Rent Arrears - Broadland Housing Association

Rent arrearshow canwe help?0303 303 0003

Rent arrearshow can we help?This leaflet is important. It providesinformation on Broadland HousingAssociation’s process for tenants who fallinto arrears. Please take the time to read it.Rent arrearsRent collection is crucial.To maintain ourservices, we must collect the rent due to us.However, we do appreciate that people havefinancial difficulties from time to time, and ourstaff are trained to offer a supportive, helpfulservice.Getting into debtChecks on rent are carried out on a regularbasis. Legal action will normally be takenwhen an account is over eight weeks inarrears. If you cannot pay your rent, forwhatever reason, please contact usimmediately.Benefits adviceYou might have problems because you arenot receiving all the benefits you are entitledto. We can give you advice on this.There arealso agencies like the Citizens Advice Bureauand your local council who can advise you.Rent recovery■ First ContactsThe first stage will be a letter requestingpayment of your arrears. Arrangements canbe made to pay in instalments. If there is noresponse, a Notice Seeking Possession willbe sent to you.

■ Notice seeking PossessionThis is a legal document. It is the first stage inthe legal process which could result in youlosing your home. Do not ignore it. TheNotice Seeking Possession means that wegive you notice that we intend to take legalaction. It is vital that you reach an agreementto repay your debt before we take furtheraction.The Notice Seeking Possession remains inforce for 12 months.This means that if youreach an agreement to pay by instalments, wecan take action if you break that agreement.■ Legal ActionIf your debt continues to grow without furthercommunication with us, we will have nooption but to take legal action.This might be:• By a claim in the Small Claims Court forthe debt• By an application for a Possession Orderto take back your homeIf we are applying for legal action we willcontact you and you will receive confirmationfrom the court. It is important that you attendcourt to put your point of view across. You willhave to pay the legal costs of the case.At any time you can contact us to make anagreement to pay. Usually at court the judgewill grant us possession of your home, but willnot allow us to take further action as long asyou pay an agreed amount per week. Youmust pay the agreed amount or you will loseyour home.

■ EvictionThe final stage in the legal process occurs ifyou do not keep up payments under a courtorder. We will ask for the Possession Order tobe enforced.The court bailiffs will visit you athome and let you know when you have toleave.We are willing to negotiate any agreements toprevent eviction, but at this stage you willhave to pay a lump sum if your debt hassignificantly increased.If you cannot pay any sum of money, theeviction will go ahead and you will lose yourhome.You could then find that you cannot getaccommodation from other landlords becauseyou have been evicted for not paying yourrent.You should then contact your local council’sHomelessness Section who might be able tohelp you with temporary accommodation.At Broadland Housing Association, it is ourpolicy to keep people in their homes - butunless you contact us for advice and thenkeep to any negotiated agreements, you willlose your home.If you are having trouble paying your rent,contact us IMMEDIATELY. We will doeverything we can to help you.0303 303 0003You can also contact your local CitizensAdvice Bureau for advice on any moneymatters.

If you would like this document or any otherBroadland document in large print, Braille, onaudiotape/audio CD or in another languageplease telephone 0303 303 0003Portuguese/PortuguêsSe desejar obter este documento ou quaisqueroutros documentos de Broadland emimpressão grande, Braille, gravação de áudioou Disco Compacto (CD) ou em outro idioma,por favor ligue 0303 303 0003Lithuanian/LietuviškaiJei norėtumėte šį dokumentą ar bet kurį kitąBroadland dokumentą gauti dideliu šriftu,Brailio raštu, audiokasete/audio kompaktiniodisko formatu ar kita kalba, prašome skambinti0303 303 0003Latvian/LatviskiJa Jūs vēlaties šo vai jebkurus citus Broadlanddokumentus saņemt lielā drukā, Braila rakstā,audiolentē vai kompaktdiskā, vai citā valodā,lūdzu, zvaniet pa telefonu 0303 303 0003

All our documents can be suppliedin large print, on audio tape and inlanguages other than EnglishBroadland Housing GroupNCFC Jarrold Stand Carrow RoadNorwich NR1 1HUCustomer Services 0303 303 0003www.broadlandhousing.orgBroadland Housing Association Ltd is registered under theIndustrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 - Registered No16274R and also under the Housing Act 1996 - RegisteredNo L0026.Registered office: NCFC Carrow Road Norwich NR1 1HUBHA362 Rent Arrears - October 2009