Post by nickd on Mar 5, 2011 23:37:05 GMT 1
In compiling posts about the effects the cuts are having on CAB and advice agencies, I came across this blog post from what a member of the public has to say of the CAB down in Dorset.
We believe in the right of free speech on Mylegal so it's only right Marcus James has his say, but equally we have a right to reply. Here's his post.....
Marcus James, Poole says...
5:20pm Thu 3 Feb 11
"The worst part of the CAB and all of these organisations such as Shelter that offer so called free legal advice is that actually tell and encourage the tenants to force their landlords to get them evicted to the cost of the landlord.
What Shelter and the CAB forget is that they are funded by the very people they are financially hurting, namely employers, shops and landlords for example.
I think that if people had to pay for proper legal advice rather than recieve free advice they may think twice about their actions and also their repsonses to what are normally resonable requests, i.e you have not paid your rent for 2 months, please pay it or move out.
The worst part of the CAB and all of these organisations such as Shelter that offer so called free legal advice is that actually tell and encourage the tenants to force their landlords to get them evicted to the cost of the landlord. What Shelter and the CAB forget is that they are funded by the very people they are financially hurting, namely employers, shops and landlords for example. I think that if people had to pay for proper legal advice rather than recieve free advice they may think twice about their actions and also their repsonses to what are normally resonable requests, i.e you have not paid your rent for 2 months, please pay it or move out. "
In reply......
It's a fair point you raise Marcus, you don't say whether you are a landlord or not so we're not entirely clear on why you raise these valid points.
I can't speak for all CAB/Shelter but we adopt a neutral line, we are both impartial organisations and therefore take neither the side of the tenant or landlord. The majority of clients we see are tenants, but equally we have advice for landlord's too. We try and promote good landlord/tenant relationships where-ever possible and will always advise a client to keep to the terms of their tenancy. Equally, where a landlord is in breach of their duties, we will point this out and advise our client accordingly.
As you know Poole is a fairly wealthy area, what with those lovely motor cruisers being made there and just accross the water is Sandbanks where homes are worth millions. I did some research on the area before posting this and note that there is a lack of affordable housing in both the owned and rented sectors. Unfortunately, it is often high rents which are the crux of these kind of problems and this leads to tenants defaulting on their rents. Many of our clients would dearly love to live in cheaper and more affordable properties if only they were available. This is often the type of problem which causes people to have to upsticks and move away from areas to places elsewhere; - often having to leave close family behind.
It is quite often the Local Authority who will tell a tenant to stay put until they get evicted, they won't regard them as 'homeless' unless they are served with an eviction order. It's our duty to advise our clients on their rights and as such we are in a position where we have no alternative other than to tell our clients they should stay where they are. The alternative would be to advise them to go on the streets, which isn't practical where a family is involved; the council would also use this against the tenant and say they forced the situation upon themselves by leaving the property prematurely. Some councils are better than others, some being very pro-active in helping tenants out before it gets as far as this.
It's not us who force the situation, we do what we are meant to do and advise people upon their rights. There are always two sides to every dispute, we stay in the middle and remain as we should - impartial. We leave the judgment side of it to the Courts. On a more pro-active side we do feed this back to councils and our national bodies - in the hope that they will address the real problem by the creation of affordable housing and a society which makes the paying of rent more achievable.
The current reforms to legal aid won't make this any better for landlords at all. Legal Aid will only be available to tenants once they are facing court action. The result will be that many people will have to wait for this to happen before they get help. This is likely to lead to longer delays for landlords in getting repossession as County Court judges are much more likely to allow the tenant extra time for the advisor to take the case on. I can't see how asking people who don't pay their rent to pay for their advice will make it any better for you - it just means you are likely to recover even less.
We believe in the right of free speech on Mylegal so it's only right Marcus James has his say, but equally we have a right to reply. Here's his post.....
Marcus James, Poole says...
5:20pm Thu 3 Feb 11
"The worst part of the CAB and all of these organisations such as Shelter that offer so called free legal advice is that actually tell and encourage the tenants to force their landlords to get them evicted to the cost of the landlord.
What Shelter and the CAB forget is that they are funded by the very people they are financially hurting, namely employers, shops and landlords for example.
I think that if people had to pay for proper legal advice rather than recieve free advice they may think twice about their actions and also their repsonses to what are normally resonable requests, i.e you have not paid your rent for 2 months, please pay it or move out.
The worst part of the CAB and all of these organisations such as Shelter that offer so called free legal advice is that actually tell and encourage the tenants to force their landlords to get them evicted to the cost of the landlord. What Shelter and the CAB forget is that they are funded by the very people they are financially hurting, namely employers, shops and landlords for example. I think that if people had to pay for proper legal advice rather than recieve free advice they may think twice about their actions and also their repsonses to what are normally resonable requests, i.e you have not paid your rent for 2 months, please pay it or move out. "
In reply......
It's a fair point you raise Marcus, you don't say whether you are a landlord or not so we're not entirely clear on why you raise these valid points.
I can't speak for all CAB/Shelter but we adopt a neutral line, we are both impartial organisations and therefore take neither the side of the tenant or landlord. The majority of clients we see are tenants, but equally we have advice for landlord's too. We try and promote good landlord/tenant relationships where-ever possible and will always advise a client to keep to the terms of their tenancy. Equally, where a landlord is in breach of their duties, we will point this out and advise our client accordingly.
As you know Poole is a fairly wealthy area, what with those lovely motor cruisers being made there and just accross the water is Sandbanks where homes are worth millions. I did some research on the area before posting this and note that there is a lack of affordable housing in both the owned and rented sectors. Unfortunately, it is often high rents which are the crux of these kind of problems and this leads to tenants defaulting on their rents. Many of our clients would dearly love to live in cheaper and more affordable properties if only they were available. This is often the type of problem which causes people to have to upsticks and move away from areas to places elsewhere; - often having to leave close family behind.
It is quite often the Local Authority who will tell a tenant to stay put until they get evicted, they won't regard them as 'homeless' unless they are served with an eviction order. It's our duty to advise our clients on their rights and as such we are in a position where we have no alternative other than to tell our clients they should stay where they are. The alternative would be to advise them to go on the streets, which isn't practical where a family is involved; the council would also use this against the tenant and say they forced the situation upon themselves by leaving the property prematurely. Some councils are better than others, some being very pro-active in helping tenants out before it gets as far as this.
It's not us who force the situation, we do what we are meant to do and advise people upon their rights. There are always two sides to every dispute, we stay in the middle and remain as we should - impartial. We leave the judgment side of it to the Courts. On a more pro-active side we do feed this back to councils and our national bodies - in the hope that they will address the real problem by the creation of affordable housing and a society which makes the paying of rent more achievable.
The current reforms to legal aid won't make this any better for landlords at all. Legal Aid will only be available to tenants once they are facing court action. The result will be that many people will have to wait for this to happen before they get help. This is likely to lead to longer delays for landlords in getting repossession as County Court judges are much more likely to allow the tenant extra time for the advisor to take the case on. I can't see how asking people who don't pay their rent to pay for their advice will make it any better for you - it just means you are likely to recover even less.