Waterloo Housing Association

home housing residents corporate

Rent Management

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Department of Work & Pensions

Birmingham Settlement

RENT MANAGEMENT

RENT DIFFICULTIES

Waterloo aims to ensure that people are treated with respect at all times, have access to good quality advice on benefits and managing debt and discuss arrears of rent at an early stage

Rent Statement

These will be sent on a quarterly basis giving details of rent charged and all payments made.

You can make a request for a rent statement to be sent out to you at any time. Just contact your local office and request this.

Money Advice

If your rent account does go into arrears we believe in trying to resolve the situation early on.

We will contact you either in person or by letter to advice that your account is in arrears to discuss reasons and possible solutions. Where it is possible to agree a repayment plan, you will be asked to sign an agreement, showing the payments to be made, and the length of time you will need to make the payment for.

At this stage we will try and assist, giving advice on welfare benefit entitlements, we can also refer you for money advice, including help with dealing with debts.

If you are experiencing financial difficulties with paying your rent please do contact us. To help pay your rent, we can:

Ensure that you are in receipt of all the benefits you are entitled to. Details of benefits available can be found at your local Benefits Office or on the Department of Works and Pensions website ( www.dwp.gov.uk).

Refer you to the Birmingham Settlement who can:

Prepare repayment schedules
Negotiate priority debts
Give guidance on budgeting and alternative sources of credit
Assist in claiming unclaimed benefit or allowances
Make an application to charitable trusts.

If all of our attempts to recover the arrears are unsuccessful we will start legal proceedings against you

The first stage in legal proceedings is a 'notice of seeking possession'. The notice advises you of the outstanding arrears and Waterloo's intention to take you to court, if the arrears are not cleared.

Failure to respond to the notice will result in a court hearing. At the hearing Waterloo will either request a suspended possession order whereby you can clear the arrears by agreed installments or a full possession order whereby you are instructed by the court to give up possession of your home, unless you clear the arrears in full.

If you stop making the agreed payments under the terms of a 'suspended possession order', Waterloo can apply to the court for a warrant for your eviction.