HB overpayment has occurred for around £12,000. This is due to possible fraud. As HB paid to landlord (Housing Association), recovery made via deduction from HB paid to other tenants, and this has put rent account in arrear. Has anyone had any successful appeal as landlord since Commissioner's decision? I have all the usual arguments about unreasonableness, threat of eviction etc, but LA claims to have considered alternatives and therefore acted within the law. Any tactics welcomed.

If this a "blameless tenant" style recovery from the HB of other tenants, then surely this cannot lead to rent arrears or re-possession against the other tenants, because the rules strictly forbid this!

So far as the recovery targeting is concerned, I am not aware of any other helpful cases since the Tribunal of Commissioners case last year. The December 2003 DWP HB overpayment manual says the following:

"4.01 You may recover an overpayment from a landlord when the overpayment was paid directly to that landlord, ie the landlord received the payments. An LA, in exercising its choice of who to recover the overpayment from, must act reasonably and take into account all relevant factors."

4.03... It is unlawful to apply blanket policies such as always recovering from landlords...

4.05 For overpayments that occur due to a change in the claimant's, or their family's, circumstances, that are 'personal', it is less likely that a landlord could be expected to know that the direct payments they were receiving were in fact incorrect. Therefore it would be more prudent in these circumstances to recover from the claimant"

May be worth asking the local authority in how many cases in the last 6 months has it decided not to go after an available RSL? Could always mutter about a JR (or at the very least an ombudsman referral)if discretion is being fettered. A decision to pursue you is not reasonable, simply becasue it is more convenient.