Landlord no permission to let property

[slick132]

I'm confused. In your 1st post, you said "I moved into rented property in early January on a 6 month tenancy."

 

It really doesn't mater that you were told anything, either by the agent or anyone else, that the ppty was being put on the market.

 

You need a new place to live and you're unlikely to get any refund other than the deposit.

 

[VanessaK]

Yes I moved into property in January on a standard AST 6 month tenancy, to then roll on a month to month basis.

I was assured however that the let would be long term and that the landlords had no intention of selling.

I had to pay 6 months rent upfront and an agreement to pay on a month to month basis thereafter.

 

It turns out that I was deceived and the tenancy is unlawful as the landlords do not have legal consent to let the property.

I have had no enjoyment of the property due to debt collectors and other matters, which has completely undermined any sense of stability and security and caused me various damages. 

 

They had no right to take my money (over £5000).

I will need that money back in order to move into another property and my security deposit would not be repaid until after I have moved out, but the problem is I cannot move out as they have taken all of my money.

[slick132]

Sorry VK, of course you've paid up until the end of June.

 

Apart from that, there's little to add.

 

You refer to "I have had no enjoyment of the property" and "..... completely undermined any sense of stability and security and caused me various damages" but I see no cause of action in terms of a claim against either the agent or the LL for reasons mentioned previously in the thread.

 

If you don't move out at the end of June, the reality is that rightly or wrongly, they'll take the deposit as unpaid rent.

 

 

[VanessaK]

I'm confused. What reasons would they be? 

 

Can anyone actually offer any useful advice.

I'm not a money tree and don't have thousands of pounds sat around ready to move home at any given time.

 

I find it a bit crazy anybody suggesting that I am not entitled to a refund of my money.

And I can assure you I am entitled to a hell of a lot more damages on top

[AndyOrch]

I think you have already been offered plenty of useful advice VanessaK ...to get your deposit back you must go through the process of giving notice and paying any rents due up until the day of vacation...

 

As for this Notice of Eviction come back when you actually receive it.

 

https://www.gov.uk/private-renting-evictions/eviction-notices

 

https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection

[VanessaK]

Hi Andy,

 

When you say "notice of eviction" are you referring to the threat of eviction by the mortgage lender?

 

From what I understand and what is stated in the letter received is that no tenancy agreement is recognised, as the landlords do not have consent from the lender and as they are in serious breach of the mortgage terms, unless they can prove they are residing at the property themselves, the lender has a right to demand full repayment of the mortgage and intend to apply to evict any occupier.

 

Under those circumstances I do not believe I would be receive any notice of such an eviction and have read online of similar circumstances with a tenant where bailiffs arrive without notice giving 30 minutes to leave the property.  

 

As for the notice to vacate from the landlords/letting agent, I have been told in an email and over the phone by the letting agent that I will be receiving this notice in the post in due course/next week. 

 

I am currently trying to negotiate with the letting agent a refund of money and early termination of the tenancy, so that I can move out as quickly as possible.  

 

The letting agent returned my call from last week this morning and amongst other things, threatened me that I will be hearing from their legal team. For what reason I do not know.

 

Since the call, I have sent an email stating that her previous email is not an accurate reflection of our conversation, making reference to our telephone conversation this morning including her threat of legal action against me

 

and again asking for a refund of the 6 months advance rent paid due to the landlords breach of tenancy agreement and to enable me to move out of the property as quickly as possible.

 

I included my bank details and also stated that any attempt to deduct from my security deposit will be challenged. 

[AndyOrch]

No ...a section 21 from the Landlord or its agents.....a Mortgage company cant issue a section 21 notice on a tenant...you are not their tenant.

Only the Landlord or the Letting Agency can give you notice of eviction.

 

The mortgage company can repossess the property from the Landlord...but if they did it would probably be the first ever case in history for breaching the terms of his mortgage and not getting permission to sublet...which he could rectify with a 5 min phone call and request.

[VanessaK]

That's almost word for word exactly what I said to the letting agent.

 

On a subsequent phone conversation she said she had spoken to the landlords and implied that they had requested consent from the lender, but that the lender had refused. I

 

do not know what has, or hasn't been done but the letter from mortgage lender does state that there is no consent to let and if the landlords do not prove they are residing at property the lender can apply to evict the occupant/s.

I was then told that the landlords now intend to sell and I will be receiving notice from them to vacate.

 

There are other things I would like to sue them for too and feel quite intimidated by the threat made by letting agent today that I will be hearing from their legal team.

 

I am so upset and fuming.

 

 

 

 

[45002]

The only time a Lender can apply to evict a tenant is If the Lender has Repossessed the Property you live in !

 

Only the courts can rule if your AST is invalid and not a Lender, LL/LA.

 

So you still have to pay rent and only the LL/LA can serve a s21 notice on you, The Tenant.

 

If and when you receive a s21 notice from LL/LA.

 

You will need to seek legal advice ASAP from CAB, Shelter, Solicitors or Local law center, taking the notice, tenancy agreement, any relevant paperwork, they will be able to advise you on best way forward and ask them if you can take legal action against the LL/LA for compensation, stress and so on.

