Friend being evicted as owner not paid mortgage

[Dotgirl]

Please could somebody help me. My friend rents a property through a letting agency and pays his rent to them. He has just received a letter directly from RBS to say that he has to vacate the premises by 7th April as the owner has not paid mortgage and he is being ivicted as the house is being repossessed.

When he went to the letting agency and showed them the letter and explained that as he did not have another £1000 or whatever to put down as a deposit on another property , he would need to use the money that they already have on deposit for him, they told him that they would not be able to give him his deposit abck until they had inspected the property.

As it is not the letting agency who is eviciting him and it really has nothing to do with him could somebody please expalin what he can do. He is now facing the prospect of being homeless through no fault of his own. He also has his children overnight 4 nights of the week and has nowhere to take them now. He is in full time employemnt. Could he go to the council /housing association to ask for help? any help and advice wpuld be appreciated. A template letter would also help if applicable. Thank you all.

[Aviva]

Here is a link to the Shelter (England) page about this type of situation:

 

Shelter England - Repossession by a landlord's lender

 

He should definitely go to the Council to get some help and advice on what he can do. Some Councils will even lend people in need the money for a deposit.

 

Sorry can't help otherwise with the deposit situation but I'm sure someone else will be along soon with more advice.

[Dotgirl]

Thank you Aviva . I have passed this link on to my friend and also suggested he goes to the council. What an absolute nightmare position for anybody to be in! Any futher info or advise from anybody would be greatly appreciated.

[JimmySpangle]

A letter telling him he is evicted????? Er no. It doesn't work like that. He is a sitting tenant and whether RBS like it or not they will have to take him to court to evict. That will take around 2 months minimum, maybe a lot longer.

[NewSAHD]

We need more information, before we can comment.

 

As I understand it, in broad terms, the tenant could well be evicted on very short notice, certainly less than the more usual 2+ months.

 

It's shocking though how quickly a family could find themselves out on their ear - for no other reason than the landlord has not kept up on their mortgage payments, where the landlord has not advised the lender the property is let.

 

This, in itself, could be a standard question for prospective tenants to put to Landlords/Letting Agents in future ie "does the mortgage company know the property is sub-let?".

 

Also, to my mind, a sitting tenant is a reference to a old-style Rent Act tenancy (or even an Assured tenancy) and may not apply here, but it is worth double checking this all the same too.

 

Probably best that copy and paste from the shelter website:

"Is my tenancy binding on the landlord's lender?

 

In some circumstances, your tenancy may be binding on the landlord's lender. This means the lender will become your landlord after the repossession and will need a separate court order to evict you. Most tenancies are not binding on the lender, but there are exceptions. You may have a binding tenancy if:

 

• Your landlord had a buy-to-let mortgage (see above).
  
• The lender gave permission for the landlord to grant the tenancy.
  
• You were already living in the property at the time the mortgage was granted (eg as a sitting tenant or when the landlord took out a second mortgage). If you are unsure about when the landlord's mortgage started, ask your landlord, or get advice to find out whether the tenancy is binding. An adviser may be able to confirm this via the court, the lender, and/or by checking the Land Registry.
  
• The landlord's lender has recognised the tenancy in some way (eg by asking you to pay rent direct to them or by accepting rent from you). Most lenders will avoid doing this or will call the payment something other than 'rent'."
  

Where it says "see above" obviously will need to refer back to the shelter website.

 

Hope this helps and will welcome corrections if I am wrong.

Edited March 17, 2010 by NewSAHD
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