Landlords property being repossed

[loststryk]

Hi All,

 

I'd appreciate any help that you can offer, last september (2010) we recieved a letter from the nationwide to say they were applying to my local court to take possesion of the property, after a lot of frantic calls and visits to the letting agents, we were told the landlord had come to an agreement and that our tenacy was safe.

 

our 12 month contract came to end in october, so after feeling uneasy about signing another 12 month contract we decided to stick to a rolling month by month contract.

 

Yesterday we recieved another letter from the nationwide giving us notice under section 2(4) of the mortgage repossesion (protection of tenants) act 2010 and telling us they are asking for a court to give the nationwide an eviction date for us

 

we have somewhere else to move to that my partner has been looking into (so hopefully we can move all our belongings), but i'm unsure what rights and recourse we have, as our rent is due in 2 days time, do we pay that ? is my landlord in breach of contract ? do i have any rights to claim anything against him ? i'm really lost and would appreciate any help.

 

Kind regards

 

Simon

[rebel11]

Hi lost

 

Welcome to CAG

The guys will advise as soon as they are available.

 

Heres some relevant information:- http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/eviction/repossession_by_a_landlords_lender

[loststryk]

Thanks for the reply rebel, time is running short so appreciate any help the guys can offer here.

 

Regards

 

Simon

[raydetinu]

try contacting shelter they are well up on these sort of things.

[CRH71]

When I was in this self-same scenario just last September, I paid my rent two-weekly in advance. It annoyed my LL, but covered me a bit because his mortgage co were champing at the bit to repossess.

 

As you're under the "new rules" (I got just 2 weeks notice....) it sounds to me as though you're being given proper notice (2 months) before you're evicted.

 

Personally, I'd NOT pay the rent, but keep it to one side. When you are evicted (which will happen) then work out how many weeks you are actually eligible to pay, less the deposit (you won't see that again from the LL) and pay that amount.

 

You'll most likely now find that your LL will become "uncontactable" - mine did, and still is.

 

Do you have dependants (children)? If so, get onto your local council and tell them you are "threatened with homelessness" - also, as advised, contact Shelter - their website has a wealth of useful information on this very subject.

 

Act quickly, to cover yourselves, please. This is not a pleasant, or stress-free situation to be in, especially not if you're the innocent tenants in the middle of all the wrangling. I speak from bitter experience.

[Ed999]

Yesterday we recieved another letter from the nationwide giving us notice under section 2(4) of the mortgage repossesion (protection of tenants) act 2010 and telling us they are asking for a court to give the nationwide an eviction date for us

 

we have somewhere else to move to that my partner has been looking into (so hopefully we can move all our belongings), but i'm unsure what rights and recourse we have, as our rent is due in 2 days time, do we pay that ? is my landlord in breach of contract ? do i have any rights to claim anything against him ?

 

 

Regardless of whether the letting to you is authorised by the mortgage lender, you will normally have no right to remain in the property if the mortgagee is now in possession.

 

An authorised letting, signed by the landlord and approved by the lender, is normally granted subject to an express provision in the tenancy agreement to the effect that you agree to move out immediately upon receiving a request to that effect by the lender. An unauthorised letting, i.e. one which the mortgage lender is not aware of, is simply not binding on it, at least if the tenancy was created after the mortgage was granted.

 

If the letting is authorised by the lender, and you agreed to the inclusion in the tenancy agreement of the terms I've mentioned, then the landlord is not in breach of contract (unless the agreement expressly says he must not allow the mortgage to get into arrears - but I've never seen such a condition in reality).

 

Otherwise, the landlord might be in breach of contract; but if he is in so much financial trouble that he is being repossessed, then realistically there seems little chance of you recovering any compensation in practice that you might be awarded.

 

 

For example, if the landlord, as borrower, had ceased to have a present right to possession before the tenancy was first granted, then he had no power let the premises. In that case, any tenants who were let into occupation would be trespassers, and a court order could be granted to the mortgage lender by the court to evict them as trespassers.

 

 

Yet if you have a rolling monthly tenancy, then you have agreed to the landlord evicting you on 2 months notice. As the mortgage lender nowadays has to give you that much notice too, under section 2(4) of the Mortgage Repossesion (Protection of Tenants) Act 2010, it's difficult to see how you have any claim for breach of contract.

Edited April 23, 2011 by Ed999