Hi, I watched a webinar today presented by Richard Eyre and Michelle Cairns of the Property Entreprenure Summit, about rent arrears using the Rent Arrears Framework procedure. They recommended TACO ( Tenant arrears collection service) which provides a start to finish service from initial mediation to a CCJ. Annual fee is normally £1999 for unlimited arrears cases ( or £799 for individual cases) reduced to £240 / year with a discount code , for attending the webinar. Has anyone heard or used TACO, as nothing is coming up on Trustpilot? I'm assuming it's a good company as the above speakers of the webinar seem very nice , ethical people . It seems a lot cheaper than going through a solicitor which costs about £1500 inc court fees.

It seems that where there is a repayment plan in place this will be suspended if the tenant advises them there is a repair issue or similar. The Tenant has a week to provide evidence but they do not contact the Landlord for their side of the issue! It seems that any HB is then diverted to the Tenant and not held by DWP pending it being resolved because it is their money!!!!!!!! I also pointed out that it was a breach of the Agreement as rent could not be with held because of repair issues so technically they were acting illegally. Several others including the NRLA rep agreed that it was wrong not to seek both views before stopping the payments or even advising the Landlord of the dispute and even then, I did point out that it was not their money but State money provided to put a roof over their head and if the did not use it to pay rent then it was effectively misuse of public funds and could be classed as fraud! You can imagine how well that went down! Also remember that the maximum repayment amount has gone down from 25% to 15% of the benefit so dont ignore any missed payments and chase immediately. It could be worth speaking to your Council PRS team as they have a fund to maintain Tenancies and may be able to py any missed payments provided it is only a month or two. It is cheaper to do that than pay Temporary Housing costs!

Being a landlord isn't just about collecting rent-it's managing people, properties, and peace of mind. What's your go-to move when a tenant hits you with an unexpected request?

Hi everyone! Hello and welcome to the GB Landlords community! Please use this as a place to learn, share tips and ideas, raise awareness and generally help improve all of our property businesses. We will be adding more as we build but meanwhile head over to the classroom by clicking the menu at the top of the page to see the recordings of the talks from our events. If you're new here, start off by commenting below to introduce yourself. Alternately start a new post and ask the community a question!

For those Landlords who accept Tenants on benefits and felt secure in the knowledge that if they got in arrears then an application could be made to DWP for direct payment and a slow repayment of the arrears. Well unfortunately our great legal system has just cast doubt on this and ruled that DWP need to have the Tenants agreement to make those deductions! As I briefly mentioned at our last meeting The High Court has declared the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) method of deducting rent payments from Universal Credit recipients unlawful. In the case of Roberts v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the court ruled that the DWP’s failure to consult individuals before authorising deductions from their benefits is unfair. Following a landlord application, the DWP decided to make deductions from Mr Roberts’ Universal Credit in March 2024, for ongoing rent payments and towards rent arrears. However, Mr Roberts challenged the DWP’s decision to deduct rent payments and arrears from his UC. While the DWP later acknowledged the deductions were made in error and refunded Mr Roberts, he proceeded with his legal challenge, arguing against the policy that allowed these deductions. Could this be yet another reason for Landlords to sell up I wonder? read the full article here www.property118.com/high-court-rules-dwps-universal-credit--deduction-scheme-unlawful/