Southend Council crackdown on housing fraud (From Echo)
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Southend Council crackdown on housing fraud
12:19pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012 in Southend By Ryan McCarthy
HOUSING fraudsters will have nowhere to hide as Southend Council is stepping up checks on tenants.
The council has restructured its corporate fraud team to enable officers to target housing tenancy frauds more effectively.
The team will also be working more closely with housing management organisation South Essex Homes during the crackdown.
As well as increasing checks on tenants the council is appealing to residents to act as its ‘eyes and ears’ in the community by reporting tenancy crimes.
The most common forms of tenancy fraud are unlawful sub-letting, including sub-letting a whole property to a single household or creating multiple sub-lets within a single property, non-occupation by tenants as their principal home, wrongly claimed succession, unauthorised assignment of tenancies and so-called ‘key selling’, where the tenant leaves the property and passes on the keys in return for a one-off lump sum payment or favour.
Anyone with information about housing tenancy fraud in Southend can call 01702 215254 or email counterfraud@southend.gov.uk.
Comments(15)
Taxpayingidiot
says...
12:46pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Max 269 wrote:I thought that when you was on benefits the rent was paid directly and not given to the tennant.
How about looking at those Housing Benefit tenants who receive their Benefits however fail to forward the rent money to the landlord. That should be treated as theft and they should be made to pay the benefit back.
Maybe I am wrong
Nebs
says...
12:52pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Max 269 wrote:They know that they can live rent free until the landlord spends a fortune to evict them. They just see the rent money as extra pocket money. There should be a council database of such tenants for landlords to search.
How about looking at those Housing Benefit tenants who receive their Benefits however fail to forward the rent money to the landlord. That should be treated as theft and they should be made to pay the benefit back.
jolllyboy
says...
3:21pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Max 269
says...
4:00pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Brunning999
says...
6:55pm Wed 22 Feb 12
jayman
says...
7:05pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Taxpayingidiot wrote:money is for the benefit of the tenant and not the landlord. Although i agree this form of fraud should come with a hefty sentence but i detest landlords who rely on tenants extortionate rent on time and to the full amount who receive benefits in order to pay the landlords mortgage.. how about people on low income receive that money to pay there own mortgage thus cutting out the detestable bottom feeding swine's who let there converted house, two bed, dilapidated hovels for 795pcm..
Max 269 wrote:I thought that when you was on benefits the rent was paid directly and not given to the tennant.
How about looking at those Housing Benefit tenants who receive their Benefits however fail to forward the rent money to the landlord. That should be treated as theft and they should be made to pay the benefit back.
Maybe I am wrong
jayman
says...
7:08pm Wed 22 Feb 12
katch22
says...
8:43pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Nebs wrote:Yes a whole file on them! Their health, life style. sexual preferences etc etc. Lets have a big brother society.
Max 269 wrote:They know that they can live rent free until the landlord spends a fortune to evict them. They just see the rent money as extra pocket money. There should be a council database of such tenants for landlords to search.
How about looking at those Housing Benefit tenants who receive their Benefits however fail to forward the rent money to the landlord. That should be treated as theft and they should be made to pay the benefit back.
Nebs
says...
9:05pm Wed 22 Feb 12
katch22 wrote:Your suggestion is a bit extreme. Just the fact that they don't pay their rent would be sufficient.
Nebs wrote:Yes a whole file on them! Their health, life style. sexual preferences etc etc. Lets have a big brother society.
Max 269 wrote:They know that they can live rent free until the landlord spends a fortune to evict them. They just see the rent money as extra pocket money. There should be a council database of such tenants for landlords to search.
How about looking at those Housing Benefit tenants who receive their Benefits however fail to forward the rent money to the landlord. That should be treated as theft and they should be made to pay the benefit back.
katch22
says...
9:49pm Wed 22 Feb 12
jolllyboy wrote:Yes It keeps me awake at night too worrying about it, never mind the wars in the world, the deteriorating NHS. the bankers running amok , the government bought and paid for by the bankers, forget all that lets get to the more serious business of the woman living with a man while claiming she isn't!
The fraud that I would dislike the most is the one where they may say they are single parents living without a partner there but they do have a partner and still claim benefits.
katch22
says...
