Computers2 mins ago
Feel Sick
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Just had a bailiff at the door looking for my landlord - apparently he has not been paying the mortgage on our house. Feel sick, I could cry!
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May be worth posting in the Law section
Repossession of tenanted property
what rights does a tenant who had been paying rent and had a lease
against the landlord's title being repossessed for mortgage arrears.
Not quite literary but the lawyers will know what you mean
You are the innocent party in someone else's tort and so it is possible that your lease is protected until it ends....becasue you have nt done anything wrong you acted in food faith and you couldn't have known about the arrears
also it is bailiffs for a sum of money and not repossession - or is it ?
C A B give free advice ....
Did he tell you how much
and what he wanted ? money chattels or possession ?
The worse that can happen is that you have to move out (with notice)
and I cant imagine there is only one tenanted property in the area you live.
by contrast - the landlord - his world is just about to go t+ts up.
Repossession of tenanted property
what rights does a tenant who had been paying rent and had a lease
against the landlord's title being repossessed for mortgage arrears.
Not quite literary but the lawyers will know what you mean
You are the innocent party in someone else's tort and so it is possible that your lease is protected until it ends....becasue you have nt done anything wrong you acted in food faith and you couldn't have known about the arrears
also it is bailiffs for a sum of money and not repossession - or is it ?
C A B give free advice ....
Did he tell you how much
and what he wanted ? money chattels or possession ?
The worse that can happen is that you have to move out (with notice)
and I cant imagine there is only one tenanted property in the area you live.
by contrast - the landlord - his world is just about to go t+ts up.
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Chewn...you are making an assumption-almost a judgement... that the landlord is careless,and does not have the interests of his tenants at heart. Do you know something sherrardk doesn't? She has indicated that this is out of character. Maybe it would be best to keep such negative comments to yourself for the time being.
Sherr'
Chewn needs to leave the stage etc
yes you are required to pay your rent - or in his words line the pockets of a man.... etc
even if you pay the mortgage directly - which I wouldnt - then you are paying a mortgage on behalf of someone and not rent....
the fact he has a mortgage and not a corresponding address (that works) is I agree not a good sign.
Chewn needs to leave the stage etc
yes you are required to pay your rent - or in his words line the pockets of a man.... etc
even if you pay the mortgage directly - which I wouldnt - then you are paying a mortgage on behalf of someone and not rent....
the fact he has a mortgage and not a corresponding address (that works) is I agree not a good sign.
Sherr as a private tenant for over 35 years I fully agree with your stand point - you have a roof over your head at the moment, so to fulfil your part of the agreement the rent must continue to be paid.
Whatever ructions go on with Landlords and their problems, it is what I have always done - I do hope you get more information very soon, take care.
Whatever ructions go on with Landlords and their problems, it is what I have always done - I do hope you get more information very soon, take care.
I'm sorry sherrardk. hope this helps. Writing in a rush.
Contact Shelter and they will be able to talk you through both the legal and emotional aspects. (they exist for this type of problem!)
You also need advice about whether you should stop paying rent. In my experience some landlords do not communicate at all when having difficulty (sign!). If you cant get hold of him, act anyway & make your own enquiries.
I understand you should be sent written info too if things are going further but only if someone knows you are there as tenants and it is often done very very close to court time (to my knowledge). It appears he is giving the address as his living add! and you have been there for over 3 yrs!
Although you do not have anything concrete in writing, indicators suggest something is wrong.
You sound really practical Sherrardk - take your time & make a list of all the facts and note things -if you have a rent book or other proof of payment & if up to date, all contact info for landlord, tenancy agreement, did you pay rent in advance -how much?, did you pay a bond - how much? Date of birth of household members, etc - keep them together (as you will need). Then make a list of all your questions.
The lender's relationship is with him not you so do not go worrying unnecessarily. The property is in his name. CAB or Shelter will reassure you here.
you may be advised to book a private appointment with your Housing Options for advice (local to you). This way they have a record of your circimstances and can investigate your case sooner (Shelter cant do this bit) and give you advice as to when would be the best time to have a legal assessment for homelessness (or at risk of losing your home) and if what you think is happening happens then a homeless assessment will be an option & likely to give you priority (from what you say you are at risk and you are likely to tick all the boxes) - if you are paying your rent and can prove it then you can not be deemed to be making yourself intentionally homeless - this is very important and positive for you. They usually see you up to 28 days of you losing your home (+will need proof that you are) - decision takes about a month but ideally you want to plan ahead and sort something before that happens and may not need an assessment at all.
I hope the landlord sorts this (it can happen too).
