A landlord says she is being hounded after a tenant fled without paying council tax.
Joanna McGuiness rents out several properties but one tenant left without paying her rent or any council tax to Kirklees Council.
Now she says the council is sending bailiffs to her own home to chase her for thousands of debt that isn’t hers.
Ms McGuiness said she’s had bailiffs knocking on her door to serve a bankruptcy petition against her while she’s at home with her two-year-old.
She said: “I had a tenant in a flat on Huddersfield Road in Ravensthorpe from September 2014 until the end of last year. In my properties I write to the council to tell them who is living there.
“He left owing me rent, then I discover he hasn’t paid council tax either.
“He hadn’t notified Kirklees he was living there, but I had. Whenever I got a letter from them I’d write back and say I’m not living there and give them the name of who is.
“Now they’re chasing me for payment for his council tax, they’re threatening to bankrupt me.
“I have a court date in September but I’ve had an enforcement officer knocking on my door at 7.13am one morning, 7.30am another and my neighbours said they’d come round three times one day.
“I can’t afford to pay someone else’s council tax, especially when I have been left in debt by him not paying rent.”
Ms McGuiness, of Birkenshaw, said she had paid £4,000 in council tax in January on properties she owned that were empty, which she is willing to do, but that it’s unfair to make her pay someone else’s council tax bill.
“They see me as an easy target. I heard they had written off millions in debt they can’t get. They’re not chasing him are they, just me.”
Ms McGuiness said she has some very good tenants, but the bad ones were allowed to get away without paying bills or rent.
“I declare all my income for tax purposes, so I’ve paid income tax on money that I then haven’t got.
“I had tenants in the past who got their rent paid by the council, but I never received it.
“There is no fairness in the system.”
The law states that a tenant is responsible for bills incurred on a property. Kirklees change its rules a few years ago so a landlord is liable for council tax if a property is empty.
A council spokesman said: “Under the council tax scheme landlords and owners of properties have to pay council tax when their properties do not have tenants.
“We have requested, but not received, evidence that the property had tenants during the period in question.
“The council has a set procedure for recovering unpaid council tax and have made many attempts to discuss the outstanding debt with the customer, and to make arrangements for it to be paid. Seeking bankruptcy to obtain the tax money is one of our final actions.
“If the council tax payer believes they are not liable for the debts, they have the right to take their case to an independent tribunal who will consider the position.
“We have advised the customer of this but received no notification of this being pursued.
“The council only writes off unpaid council tax when it is uneconomical to pursue; usually when the individual has not been traced, or they have passed away. It is in the public interest that we seek to recover as much unpaid council tax as possible.”
