Non Payment of Rent
If you don't pay your rent you are at risk of losing your home.
The following steps outline the processes which we follow if you
stop paying us, please be aware that these differ between
Introductory and Secure Tenants:
Introductory Tenant
- If you fall into arrears we will write to you to inform you
that you have fallen into arrears and to ask you to catch up or
contact us.
- If you remain in arrears we will contact you again and then
invite you in for an interview and to inform you of our intention
to serve a Notice of Possession Proceedings.
- If you don't make contact with us or make payments a Notice of
Possession will be served which informs you that we intend to go to
court to reposess our property. You have the right to request a
review by senior officers within 14 days of the NOPP being
served.
- We will then go to court to ask for a Possession Order and a
warrant to evict you.
Secure Tenant:
- If you fall into arrears we will write to you to inform you
that you have fallen into arrears.
- If you remain in arrears we will contact you again and inform
you of our intention to serve a Notice of Seeking Possession.
- You will be issued a Notice of Seeking Possession which is the
first step towards you giving up your home. This notice will inform
you that you have 28 days before we can start legal proceedings. If
you contact us within this time we may still be able to agree a
manageable payment plan. Please be aware that this Notice of
Seeking Possession lasts for 12 months so if you fall behind in
your payments again during this time we can pursue legal
proceedings.
- We will then go to court to ask for a Possession Order. The
judge may grant an Outright Procession Order, in which case a
warrant to evict you will be requested, or the judge may postpone
the Possession Order in which case you can continue to live at your
home provided you make payments which the judge has set. If you do
not make the payments the judge has set, we will ask the court to
set a date for you to give up possession of your home.
- If you have been evicted for not paying your rent Waltham
Forest or any other local housing organisation does not have a duty
to rehouse you. We only go to court as a last resort since this is
a time-consuming and an expensive process so please contact us to
make an affordable repayment agreement.
If you would like some independent
advice please contact:
East London Financial Inclusion Unit ELFI is
offering free classes to our tenants to help them keep free of
debt. The training provided will enable you to:
- reduce your expenses
- increase you income
- become financially intelligent
- plan your budget
- learn how to deal with debt
For more information please visit http://www.elfi.org.uk/ or contact
the Rents Team on 020 8496 4197
What if I do pay my rent?
We want to encourage tenants to pay their rent
by Direct Debit. This easy method of payment allows you to keep
control of your payments whilst letting your bank or building
society do all the hard work. This payment method also allows us to
improve our arrears performance and reduces collection costs.
Having a Direct Debt set-up helps you manage
your money and as a thank you, we are entering all Direct Debt
paying tenants into a prize draw, to win a widescreen TV every six
months.
As a thank you to all our tenants who pay
their rent on time we have another prize draw every six months to
win a widescreen TV and an ipod.
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