The Association will take all possible steps to recover former tenant arrears

Transcription

1 B7.1 FORMER TENANTS ARREARS POLICY B7.1.1 B7.1.2 B7.1.3 B7.1.4 B7.1.5 The Association will take all possible steps to recover former tenant arrears Where appropriate, the Association will pursue the debt using a Debt Collecting Agency. The Association will reach individual agreements with ex-tenants, taking into consideration their circumstances and ability to pay. The Association will make financial provision for dealing with irrecoverable arrears. Former Tenant Arrears will be regarded as irrecoverable for write-off purposes after 3 months where: - the arrears are small (under 100) - it has not been possible to locate the former tenant - the cost of recovery would exceed the arrears outstanding B7.1.6 The Housing Director will have the authority to write-off debts under 200. B7.1.7 A report will be presented to the Committee at the end of each financial year recommending any sums to be written-off. B7.2 FORMER TENANT ARREARS Once it is established the tenant has left the property owing rent, the following procedure should be ensued: - Termination of tenancy: The housing officer will complete the Termination of Tenancy form and give a copy to the Finance Department and a copy to the Administration Assistant who will then send letter 1 at the end of each business period when the Termination of Tenancy report is produced. 14 days later: If no arrears have been cleared or no payment arrangements made, the Administration Assistant will write to the Former Tenant giving them 7 days to contact us and advising debt will be passed to the Debt Collecting Agency (letter 2). Page 1 Former Tenants Arrears Policy Reviewed April 2009

2 28 days later: Alternatively letter 3 will be sent advising of possible legal action and we will pass case to the Debt Collection Agency if appropriate and if exceeding 100. B7.2.1 INCENTIVES There may be occasions when a discount may be considered, ie., if we receive 50/75% of the debt, we will write the balance off. This will be left to the discretion of the Administration Officer, unless the arrears are over 300, when approval from Housing manager/housing Director will be required (see Appendix Letters 4 & 5). It may also be appropriate to offer an incentive, ie., Argos vouchers if arrears are cleared quickly. B7.2.2 TELEPHONE Where appropriate telephone contract will be made with next of kin. If we have mobile telephone number we will also endeavour to make contact with ex-tenant. B7.2.3 TRACING FORMER TENANTS In some cases it may be considered worthwhile instructing the Debt Collection Agency to endeavour to trace and collect. These cases should be discussed with the Housing Officer. If a property is abandoned, the Housing Officer should make every endeavour to trace the former tenant and provide as much information to the Housing Administration Officer. B7.2.4 DEATH OF A FORMER TENANT In cases where the tenant has died leaving rent arrears the Housing Officer should where possible try to obtain the name and address of an Executor in order to make a claim on any Estate. B7.2.5 HOUSING BENEFIT PAYMENTS Where housing benefit is due, the Housing Officer should pursue this with the Local Authority B7.2.6 SMALL AMOUNTS i ii Where there is a contact address - cases of arrears or less will be considered uneconomical to pursue and written off. Where there is no contact address or it is uneconomical to pursue the debt - cases of arrears or less will be written off by the Page 2 Former Tenants Arrears Policy Reviewed April 2009

3 Housing Director. All other cases will be written off by the Committee of Management. B7.2.7 WHERE THERE ARE EXISTING PAYMENTS BEING RECEIVED If an arrangement with a former tenant to repay their arrears over a given time period stops, you should follow the procedures outlined in Section 3, making referral to the Debt Collection Agency as appropriate. Page 3 Former Tenants Arrears Policy Reviewed April 2009

4 Our Ref: HM/FTA1 Former Tenant Arrears Your tenancy at.. ended leaving rent arrears of.. on your account. Your are legally responsible for this and you need to make arrangements to clear this debt immediately. Failure to do this may result in Court action to secure repayment of this debt. Please contact me within the next 7 days to inform me how you intend to clear this debt. We will accept payment in full or can come to some arrangement to pay this amount in instalments. Payments can be made by the methods listed on the back of this page. My direct phone number is DO NOT IGNORE THIS LETTER Yours sincerely Housing Administration Officer Page 4 Former Tenants Arrears Policy Reviewed April 2009

5 Our Ref: FTA2 Name Add1 Add2 Post Code DO NOT IGNORE THIS LETTER Former Tenant Arrears I refer to our recent letter dated regarding your termination of tenancy at advising you of your former tenant arrears amounting to. The Association must now insist that you clear this debt. You can make payment in any of the ways listed on the back of this letter. Failure to pay the debt may result in further legal action being taken against you, including the debt being transferred to a debt collection agency. Yours sincerely Housing Administration Officer Page 5 Former Tenants Arrears Policy Reviewed April 2009

6 Our Ref: HM/FTA3 Former Tenant Arrears Your tenancy at. ended leaving rent arrears of. on your account. When we last wrote to you we did advise you that failure to make an agreement would result in Court action. Yet again you have failed to contact me. I am however, prepared to withhold Court proceedings if you contact me within 7 days to arrange to clear this debt. Failure to do this will result in us initiating Court action immediately. This is my third and final letter to you. If you do not respond you will hear from the Courts in due course. DO NOT IGNORE THIS LETTER Yours sincerely Housing Administration Officer Page 6 Former Tenants Arrears Policy Reviewed April 2009

7 Our Ref: HM/FTA4 Former Tenant Arrears Address I refer to previous correspondence regarding the above. We are now at the stage where we intend to pass this matter onto a Debt Collecting Agency which may involve you in additional expense and possibly Court action. I am therefore writing to offer you a discount of 25% off the above debt if we receive the full payment of the balance within the next 10 days. Therefore you will now owe If you pay this on or before we will write the balance off and close the file. The reverse of this letter explains the various methods of payment. Yours faithfully Page 7 Former Tenants Arrears Policy Reviewed April 2009

8 Our Ref: HM/FTA5 Former Tenant Arrears Your tenancy at.. ended leaving rent arrears of on your account. This is the second letter we have sent you and we are concerned you have failed to respond. You are legally responsible for this and you need to make arrangements to clear this debt immediately. Failure to do this may result in Court action to secure repayment of this debt. Please contact me within the next 7 days to inform me how you intend to clear this debt. We will accept payment in full or can come to an arrangement to pay this amount in instalments. Please note that if you pay the arrears in full within 28 days of receipt of this letter, we will reduce the outstanding amount by 50%. Alternatively if you set up a standing order to clear the arrears we will reduce the amount by 10%. Please contact me if you wish to take advantage of these incentives. My direct phone number is Yours sincerely Page 8 Former Tenants Arrears Policy Reviewed April 2009