I was told you can claim housing benefit without telling your landlord, is this true?

Question

If you pay the rent to your landlord every week out of your pocket (in cash) and the council who pays your housing benefit puts the money into your bank, isn't it possible to claim housing benefit without your landlord knowing?

Answer 1

The landlord doesn't have to sign a thing!!!!



All you need to show the council, is a tenancy agreement showing the rent amount and the address and the people named on the tenancy!







Our local council said, as long as we could produce a tenancy agreement, our landlord didn't have to sign a thing!





Now, IF your not already in a place, THEN the landlord will need to know how you can pay the rent, so then he or she will need to sign with the council!

Answer 2

No it's not true, because even though the council pay it into your bank they still contact the landlord to make sure all the details are correct, like the amount of rent you pay etc. It would be so easy to just print something off Word on your computer saying that you pay x amount of rent to some random person and get them to give you free money, so they always follow it up, check that your tenancy agreement is valid and other things like checking that the person you've claimed is your landlord actually owns the house. If you're concerned about having to start claiming benefits while renting then landlords are usually ok if you can offer a guarantor and references, and if you're already in the middle of a tenancy when you start claiming then the landlord doesn't have much of a choice, he would have to work very hard to break the contract to force you to move out.

Answer 3

Really, sorry to tell but your kinda hosed. First of all, it's none of your business what she does with the rent you pay her, you have no rights to that. About the electric, she is not required to put in another meter, you had worked out a deal and that is all she has to do, you cannot make any claims to this now; if it was a problem you should have discussed this before moving in. As far as the foreclosing, there is also nothing you can do about that, whoever gets the house(wether is be a bank or whatever) can come in and put you out, even if you pay your rent. What she does with the security deposit has to do with how you guys work it out, you can pay the last month's rent and then she can keep the deposit as well, you could try taking her to court to fight for it back but you'll end up losing in the long run, it's up to the owner's discretion. She'll end up with the last months rent AND the security deposit. About the drugs, sounds like your right on target, she probably is using the money to buy it, but there isn't a thing you can do about that now. If you smell it, try calling the police, but they will probably not do anything or just give her a citation. Really, as a month to month renter you have absolutely no rights to the house or what the owner does. My suggestion, chalk it up to lesson learned and don't get into a deal like that again. Move to a place you feel comfortable and make sure everything is discussed BEFORE you sign a lease. Or try buying, the market sucks now, you can get some awesome deals as a buyer

Answer 4

If you are in the UK this is definitely not true. Housing Benefit is not paid out until a form has been completed and signed by the landlord confirming the rent. This is logical, because otherwise a scam cound be worked where the the tenant claims for more rent than is actually being charged.

Answer 5

yes, you can get the housing benefit to your account then you pay your landlord.



i wouldnt recommend this for two reasons:

1) if your landlord is gettin housing benefit direct from your LA then hes less likely to mess you around

2) if you get money and you havent got a lot of money you might find yourself in problems when its pay your rent and go in arrears or not eat for a week. if you get housing benefit paid straight out to the landlord at least you have a roof over your head, food can be sorted.

Answer 6

The council get in touch with your landlord to prove you are the tenant renting the property and the amount of rent being paid is correct.