 

IMHO, At this moment in time I dont think you have a "Cat in Hell's Chance" of getting your 6 months rent back off the LL/LA.

 

There is only so much people can advise you on CAG.

 

......

 

....

[VanessaK]

Oh I think I can.

 

I didn't come on here asking for rude comments.

 

With all due respect, you are not living this situation yourself, nor are you party to all of the facts.

I do not need negative, unhelpful comments.

[dx100uk]

that's what forums are for....differing opinions..but no-one can give the correct advice when we appear to be fed not all the facts...……….

 

dx

 

[slick132]

Hi VK,

 

I can only speak for myself when I say I have no intention to be rude, negative or unhelpful.

 

I've simply read what you've written and replied with honest opinion. You may not like my opinion but that doesn't make it wrong.

 

In any event, I hope you get this sorted but I'll refrain from commenting further. 

[unclebulgaria67]

When you are in a nightmare situation, look at all options to get out of it. Which you may have done, but no harm in looking again.

 

What are your options ?

 

If you have to move out at the end of June and there will be a slight delay in getting your deposit back, do you have friend/relatives who can help house you for a few weeks ? Is this possible with Coronavirus measures ? Not at the moment ?

 

Given Coronavirus, have you checked with local Council Authority, as I thought Government had introduced measures to help with evictions and housing issues in general. Would the Council help fund temporary accommodation, if there was no other option and you qualified for this ?  

 

 

[VanessaK]

Some other issues since moving into the property include:

 

The property is surrounded by CCTV, which is one of the reasons I decided to go ahead. I was initially told by letting agent that as soon as I move in and am connected to broadband, she would simply give me the password to connect to the CCTV.

 

After moving in I was then told that the CCTV was disconnected and in order for me to use it I would have to have a moniter connected up in the loft, access to the CCTV could only be obtained by going up into loft (which I am unable to do) and to pay for my own electrician & moniter to set it up.

 

Although stating it was completely disconnected, there are red lights flashing on the cameras, which has made me feel paranoid that I am being recorded with remote viewing by the landlords (hopefully far-fetched & unlikely, but it DOES happen and has made me feel very uncomfortable). I havent been able to get an independent electrician to look at this due to cost and lockdown.

 

 An electrical wire hanging down broken from above electricity pylon, draped across the driveway.

I was told by the letting agent when I viewed the property that the wire was not live.

 

 Was unable to get connected to landline and broadband for about 6 weeks after moving in, as the main line had been completely severed and had to have an entire new line installed to the pylons. This took hours of phone calls to arrange, 6 weeks loss of internet use and various other expenses.

 

The landlords had a large commercial waste wheelie bin outside full of rubbish when I moved in. I was told by the letting agent on moving day that this should have already been removed and assured it would be removed shortly. I had to spend a few hours making phone calls myself to get the waste removed, which took a few weeks.

 

The landlords left various items of furniture & items in the garage and again, I was told when I collected the keys that this should have already been removed and the letting stated that this included a beer fridge in the garage and I am welcome to use it. The items take up most of the garage space and the "beer fridge" is filthy, broken, rusty and there is no electricity supply to the garage. 

There is a smashed window on the garage with sharp edges.

 

 There are wooden gate to the front of property in extremely poor condition, on their last legs and partly broken. Have been unable to open & close them as too heavy & have to be lifted to close as they have dropped. Physically unable to do so. Gates were damaged during storms & I paid to fix, but were damaged again in further storms due to poor condition.

 

The garden had not been well maintained and the gravel driveway covered in weeds, twigs, branches, pieces of rubbish, nails, old bits of electrical wire, a wooden pallet and damage to outdoor security lights.

 

Outdoor security lights not working.

 

 There is a double oven at the property and was only told on moving day that one oven doesn't work, but was told "you only need one" and after moving in found that some of the hobs dont work either.

 No hot water in the kitchen.

 

 The toilet would not flush on the day I moved in and when attempted it immediately flooded the en-suite floor. There was also evidence of previous flood through stains on the kitchen ceiling. There was also no hot water/heating and very weak water supply. This was whilst removals were still moving my furniture in.

 

I called the agent and she told me I would have to wait a few days. I told her I could not be without heating/hot water for a few days as had just moved, was recovering from pnemonia and was the middle of winter. I asked permission to arrange my own emergency plumber and she refused, stating that unless I wanted to pay for it myself she would have to arrange for me. She then turned up at the property without notice and attempted to fix herself.

 

She then told me a convenient time would be arranged with me over the phone for a plumber to attend later that day, however plumbers just turned up without notice and were banging on door. It could not have been a more inconvenient time and they (2 men) were angry that I didn't answer the door immediately and continued knocking extremely loudly.

 

On answering the door, the 2 men entered and 1 was particularly aggressive & angry, stating that he had been to this property before and had to spend hours in the loft for a leak and was never paid. He refused to look at the problem unless I guaranteed payment to him & was demanding money from me. I told the agent about this and she did nothing to rectify. Didnt feel able to contact her after this. 

