Paying rent to passed landlords account or executors account?

[WhyBother]

Hi,

 

My landlord passed away some time back and although I could get no contact details about the executor I was told to keep paying into the bank account of my deceased landlord. My neighbour in an adjoining flat was told the same. So we have been doing this for over a year, while at the same time unable to get any verification on the name or address of the executor apart from a daughters first name. We both feel this lack of contact was so that no upkeep had to be done on the properties (has been a long time since the last gas check).

 

Today myself and the neighbour received a section 48 notice each, advising us that our landlord is now (a named man) who is executor of the estate. An address was provided as the landlord on this notice.

 

My notice said nothing else. My neighbours though had the date of her contract start date stated (12 month contract, started 3 years ago) and also details of the bank account to now send the rent too.

 

Up until now every letter we got since my landlords death had been identical in every way. We both received court papers for eviction around the same time (still here as they filled out the court forms wrong). Everything has been the same except these letters.

 

I was always concerned that there was something not 'right' about the bank account my rent money goes into (long story I won't repeat here). Now with my rent going into the account of a dead person and someone in the same building paying their rent into the executors account, I want to ask is this normal and legal?

 

The whole situation considering the attempted eviction and now this has left me unnerved. I have a feeling the section 48 is so they can remove us cheaper than through the courts as the executor can just claim rent arrears, which they tried originally and failed as there were no arrears.

 

At the same time I do not want to pay into a bank account if there is something fishy going on.

 

Thanks for bearing with me while I got to the actual questions!

[WhyBother]

Forgot to point out that up until now I believe myself and the neighbour have both been paying into the landlords old account. Hence why it seems strange she has been told to pay into another account under the executors name now and I have not.

[Steve__M]

There could be a good honest explanation (slow to deal with issues, incompetent admin).

 

You could opt to send payment by cheque to the executor with a covering letter to request details of bank account. It could be that the executor is a little bit in denial and needs a push.

 

Note that it is not abnormal for estates to take years to be wound up, and there may be family disputes as to how and what to do with things.

[WhyBother]

Good to know there could be honest reasons but with the dishonest things the last executor (who is related and on good terms with the current executor) has done, fake repossession documents sent to us, falsely claiming arrears, saying the bank now owns the property and other lies, along with knowing my old landlords murky past, I am hesitant to take everything at face value.

 

It has been 2 years now since my landlord died. Despite repeated attempts to get an address or contact for the executor, this has been the first time one has been provided.

 

Unfortunately I am in the position where I am not working and cannot be considered homeless unless evicted through a court. I am happy to leave this place and the executor(s?) wants us gone so they can sell the place, yet we are stuck in this loop due to the council policies on homelessness. At the same time not many other landlords want to take on not-working tenants as....they are hard to get rid of. Its a vicious circle where everyone is unhappy.

[mariner51]

I think we need to know date T commenced and fixed term, rent & property status at time of LLs death and a timeline since then for problems assoc with all Executots.

 

Unless new owner (executor) has provided you with new bank account details for rent, then the best account for your own protection is prob the deceased LL account

[WhyBother]

Thanks once again for the replies.

 

I will add collating that info to my list of tasks but it could take some time.

 

If paying into the deceased LL account covers me, that is good to know. Even though my previous landlord requested the money be paid into that account years ago, he mentioned something about there being a mistake some months after with an initial and the money was going into a brothers account. Not something I really took notice of at the time but now thinking about everything together...

[WhyBother]

Both myself and the neighbour received a section 21 eviction notice today. Different dates for moving out though which we think is based on our rent payment dates.

[mariner51]

s21 is NOT an eviction Notice nor is it a NTQ, just notice that LL (executor) may apply for a Court repo Order at some tme after it's expiry date IF valid!

In addition to my earlier Qs, did you pay a deposit at start of T? If Yes, when was it protected in an approved scheme and what paperwork did LL provide re scheme? What is the PRECISE wording used for the expiry date of s21?

 

So please supply requested info if you want further help as I normally use a dentist for teeth extractions.

[WhyBother]

Sorry, I should have made it clear that no help was needed in relation to the section 21 and the process after. I had just posted it as update without thinking too much about how it was seen or interpreted. Sorry it frustrated you. I am not good at supplying info in general(or communication what I actually want to get across), which is part of the reason doctors and specialists have only just worked out to send me for aspergers testing along with a diagnosis of adhd primarily inattentive, at almost 40 years of age. So please trust me when I say it is not intentional.

 

Tramadol for back pain today has not helped either. Can I blame that for calling the s21 an eviction notice?

 

The deposit was made before the protection scheme by a third party who is not worried about getting the deposit back. The idea was that I could use the deposit when I moved on but I think it would be easier to get blood out of stone than get this back now. The previous executor made false claims about arrears before so I can see them doing the same so they do not have to pay the deposit back.

 

I have been unable to get the answers to the other questions you asked yet. So please take this reply/thread as information and not requiring any help or attention. If I can get everything together I shall post again and bump this thread.

 

Many thanks once again for your time!