag on. You are not operating a charity. You are entitled to look after your own best interests financially.

UDP

cisseb wrote: »

No cheques have been issued or cashed in according to SW.

Surprised they gave you this information but yet you say they wouldnt talk to you - only to the tenant.

Either way it doesnt matter - 3 months without rent i'd say you will be very lucky to get a cent of that rent. The payment of rent allowance has nothing to do with you since it is not paid directly to you and you do not have a contract with the SW. Tenant can't pay rent = eviction. How long are you going put up with this?

odds_on

UDP wrote: »

Surprised they gave you this information but yet you say they wouldnt talk to you - only to the tenant.

Either way it doesnt matter - 3 months without rent i'd say you will be very lucky to get a cent of that rent. The payment of rent allowance has nothing to do with you since it is not paid directly to you and you do not have a contract with the SW. Tenant can't pay rent = eviction. How long are you going put up with this?

By starting the eviction process, with a 14 day rent arrears notice, it might just buck up the tenant into getting the SW on the ball.

If you can get as far as issuing a Notice of Termination (within the first 6 months) it also means that even if the tenant brings the rent up-to-date, they cannot claim Part 4 rights at the end of the fixed term.

The_Conductor

If social welfare have not in fact paid the rent allowance (by cheque or any other method) in over 3 months- it stands to reason that there is a good reason they haven't done so.

The tenant has to be served with valid notice to quit- even if they resolve the issue they have with Social Welfare (this is their issue not yours), there is absolutely no guarantee that you will see a penny of the arrears that you've allowed build up.

Social welfare do not unnecessarily withold payments from genuine claimants. If they are doing so- there is a reason that they are doing so- and the tenant should be chasing this. Even if they are totally genuine- why should they bother chasing it- if you're allowing them live in the property rent-free (which is what you're doing- regardless of how its dressed up).

The fact that the tenant is relying on Rent Allowance- is irrelevant. They are a tenant, and have a contract with you. If they are reliant on rent-allowance- this is an arrangement they have with someone else (DSFA) and it is up to them to chase it.

If cheques were supposed to issue, and have not done- they *need* to know why, whether the cheques are going to issue, whether there is an issue or not - and sort all of these things.

You are being an easy touch here- even if they're entirely genuine- why should they bother getting off their arses and chasing this- when you're being so nice as to give them a free home?

JohnK

Could be worth arranging to meet the tenant at a specific time and then the two of you make a phonecall to the welfare office on speaker to try and clear things up. At least by the end of the call you should know if the tenant is chancing their arm or if they are genuinely being given the run around by the SW office in which case having you on the line too might give them a bit of a push to sort it out.

The_Conductor

JohnK wrote: »

Could be worth arranging to meet the tenant at a specific time and then the two of you make a phonecall to the welfare office on speaker to try and clear things up. At least by the end of the call you should know if the tenant is chancing their arm or if they are genuinely being given the run around by the SW office in which case having you on the line too might give them a bit of a push to sort it out.

Why?
Strictly speaking they would be breaking all sorts of data protection rules by agreeing to hold the conversation in the presence of the landlord.
This is an issue for the tenant- and up to the tenant to resolve- full stop.
By rights- whoever it was in Social Welfare shouldn't even have gone as far as to tell the landlord that no payment had issued thus far.

The landlord is letting his house. He deserves his rental income- and is himself seriously in debt as a result of these shenanigans.

If the tenant is unable to pay their rent- they should hold their hands up and acknowledge such, and agree to leave- or organise where they will source the rent from. They have done neither thus far.

I do have a degree of sympathy for the tenant- however to me it seems that they simply don't have any incentive to hound social welfare- which is what they need to be doing.

Another issue- what happens vis-a-vis arrears due to the landlord? Its entirely possible that Social Welfare will turn around and pick some spurious date from which to commence the payments (if they do actually agree to) which has nothing whatsoever to do with the duration the tenant has been in the property thus far.

odds_on

smccarrick wrote: »

Why?
........
I do have a degree of sympathy for the tenant- however to me it seems that they simply don't have any incentive to hound social welfare- which is what they need to be doing.

Another issue- what happens vis-a-vis arrears due to the landlord? Its entirely possible that Social Welfare will turn around and pick some spurious date from which to commence the payments (if they do actually agree to) which has nothing whatsoever to do with the duration the tenant has been in the property thus far.

Hence my advice in post #12 to start the eviction process with a 14 day Notice of Arrears of Rent which hopefully might spur the tenant into more positive action. And if that fails, it is on the way to issuing a Notice of Termination.

the_syco

JohnK wrote: »

if the tenant is chancing their arm or if they are genuinely being given the run around by the SW office

If they're telling the truth, the OP doesn't get their money. If they're not telling the truth, the OP doesn't get their money.

Evict them, and get someone in who will pay the money.

JohnK

Well, yeah thats certainly true but at least the OP would know for sure exactly what the situation is rather than wondering if the tenant is being an arsehole or is a victim of unfortunate circumstance.

The reason I bring it up is because from what I'm lead to believe evicting someone can be a long and arduous process so in the event the tenant is being given the run-around by the SW it might end up being more in the OPs interests to stick with them until its sorted out rather than also facing the prospects of losing any possibility of the rent due between now and the time he may have to change the locks on the property.

ShaShaBear

Rent Allowance only covers a percentage of the total rent. Has the tenant not been giving you the percentage of rent per month that he is required to pay? If his claim has been approved, his CWO will already have told him how much of the rent he is liable for. If he isnt giving you anything then he is likely pulling a fast one.

georgejetson

cisseb wrote: »

I'm hoping you can advise me please?
I haven't received Social Payments in over 3 months from Social Welfare. The Tenanent hasn't received them and as a result my Mortgage is now in arrears. It is putting a terrible strain on my family as we have no money now to cover our own basic living.
Please can you advise me on my rights as a landlord and how to ensure the money from the last 3 months is recovered & future payments paid on time?
Many thanks
C

The payment can be made either to the landlord or the tennant. Maybe you could make a phone call and find out what stage the claim is at or if the tennant is in receipt of the payment at present.

I had an issue a couple of years ago.The situation was on going with the rent for approx 6 mths with the tennant and welfare office.The tennant was back dated the rent and given a cheque (approx €7000). My property was left vacant and the cheque cashed by the tennant. Just be careful and keep your eye on the ball.