Rent arrears
For advice on your own personal circumstances please contact:
Homelessness and Housing Advice Service Helpline 01922 653405 or email housingadvice@walsall.gov.uk
If negotiations with your landlord have failed and your arrears have increased, your landlord will eventually take the case to the County Court and request a possession order so that your property and the arrears you owe can be recovered.
Your landlord will initially refer the matter to their own solicitors, who will send you a notice requesting payment of the arrears in full.
Even at this stage it may be possible to negotiate repayment of the arrears. Housing advice officers can help with this.
If your landlord accepts your offer of payment they may still insist that any agreement is subsequently confirmed by the court at the possession hearing by a suspended possession order. You can contact your landlord and outline any proposal, which you wish your landlord to consider. Try to outline your proposal in writing and retain a copy for yourself in case you need to produce this to the court at a later stage.
Again advice officers can help or guide you through this process.
Recurring costs
Your landlord will need to apply to the County Court to issue a possession summons, which will be served upon you by the court. This document will give you a time and date for the court hearing.
Please do not ignore this.
When you receive the Summons
You will find attached a form N120 called the 'Particulars of Claim'. This form contains certain information relating to your landlord's claim for possession of your property. At the possession hearing the District Judge will check to ensure that the form has been filled in correctly. If it has not, the case may be adjourned until your landlord has submitted the correct information.
Housing advice officers can help you to fill in the forms.
When the Summons and particulars of the claim are served on you by the court
You will also receive a form N11M. You must complete this form. It enables you to give the court your version of the events, which have caused you to fall in arrears. On the form you can set out details of your current household budget and any other debts, which you may have. You can also outline any proposal for repayment of the debt, which you wish to put to the court to repay the arrears, which is reasonable given your particular financial circumstances.
If necessary, ask for help to complete this form. The Housing Advice Team can be contacted on 01922 653405 or email housingadvice@walsall.gov.uk for help with this. Return the form back to the court within 14 days. Keep a copy of the completed form for your own records.
Again if you want help from a housing advice officer, ring to make an appointment.
The Possession Hearing
You should always attend any court hearings, as this is your opportunity to make sure that the court is aware of your circumstances.
Hearings in the County Court for repossession proceedings are normally heard by the District Judge and are held in the Judges Chambers not in open court.
The Hearing itself will be fairly informal and the District Judge will be present together with your landlord's representative.
The District Judge will check that all the particulars of claim submitted by your landlord have been correctly filled in and contain the required information relating to your rent account. If the documentation is not accurate the case may be adjourned to a later date to enable.
After the documentation has been checked, the District Judge will normally ask your landlord's representative what payments have been received since the summons was served and what orders the landlord is seeking from the court.
After your landlord's representative has put their case the District Judge will ask you if you dispute the amount of arrears your landlord says you owe. If you are not disputing the claim, the District Judge will then ask you what proposals you intend to make to repay the debt.
If you have already completed the form N11M (the reply to the summons) your landlord's representative and the judge will already have the details of your household income and expenditure commitments, together with your proposals for the repayment of the arrears. If you have not been able to submit the form to the court prior to the hearing then, at the hearing you can outline details of any proposals for the repayment of your arrears you want to make.
When you are at the possession hearing try not to be nervous, many District Judges understand that you may be confused by court procedures and they will often try to guide you through the hearing. If you don't understand what information you are being asked to provide, or what the court, has decided, don't be afraid to ask the Judge for an explanation.
If you have not had an opportunity to complete the form N11M and return it to the court before the hearing, try to prepare for the court by writing out a summary of your case including your household budget and details of any offers you have made to your landlord and you would like the court to consider at the hearing. Prepare three sets of these documents so that one can be given to the Judge and one to your landlord's representative. Try to ensure that the payment offer you are making to the court will cover:
- Your current fortnightly/weekly rent
- Repayment of the arrears over a reasonable period of time
At the hearing be polite and speak slowly and clearly. If you would like someone to present your case, you will need the permission of the District Judge.
At the hearing you should address the District Judge as "Sir" or "Madam" and remember if you do not understand something that has been said, ask the Judge for an explanation.
Recurring costs
The court has wide powers to assist you, even when your landlord has refused your offer of payment, if you can show that:
- Given your financial circumstances, your offer is reasonable and
- That it will repay the arrears within a reasonable period of time
The District Judge may accept your proposal and issue a suspended order for possession.
This means that although a possession order has been granted to your landlord, if you make the required payments under the suspended order, your landlord cannot enforce the order against you and have you evicted.
A suspended order will normally require you to pay your current rent plus an amount off the arrears. This amount will have been set by the court.
However…
If you do not keep to the terms of the suspended order, your landlord can then apply to the County Court for a bailiffs warrant to carry out an eviction.
Remember, provided your proposed course of action is reasonable, the Judge has wide powers to grant a suspended possession order to adjourn the case for a short time to allow you to tackle your arrears problem.
If you are unsure or want some help please contact the Housing Advice team on 01922 653405 or email housingadvice@walsall.gov.uk
Getting rehoused
You should remember that you will not automatically be rehoused because you have been evicted by your landlord. Please contact the Homelessness and Housing Advice Team at least 28 days before any proposed eviction date.
You can contact the team on 01922 653405 or email housingadvice@walsall.gov.uk.
Basic rules to remember
When dealing with debts you should always follow these basic rules:
Always contact your landlord and other creditors (the people you owe money to) straight away and let them know you are having difficulties.
If you make an offer of repayment make sure that it is a realistic offer that you can keep to.
If you receive welfare benefits check that you are receiving your maximum entitlement.
Do not borrow more money to pay off your debts without thinking very carefully about it. Borrowing more money may only get you into more debt and may be charged at very high rates.
Decide which debts are the most important. Make sure that you tackle the priority debts first. Priority debts are usually those where you could lose your home, have your gas, water or electricity disconnected or result in you going to prison.
Always reply to letters from the court and attend all court hearings so that you can give your version of events. Always make sure the court is fully aware of your financial situation.
For help with planning how to mange your debts you can also contact the Money Advisory Service at Walsall Citizens Advice Bureau on 01922 700600.
This page was last updated on 07 September 2010
