Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Miss X’s tenant failing to pay her rent for five months when the Council arranged the tenant’s temporary accommodation. We are unlikely to find fault with the Council’s response.

The complaint

1. Miss X is a landlord. Miss X says her tenant could not pay their rent to Miss X as they were paying for the Council’s temporary accommodation.
2. Miss X says her injustice is that she had to take out a loan to cover her mortgage repayments in the absence of rental income.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure,’ which we call ‘fault.’ We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice.’ We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council’s response to Miss X says it cannot assist her. It advises her of her legal remedy via the courts to deal with her not receiving rent.
6. We will not investigate. We are unlikely to find evidence of fault in the Council’s response. As the Council has advised Miss X, her tenant had a personal contractual liability to maintain rent payments to Miss X and Miss X can seek to enforce this via court.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault with the Council’s response.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman