You must pay your rent on time. If you have any difficulty in paying your rent or you think that you may have a problem paying it in the future, Please contact the Rent Section at the Council on 01304 872296 It is important that you contact us before a debt grows. Your circumstances will be discussed and arrangements made for you to pay your rent plus an amount to clear arrears, according to your debt and ability to pay. You may wish to seek independent debt advice, which is available locally from the Citizens Advice Bureau (see ‘Useful Contacts’ for details) or the National Debtline on 0808 8084000.
It is important that you keep to the arrangements to clear arrears or the Council can start legal proceedings by serving you with a Notice of Possession Proceedings. This is the first step towards action that can result in eviction. The Notice of Possession Proceedings can be served personally by a Council Officer or by post. The Notice allows 28 days before Court action can be taken. This is your last opportunity to arrange to pay to avoid Court action.
If the arrears aren’t paid or you don’t keep to any agreement to pay off the arrears we will ask the Court for a hearing. The Court will be asked for a Possession Order that will allow the Council to evict you. We will also seek a judgement against you for the money you owe. In some circumstances, where you have made an agreement with us to pay off the arrears by instalments, we will ask the Court to suspend the order, which means that you will not be evicted so long as you keep to the agreement.
You should contact the Rent Section to discuss an arrangement to suspend a Possession Order. At Court you will have the opportunity to explain why your rent is in arrears. You will normally be required to pay Court costs to cover the Council’s costs of taking you to Court As well as facing possible eviction you will also lose some of your rights as a tenant if you fail to comply with the terms of the Court Order. If payments are not made following a Court Order, the Council will apply for an Eviction Warrant. The Court will then set a date for your eviction. When you receive a Warrant for Eviction you should immediately contact the Senior Housing Officer (Arrears). They will arrange a joint visit with the Homelessness Officer to assess whether the Council would have a duty to assist you if you become homeless.
Normally if you are evicted for rent arrears the Council will not be under a duty to re-house you. Eviction can only be avoided by payment of all arrears and the court costs or by an application to the County Court to suspend the date of eviction.
It is Council policy to object to such applications and even if successful you will remain a nonsecure tenant.
Remember that prevention is better than cure so contact us early on to avoid the distress and expense of legal action.
E-mail: rentssection@dover.gov.uk
