Council Tax and house repossession help!

[jane.l]

Anybody on here work in a council department and know anything about this situation?????: I posted it on my other forum but have had no replies and I am worried sick

Briefly, we left our house in April 2007 and moved to a rented house. Not paid mortgage or secured loan since January 2007. Northern Rock got a Possession Order on 1 August 2007 and we were ordered to leave the house by 29 August 2007 (but we had already left months earlier) We declared bankruptcy at end August 2007 as I wrongly believed the house had been repossessed In fact it was not until 13 March 2008 that NRock actually changed the locks on the house

In about May last year, I rang the Council Tax and they said we could have a Class C exemption for 6 months as we had left the house for repossession. I have just got a letter this morning saying that they can only award a Class L exemption (for repossessed properties) from the actual date of enforcement which was 13 March 2008, it says they have enclosed an amended bill, BUT THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE ENVELOPE

I am now really worried that they will say we are liable for this extra Council tax, (from August 2007-March 2008)because NRock buggared about for so long and did not actually repossess the house until much later Should the Council Tax Dept not award another Class C exemption for 6 months or are we only “allowed” one???

We have no money to pay this, why do crappy letters like this always arrive at weekends when I cannot ring them up???

Am I likely to be liable for this council tax and if I am, would they be likely to accept £5 per month, 'cos that is really all we could afford, I am so worried now

[Reviva UK]

Hi Jane

this is one of the reasons that it is vitally important to plan everything carefully. It minimises your stress and minimised the debt to your creditors so everyone wins.

Did you put the House / reposession details onto your Br forms?

The fact that you have had mortgage arrears + reposession action prior to Br should include the debt into your Br. The same applies to the council tax.

recommend you let the councol office know what has happened on monday and ask them to send their bill to the official receiver.

[chris.g]

We have had our council tax waived on the mortgaged property until June/July '08. Will we need to the contact the council that we have handed the house back to the M/company prevent any further charges of council tax on the property?

[marsha1]

Hi, a class c exemption which is for a property that is empty and unfurnished is free for 6 months, this exempton is on the property rather than the person. They will only give this once in your circumstances. However, you should get a 50% reduction after the 6 months is up if your property was still empty and unfurnished.

[chris.g]

so what if you are no longer 'own' the house because you have handed it back? Does this mean until it is sold you could be liable for council tax on the property?

[jane.l]

Yes, I think you are still liable for it, if the mortgage company take longer than 6 months, as in our case, it was because Nrock have messed about for so long, it took them 13 months to repossess the house. What a mess!

This is what I feared, that a property is allowed the Class C for 6 months and it cannot be extended

I can only hope then that this will be included in my bankruptcy! Another sleepless night for me then!

[chris.g]

We voluntarily handed our property back, they signed for the key so I'm assuming that they will now be legally responsible for the C/Tax as they know possess the house.....hopefully.

[jane.l]

If I were you, I would ring the Council Tax office and see where you stand, you don’t want anything to come back and bite you on the b*m, as in my case! Dunno where we are going to find this money if it turns out we do have to pay it!!!!


I cannot believe we have made such a mess of everything, if only we could turn the clock back, its not just the debt but how we coped with it, we seem to have just gone arse over tit, (excuse my French) in trying to sort it out too! I just wish we would have handed the house back straightaway before bankruptcy, I never imaged it would take so long to repossess the damn house!
[:I]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[jpj]

I think you will find Chris G that even if you hand the keys back you are still responsible for the properties costs untill the day it is resold! I.e they will charge you mortgage payments up until the day it is sold.Handing the keys back doesnt remove the responsibility from that day on.
Correct me if im wrong forum!?

[MelanieGiles]

You will be held liable for any Council tax which was incurred from the date of your bankruptcy order to the date that responsibility for the property reverted back to the mortgage lender, but as the property was unoccupied and unfurnished, you should be entitled to the exemption.

[jane.l]

Nrock already had the Possession Order and then we went bankrupt, they just did not enforce it, does this make any difference??

They just took so long to change the locks, they said they would do it straightaway, not sure why there was a delay [:(]

[chris.g]

so am I right in assuming that handing back the keys and voluntarily handing the house back to the mortgage company is in effect handing back responsibily to the mortgage lender??? It's all very confusing..

[MelanieGiles]

A possession order gives the mortgage company the right to enforce possession which is a separate Court process - so you will need to check at what stage NR were to determine if they have any responsibility for the unpaid Council Tax.

[jane.l]

I agree, it is very confusing! I am just annoyed at myself for not realising sooner, but the council tax office, when I spoke to them last May, did not seem aware of this situation happening, I feel it is unfair that I am now going to be lumbered with a bill for the house, just because NRock did not pull their finger out and enforce the repossession.

We struggle to pay the council tax bill for the house we are living in now and we may have to pay for last year in a house we left as we could not afford!


In the previous reply, from Paul Johns, he states this could be included in our bankruptcy, where do we stand with that???? I am confused

[MelanieGiles]

You will need to check out exactly where you stand legally with this bill. The Official Receiver should be able to help, and if you cannot afford a solicitor then the CAB ought to give good advice as well.