UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi

I have issued a S8 notice for rent arrears and the two weeks has expired so I am applying for a court hearing through the PCOL system.

I need to set out the rent arrears month by month on the online application. The bulk of the rent is paid to me by the council as the tenant has asked for me to receive her housing benefit element directly, and in her rent statements I have always only ever shown the amount that she has been due to pay me each month. The rent is £425/month, the housing benefit was £299.16 so she used to pay me £125 - or not, as the case may be.... (I know that doesn't add up fully to £425 but it didn't make too much difference)

The LHA increased last April and since then, the amount due from the tenant has been £63 each month. I have received nothing from the tenant since last May, hence the S8 notice.

I'm in a slight quandary about how to set this out on the schedule for the courts. Do I show the total rent due each month, or do I just show the amount the tenant should pay? If I show the full amount, and then show the LHA as paid by the council, it looks like the tenant is a regular payer, just not paying enough. If I only set out what she owes, then it looks like the rent is ridiculously low.

The section for the rent schedule on the PCOL system only allows for the due date each month, the amount due, amount paid, and the accruing arrears. There are a couple of boxes for background info on preceding pages, and I could explain there that the bulk of the rent payments have been paid by the council and not by the tenant.

As I'm doing this myself I obviously want to get it right, but the form doesn't account for the rent being paid by two different sources.

As I type this, I feel I might be erring towards showing the whole amount and making it really clear in the background info that the tenant does not pay very much or indeed very often. I am being careful to only say things that I can actually evidence, and I can evidence both that the LHA comes directly to me, and that the tenant does not pay her share.

Any thoughts would be most welcome, especially from anyone who has used the PCOL system.

Thanks

"Rent Due", Date, Negative Amount
"Rent paid (council)", Date, Amount
"Rent paid (tenant)", Date, Amount
"Rent Due", Date, Negative Amount
"Rent paid (council)", Date, Amount
"Rent Due", Date, Negative Amount
"Rent paid (council)", Date, Amount
"Rent paid (tenant)", Date, Amount

Sadly the only boxes are

Date Payment Due
Amount Due
Amount Paid
Accumulated Arrears

There is no box to show who paid what, and I can't attach my own spreadsheet on the PCOL system.  You have to do it all line by line, inputting it all individually, one line per month, one amount due, one amount paid and one amount for arrears.

It's meant to be quicker......

In which case, either don't use the online process (which is only meant to be for the simplest cases), or add the tenants and the council's payments in each month (using the date of the latest of the two).

JPK is spot on, just create your bundle and create a bank statement type layout of the Rent Account.

If you are claiming interest make sure it is done super accurately.

Make sure the rent remains at least two months in arrears, not two months of the £63 but two months of the  full rent.

Quote from: Stephanie_S on January 22, 2025, 01:35:24 PMHi

I have issued a S8 notice for rent arrears and the two weeks has expired so I am applying for a court hearing through the PCOL system.

I need to set out the rent arrears month by month on the online application. The bulk of the rent is paid to me by the council as the tenant has asked for me to receive her housing benefit element directly, and in her rent statements I have always only ever shown the amount that she has been due to pay me each month. The rent is £425/month, the housing benefit was £299.16 so she used to pay me £125 - or not, as the case may be.... (I know that doesn't add up fully to £425 but it didn't make too much difference)

The LHA increased last April and since then, the amount due from the tenant has been £63 each month. I have received nothing from the tenant since last May, hence the S8 notice.

I'm in a slight quandary about how to set this out on the schedule for the courts. Do I show the total rent due each month, or do I just show the amount the tenant should pay? If I show the full amount, and then show the LHA as paid by the council, it looks like the tenant is a regular payer, just not paying enough. If I only set out what she owes, then it looks like the rent is ridiculously low.

The section for the rent schedule on the PCOL system only allows for the due date each month, the amount due, amount paid, and the accruing arrears. There are a couple of boxes for background info on preceding pages, and I could explain there that the bulk of the rent payments have been paid by the council and not by the tenant.

As I'm doing this myself I obviously want to get it right, but the form doesn't account for the rent being paid by two different sources.

As I type this, I feel I might be erring towards showing the whole amount and making it really clear in the background info that the tenant does not pay very much or indeed very often. I am being careful to only say things that I can actually evidence, and I can evidence both that the LHA comes directly to me, and that the tenant does not pay her share.

Any thoughts would be most welcome, especially from anyone who has used the PCOL system.

Thanks