squatters rights

[richie_sarah]

hi we recently had a tennancy with a not so good letting agent ..........
i was just wonderin if anyone could give me sum addvice wot it is .... we rented the propperty and the rent was 600 a month now when we moved in the assured us that the full rent would have been paid by houseing bennifit after bein in the property nearly 4 months they then contacted us saying that they had only been gettin 550 and that we owed the short fall of 50 for the four months witch we started to pay back but stopped as we had repairs that they would not fix cud any1 tell me if when the tennancy runs out in the in 2 months as it was a 6 month tennancy and i squatted even tho the 550 rent was still being payed and not the short fall would this go in my favour and wot the letting agents have to do to get us out as we have 5 children and cant afford a deposite for another house and due to this rent arrears due to the short fall would we still get our deposit back from them ???

[redcrx]

they get you out easily enough, the shortfall would come from any deposit you gave.

the council may stick you in emergency housing such as a bedsit until such a time as they can rehouse you.

you may find it difficult to get private rental via housing benefit again.

squatting will not go in your favour

have you had this 'shortfall' confirmed by the benefits office? have they said why you hadnt been informed of the amounts they were paying?

[flip_flop]

Is this a wind up?

[amonty1144]

You may get a deposit from here.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-30 04.cfm

but most private landlords require a credit check and your rent arrears may show

[Motoxchick25]

You should check whether your deposit was paid into the Deposit protection scheme. These were introduced in 2007 to protect teants like yourself from letting agents like these. Contact your local CAB and they will talk you through them. If you are not protected then the letting agent has restrictions on eviction and you could be awarded up to 3 times your original deposit plus your deposit.