Paying your rent
If you are in arrears
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 our Rent Section 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 or
the National Debtline on 0808
8084000.
You might be interested in:
Consumer Credit Counselling
Service
Free debt advice, including information on completing a personal
budget statement, specimen letters to creditors and help with
arranging a repayment plan to clear debts.
Kent
Savers
Telephone them on:
0333 321 9050 - Monday to Friday - 9am
to 5pm
0300 456 9990 - Monday to Friday - 5pm
to 8pm, and weekends from 8am to 8pm
Visit Kent Savers every Friday at
Gravesham Gateway Civic Centre, Windmill Street, Gravesend, from
9.30am until 1pm.
For further information on independent debt advice please
visit:
What will happen if I do not pay?
Failure to pay off the arrears will result in us serving a
'Notice of Possession Proceedings'. This is the first
legal step we take before taking Court action through the
County Court to recover possession of your property.
If the matter becomes very serious we will ask the County Court
to give us possession of your property. A District Judge
will decide after hearing evidence whether it is reasonable to give
possession. If you have very good reasons for not paying your
rent when it is due the District Judge may give us a postponed
possession order. This means you are allowed to stay on the
condition you pay your rent and an amount towards the arrears each
week.
Where possession is given to the court a Court Bailiff will be
asked to visit to carry out the eviction.
Even after eviction we will continue to pursue former tenants
for the debts they owe through the County Court seeking a County
Court Judgement. This will include all of the costs spent on
legal action taken to obtain possession of the property and recover
the debt.
Normally if you are evicted for rent arrears we 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 our policy to object to such applications and even if
successful you will remain a 'non-secure tenant'. You will
have no right of repair, exchange, right to buy or succession to
another family member.
Remember that prevention is better than cure so contact us early
on to avoid the distress and expense of legal action.
Contact
Tel: 01304 872296
Email: rentssection@dover.gov.uk