Help with benifit fraud claim.

Black Lion · (#1 (**permalink**))

Right... a friend of mine has been having trouble with her neighbors, they're drumming up false complaints about her and her child attempting to get her evicted or harass her out of the property, seems that they own theirs and are snooty about who they have as neighbors, going by what shes saying its damn out of order.

Claims are;

That she is making too much noise, slamming the door of her property which is directly above theirs also, 'switching things on and off noisily' - The council have fitted a noise detector as to these complaints.

That she is living with her boyfriend and is also working - She works as a freelance hairdresser, gets jobs when she can but has recently printed off her own fliers in an attempt to get more clients, not sure how this will look although I'm sure you have to be proved to be earning a certain amount before they can call a person on that one. Says she has her boyfriend round but that he dosen't stay or pay rent.

They also claim that she abuses her son saying that they hear him screaming and so on, worry that they'll bring about that new non sense about it not being legal to slap your child on that one.

All in all they've brought up a whole heap of complaints about her, some are ridiculous which should make it obvious that harassment and not a genuine complaint, said that she turns her light switch on and off loudly. To be honest I didn't take her seriously but they're bringing her in front of a panel. The people complaining are an elderly caucasian couple and have also racially abused her, called her a n***** bitch or something thereof.

Was wondering if anyone knows about this type of thing and can advice on what she should do, this is Enfield north london btw, the panel will more than likely be an elderly white one, you don't get much worse than enfield as far as councils go.

My parents both work for Harringay but I thought I'd ask on here in case they're not sure what to do.

Any advice?

Thanks
B.L

Melissa · (#2 (**permalink**))

BL

My mother has been through a similar case, although the complainants were also black, the complaints were almost identical, she was even threatened with an asbo!

Noise - slamming doors, kids, music, shouting..

Claims that me and my kids were living there and claims that people were frequenting my mothers property at all times of the night.

My mother even had the police at her door at 1am claiming that she had been having an all night party!

Mediators were called in. But the neighbours below refused to meet with us to discuss the problem. It went back to the council where our case was to disprove, or give credible explanations for everything they accused my mother of.

The crux of the case was the fact that my mother shouldn't have anyone co-habiting or staying long-term, but the council refuted this, saying she can have anyone staying with her whenever she felt like it. Also, i provided proof of my address and proof that my children were registered at my address not my mothers just for good measure.

Also some of the noise was actually coming from the flat above my mothers. and the Noise patrolhad been monitoring and said that the noise from my mothers was in no way excessive. My mother is almost 60 and registered disabled but not deaf, so her music could never be THAT loud.

In the end my mother counter-claimed for harrassement, as the lady below would bang on her ceiling whenever she felt it was too noisy, and the daughter would knock on my mothers door complaining her TV was too loud, or she was playing her music too loud ( although she only did this when she was sure my mother was alone!). They also confronted my mother once when she was coming back from shopping, they were with two other people, adults old enough to know better. My eldest son was with mum, these people started shouting at them, an old lady and a child, calling them animals and savages and all sorts! As the case with the council was pending I had to be restrained when i found out, but it added weight as my mother said because of this she was afraid to go out and felt like a prisoner in her own home.

The council threw out their complaint, I 'm not sure if they took any action against them. So far my mother hasn't had any further problems.

Also - the family below had been moved around the estate 3 times after complaining about noise from neighbours above, including a baby crying at night!? I wonder why they are allowed to get away with wasting everyone's time!?

Your friend needs to provide explainations for the complaints or proof that they are false. With regards to the hairdressing, she may get herself into trouble for using the property to run a business, no matter how much she is making. I'd ask her to try to cover this up as much as she possibly can.

I doubt they will do anything about the child, Im sure they need more evidence about child abuse than a child screaming, kids scream all the time! Without evidence from doctors or complaints from the school this should get ignored.

The light switch thing is ridiculous!

Hope any of this helps.

Black Lion · (#3 (**permalink**))

Quote:

In the end my mother counter-claimed for harrassement, as the lady below would bang on her ceiling whenever she felt it was too noisy, and the daughter would knock on my mothers door complaining her TV was too loud, or she was playing her music too loud ( although she only did this when she was sure my mother was alone!). They also confronted my mother once when she was coming back from shopping, they were with two other people, adults old enough to know better. My eldest son was with mum, these people started shouting at them, an old lady and a child, calling them animals and savages and all sorts! As the case with the council was pending I had to be restrained when i found out, but it added weight as my mother said because of this she was afraid to go out and felt like a prisoner in her own home.

The council threw out their complaint, I 'm not sure if they took any action against them. So far my mother hasn't had any further problems.