10:49pm Wed 22 Feb 12
Nebs wrote:No we have to go the whole hog or people might think we have a decent human bone in our bodies and we cant have that.
katch22 wrote:Your suggestion is a bit extreme. Just the fact that they don't pay their rent would be sufficient.
Nebs wrote:Yes a whole file on them! Their health, life style. sexual preferences etc etc. Lets have a big brother society.
Max 269 wrote:They know that they can live rent free until the landlord spends a fortune to evict them. They just see the rent money as extra pocket money. There should be a council database of such tenants for landlords to search.
How about looking at those Housing Benefit tenants who receive their Benefits however fail to forward the rent money to the landlord. That should be treated as theft and they should be made to pay the benefit back.
Nebs
says...
8:15am Thu 23 Feb 12
katch22 wrote:Decent humans don't steal benefit money that could be used to help someone less fortunate.
Nebs wrote:No we have to go the whole hog or people might think we have a decent human bone in our bodies and we cant have that.
katch22 wrote:Your suggestion is a bit extreme. Just the fact that they don't pay their rent would be sufficient.
Nebs wrote:Yes a whole file on them! Their health, life style. sexual preferences etc etc. Lets have a big brother society.
Max 269 wrote:They know that they can live rent free until the landlord spends a fortune to evict them. They just see the rent money as extra pocket money. There should be a council database of such tenants for landlords to search.
How about looking at those Housing Benefit tenants who receive their Benefits however fail to forward the rent money to the landlord. That should be treated as theft and they should be made to pay the benefit back.
Bosniavet
says...
4:21pm Thu 23 Feb 12
katch22 wrote:So, let me get this right, you believe that it is acceptable for people to claim housing benefit in order to pay their rent, & then retain the money for their own use, thus living rent-free (until such time as their landlord pays the costs to have them evicted)? Further, you are of the belief that it is wrong for a public record of these people to be kept so that landlords (both public & private sector) can confirm that potential tenants are not known non-payers?
Nebs wrote:No we have to go the whole hog or people might think we have a decent human bone in our bodies and we cant have that.katch22 wrote:Your suggestion is a bit extreme. Just the fact that they don't pay their rent would be sufficient.Nebs wrote:Yes a whole file on them! Their health, life style. sexual preferences etc etc. Lets have a big brother society.Max 269 wrote: How about looking at those Housing Benefit tenants who receive their Benefits however fail to forward the rent money to the landlord. That should be treated as theft and they should be made to pay the benefit back.They know that they can live rent free until the landlord spends a fortune to evict them. They just see the rent money as extra pocket money. There should be a council database of such tenants for landlords to search.
I take it that you believe no criminal records should be kept, & nobody should undergo background checks regardless of the reason? What about the databases kept by financial institutions, or the database that proves a vehicle is taxed & insured?
The idea of being able to carry out a check of potential tenants to ensure they do not have a record of non-payment seems a good one to me. This database would require no more information than name(s) & date of birth, no other details would have to be recordred, other than those of outstanding rents.
katch22
says...
1:27pm Fri 24 Feb 12
Nebs wrote:it could be said decent people don't steal money full stop or anything for that matter. Or indeed dont doing anything criminal or unethical or immoral! But if thats the case there are only a small minority of decent people in this country and not many among MPs
katch22 wrote:Decent humans don't steal benefit money that could be used to help someone less fortunate.
Nebs wrote:No we have to go the whole hog or people might think we have a decent human bone in our bodies and we cant have that.
katch22 wrote:Your suggestion is a bit extreme. Just the fact that they don't pay their rent would be sufficient.
Nebs wrote:Yes a whole file on them! Their health, life style. sexual preferences etc etc. Lets have a big brother society.
Max 269 wrote:They know that they can live rent free until the landlord spends a fortune to evict them. They just see the rent money as extra pocket money. There should be a council database of such tenants for landlords to search.
How about looking at those Housing Benefit tenants who receive their Benefits however fail to forward the rent money to the landlord. That should be treated as theft and they should be made to pay the benefit back.
Max 269 says...
12:42pm Wed 22 Feb 12