 

 Within weeks of moving in I had an aggressive debt collector who broke through the side gate and was banging aggressively on doors/windows & demanding I opened door. I was completely terrorised, he refused to leave & threatened that he would be returning with a warrant to force entry for a pre-payment meter.

 

This was for a large unpaid electricity for the landlord and a notice was put through my door addressed to occupier. Thesmart meter is faulty and I am also now being chased for ridiculous amount of electricity debt as landlords failed to recify before I moved in. I have had to spend hours of time on the phone about this and letting agent has done nothing to rectify.

 

 There is a heated towel rail in en-suite which has been scalding hot since moving in and there is no way to switch it off.

 The heating for property is modern thermal heating and is completely insufficient and have been unable to heat the house sufficiently throughout winter.

 

Broken toilet seat which I have tried to fix myself and very annoying.

 Main bathroom shower doesn't work and letting agent failed to fix, telling me "well you have an electric one upstairs" (which has barely any water pressure).

 Blocked sewage/drain problem.

 

It feels as though the landlord/agent has a "couldn't care less" attitude and has just left all of these things for me to deal with. I am concerned they may attempt to blame some of these things on me and deduct from my security deposit.

 

The inventory was done via video which was given to me on a disc. I have not been able to view the disc as I don't have a disc drive, but this video was shown to me in letting agent office when I collected keys and I was asked to sign to say I agree. I was happy to do so at the time, but many of these things were not known until after moving in.

 

Just wondering if I should I put any of this in writing to the agent now, or wait until after I have moved? 

 

 

 

[BazzaS]

I'd normally answer in detail, but with so many different issues, and your previous responses, am concerned that I'll put in loads of effort, and then, if in any part if I don't tell you what you want to hear, I'll be told that I'm being rude, negative, or unhelpful, or that I don't know all the facts.

 

If a respondent doesn't know all the facts, that likely reflects that they haven't been given all the facts (and only you have them to give), but your previous response(s) suggest you won't be happy with that, or happy to hear advice that doesn't fit your wishes / expectations.

 

As such, I can only advise:

a) go elsewhere, pay for professional advice, and then you can guide them what style of response you want, or

b) continue to use 'self-help', but you'll have to help people help you, and not 'drive away' those who might consider helping you free, gratis, and at no charge for their efforts.

[VanessaK]

Bazza,

 

Judging by your very personal attack, I would suggest you are the one who might need professional help. You have clearly built quite a picture of assumptions and judgment in your head. Maybe because i'm a woman. Who knows. In any event your comments are unhelpful and quite insulting.

Edited May 6, 2020 by VanessaK

[BazzaS]

I can only reply based on what I’ve seen.

It is certainly a response based on your posts, but you seem to take any feedback or response that doesn’t 100% agree with you as a ‘personal attack’.

 

I fear this may limit the effort people may put into helping you.

I feel obliged to raise this, not as a personal attack, but in case it helps you decide where and how you wish to ‘help yourself to be helped’.

 

Since this is likely to fall on deaf ears (unless you get a friend to review this thread and point out that that is 2 contributors who have given up, and potentially many more you've discouraged), I’ll now join Slick with wishing you the best, and moving on to where my efforts might offer a greater return.

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by BazzaS

[VanessaK]

Bazza,

 

Your comments are very much a personal attack and I suspect for reasons only known to yourself, you are trying to discredit my thread. Maybe you woke up on the wrong side on the bed this morning. I respectfully suggest some professional counselling might help you. 

 

I am right and you are wrong. If somebody gives poor, incorrect advice then I will respond to that and if you don't like your own medicine, then that is your problem. If you don't have anything constructive to add, or do not agree with a thread, then there is no point in commenting on it. 

 

If anything, you are the one discouraging contributors from the thread. My post could be helpful to other people and you are also discouraging me from continuing to contribute and potentially "driving away" support of this site. 

 

As for moving on, yes I suggest you do.

[hightail]

On 04/05/2020 at 20:53, VanessaK said:

With all due respect, you are not living this situation yourself, nor are you party to all of the facts.

You admit yourself you didn't give people the tools to do a decent job for you.  Advisors on here need all the information to give sensible advice.  It's extremely unfair to lash out at those who tried to help if you aren't prepared to be helped.

[VanessaK]

Hightail,

 

I'm not the one lashing out and clearly you've jumped on the bandwagon so to speak. I did not "admit" not giving all of the facts. You have misunderstood. I have provided plenty enough info and facts and some of the advice has been helpful. Sadly not others. Bye

[VanessaK]

Could anyone possibly answer my question from post no.39, whether I should put any of this about the various other issues to the letting agent now, or wait until after have moved out? 

 

Apologies if silly question but struggling to think straight as haven't slept properly for a while. Would appreciate, thank you.

Edited May 6, 2020 by VanessaK

[VanessaK]

Hello?

[dx100uk]

[VanessaK]

Hello dx,

 

So should I put the other issues in writing to agent?

[mmfhater]

With so many problems it sounds like you need professional help 

You need to contact shelter , the council housing team for private rented or speak to a solicitor