Cloch Housing Association is a ‘not for profit’ organisation and a registered charity. Most of our income comes from the rents of our tenanted properties. We also provide factoring services to owners who have a requirement as per deeds of conditions to coordinate common repairs and landscape maintenance to ensure that our properties and estates are maintained for the benefit of all - owners and tenants.
At present, the Association front funds the cost of works undertaken on behalf of owners by up to 9 months, e.g. costs incurred between September and March are invoiced in June, based on the property deeds of conditions. If owners’ accounts are not cleared within a suitable timeframe our tenants subsidise the outstanding debt. Therefore ensuring debts are fully recovered, in a timely manner, is an important aspect of our role as a factor.
Once your invoice is issued, you will have 28 days to settle the account or to make an acceptable payment arrangement.
Making an arrangement to pay
When calculating a suitable arrangement we will use the following criteria-:
All debts should be cleared before the next invoice is issued. For example:
• For the invoice received in June, for work undertaken within the previous billing period, this can be paid by 6 monthly direct debit installments to ensure the debt is cleared by the end of November, (before the December invoice is issued).
Failure to Settle Invoice
Should you fail to settle in full or make a repayment arrangement within 28 days, a statement and reminder letter will be issued giving you a further 14 days to make payment.
If, following the statement and reminder, the account is still not paid or no agreed payment arrangement is in place, your debt will be passed to our Solicitor, who will issue a letter confirming the debt will be pursued via legal action. This is the final letter before starting the legal process unless payment is made.
It is hoped that we will not be required to commence legal action, however in the event, this has to be pursued, this can lead to a Decree for payment being awarded. This Decree then allows us to use other avenues to collect payment such as earnings arrestment, bank account arrestment, attachment of assets, rent attachment (if you are letting out your property) and – in extreme cases – applying to have a person sequestrated (bankruptcy), depending on the level of debt.
If the debt is over £250 a Notice of Potential Liability will also be registered to protect the debt– this secures the debt against your property meaning that if you choose to sell your property in the future the debt must be settled as a condition of sale or a prospective new owner would have to agree to take on the debt before the sale could proceed.
Please note that all costs incurred in taking further action are due to be paid by the owner and these can amount to over £250.
It is essential, therefore, that you either clear your account in full within 28 days of billing or have an agreed arrangement in place, (e.g. Direct Debit).
For ways to pay, please refer to our “ways to pay” document on the website.