Also - the family below had been moved around the estate 3 times after complaining about noise from neighbours above, including a baby crying at night!? I wonder why they are allowed to get away with wasting everyone's time!?

Don't get it myself, how people can make such absurd claims and waste peoples time like that is beyond me... didn't even take it seriously while my friend was going on about it, got vex when I heard that they're bringing her in front of a panel. If it was me now or if I was dating her I'd need more than restraining trust I'd have some very diffrent ideas going through my mind about how to deal with people like that, save the council some time and money, show them what the word harassment means. .lol.

You said your parents counter claimed? What happened after that?

Enfield council are a really nasty bunch when they want to be, worried they might even take sides especially now the area has gone to the Tories. I mean they visited our neighbor at home and advised her to complain about our conservatory (excuse the pun) so now we have to take it down.

COLTRANE · (#4 (**permalink**))

I once shopped my Ghanian neighbor for the never ending fish smell

she didnt know but saw some changes afterwards till i moved out the area

Yes i also cant stand noise after 23 hrs y unless i am told in advance that there will be a party otherwise i would just report the shit to the authorities

MarcusGarveyLives · (#5 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Lion

... Any advice?

Thanks
B.L

Find a solicitor.

LoveAll · (#6 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Lion

Right... a friend of mine has been having trouble with her neighbors, they're drumming up false complaints about her and her child attempting to get her evicted or harass her out of the property, seems that they own theirs and are snooty about who they have as neighbors, going by what shes saying its damn out of order.

Claims are;

That she is making too much noise, slamming the door of her property which is directly above theirs also, 'switching things on and off noisily' - The council have fitted a noise detector as to these complaints.

That she is living with her boyfriend and is also working - She works as a freelance hairdresser, gets jobs when she can but has recently printed off her own fliers in an attempt to get more clients, not sure how this will look although I'm sure you have to be proved to be earning a certain amount before they can call a person on that one. Says she has her boyfriend round but that he dosen't stay or pay rent.

They also claim that she abuses her son saying that they hear him screaming and so on, worry that they'll bring about that new non sense about it not being legal to slap your child on that one.

All in all they've brought up a whole heap of complaints about her, some are ridiculous which should make it obvious that harassment and not a genuine complaint, said that she turns her light switch on and off loudly. To be honest I didn't take her seriously but they're bringing her in front of a panel. The people complaining are an elderly caucasian couple and have also racially abused her, called her a n***** bitch or something thereof.

Was wondering if anyone knows about this type of thing and can advice on what she should do, this is Enfield north london btw, the panel will more than likely be an elderly white one, you don't get much worse than enfield as far as councils go.

My parents both work for Harringay but I thought I'd ask on here in case they're not sure what to do.

Any advice?

Thanks
B.L

I used to work in estates management but now work in fraud.
The issue with the self employment and allegations of boyfriend living with your friend, concerns me the most.

If your friend is claiming benefit, the dwp and Housing benefit fraud investigation team do have the powers to gather her bank statements for evidence of money going in, carry out surveillance on her movements monitoring her business activities in otherwards they will dig up in her business to build up evidence to prove a criminal offence.

They will then interview her under caution, like in police station confronting her with their evidence.

Then there are issues of council tax single person allowance. So I suggest that she goes to the council benefit section to get advice on what she has to declare.

The issues concerning the neighbours . I suggest that she reacts in a cool but calculating manner.

She should find out who her local mp/councillor is and find out where their surgery is. Meet them or email them. In tears at the end of her tether.

It may be the acoustics in the property are bad therefore the council has to put in sound proofing. Tell her to try not to scream at her son too loud, social services do have better things to do, but will get involved if forced to.

She does need to also consult an advocate namely the local law centre.
Not every solicitor is respected in local authorities usually because of their lack of knowledge in specialised housing law and their clear waste of legal aid and their clients time.

However the local law centre is usually have a wide range of council experience.

Whoever your friend speaks to I advise she draws the race card last.
Because to draw if first , no one would hear the other issues.

Simply because she had to be seen to have made every reasonable effort to get along with her neighbours and resolve the problems, now if this has not worked and the neighbours are harassing her and her and her child do not have 'quiet enjoyment of their homes', She has to conclude that they are racist. They called racist her names and the council should check records to find out if previous neighbours were treated this way.

To involve the MP etc would have the council jumping up and down and they will do things properly.

But your friend must ensure that her house is in order and nothing that the neighbour says can be justified or proved.

Black Lion · (#7 (**permalink**))

Thanks.

Will pass on the info, doesn't really have much to do with me just that shes a struggling single parent and she doesn't know how to deal with it all.

MarcusGarveyLives · (#8 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Lion

... Any advice?

Thanks

B.L

Find a solicitor. There's a list of them in the Yellow Pages.