Some Housing Options depts can help you with a bond to privately rent again and may not do an assessment if you wanted to do this but you'd have to check with them. With a + assessment you would get to the top of the waiting list but whether the size of property was available with a council or Housing association is another matter and a wait likely with bidding etc..and if a reasonable offer came up you may be expected to take it.
In some cases I do know that judges have given landlord's a chance to sell the property - 3 months - 6 months but this doesn't happen everywhere. As you have children at school and need time to find elsewhere that would influence a judge perhaps but without knowing the full story re landlord - it is difficult to predict.
Landlords can sell with sitting tenants ..so you may be staying but just have a new landlord. So this could go a few ways Sh ...
If the landlord wanted to sell quickly at a very good price - would you be interested or in a position to buy? You mentioned credit problems but it might not do any harm checking out if you stood a chance now (CAB) as if he doesn't sell - repossessed anyway. It is often much harder to sell a property with sitting tenants so although he may be given that option it isn't always an easy one.
The landlord may give you notice saying he is selling but again with advice you will know how to handle that one. (I have seen this happen a lot)
& try not to stress Sh.. Good luck.
Contact Shelter and they will be able to talk you through both the legal and emotional aspects. (they exist for this type of problem!)
You also need advice about whether you should stop paying rent. In my experience some landlords do not communicate at all when having difficulty (sign!). If you cant get hold of him, act anyway & make your own enquiries.
I understand you should be sent written info too if things are going further but only if someone knows you are there as tenants and it is often done very very close to court time (to my knowledge). It appears he is giving the address as his living add! and you have been there for over 3 yrs!
Although you do not have anything concrete in writing, indicators suggest something is wrong.
You sound really practical Sherrardk - take your time & make a list of all the facts and note things -if you have a rent book or other proof of payment & if up to date, all contact info for landlord, tenancy agreement, did you pay rent in advance -how much?, did you pay a bond - how much? Date of birth of household members, etc - keep them together (as you will need). Then make a list of all your questions.
The lender's relationship is with him not you so do not go worrying unnecessarily. The property is in his name. CAB or Shelter will reassure you here.
you may be advised to book a private appointment with your Housing Options for advice (local to you). This way they have a record of your circimstances and can investigate your case sooner (Shelter cant do this bit) and give you advice as to when would be the best time to have a legal assessment for homelessness (or at risk of losing your home) and if what you think is happening happens then a homeless assessment will be an option & likely to give you priority (from what you say you are at risk and you are likely to tick all the boxes) - if you are paying your rent and can prove it then you can not be deemed to be making yourself intentionally homeless - this is very important and positive for you. They usually see you up to 28 days of you losing your home (+will need proof that you are) - decision takes about a month but ideally you want to plan ahead and sort something before that happens and may not need an assessment at all.
I hope the landlord sorts this (it can happen too).
Some Housing Options depts can help you with a bond to privately rent again and may not do an assessment if you wanted to do this but you'd have to check with them. With a + assessment you would get to the top of the waiting list but whether the size of property was available with a council or Housing association is another matter and a wait likely with bidding etc..and if a reasonable offer came up you may be expected to take it.
In some cases I do know that judges have given landlord's a chance to sell the property - 3 months - 6 months but this doesn't happen everywhere. As you have children at school and need time to find elsewhere that would influence a judge perhaps but without knowing the full story re landlord - it is difficult to predict.
Landlords can sell with sitting tenants ..so you may be staying but just have a new landlord. So this could go a few ways Sh ...
If the landlord wanted to sell quickly at a very good price - would you be interested or in a position to buy? You mentioned credit problems but it might not do any harm checking out if you stood a chance now (CAB) as if he doesn't sell - repossessed anyway. It is often much harder to sell a property with sitting tenants so although he may be given that option it isn't always an easy one.
The landlord may give you notice saying he is selling but again with advice you will know how to handle that one. (I have seen this happen a lot)
& try not to stress Sh.. Good luck.
Sherr you are a sensible person and you will know that to stop paying the rent will spoil the good record you have built up over the years you have rented this property. My advice would be to talk to Shelter first thing in the morning, even before the CAB; they will tell you exactly what to do and are the experts in this area. I believe buenchico has linked this earlier. Things may not be as bad as you are dreading. Best of luck. X
I hope things work out for you sherr. It's not your fault .
It's very frightening having a bailiff knock on your door.
I had this through no fault of my own and won't bore you with it but ,be aware they may come back .
If they do ,don't let them in ,don't let them bully you and if they try to enter call the law pronto .
In the meantime pay your rent and feign innocence .If the bailiffs should be visiting anyone ,it's the landlord ,not you. Keep copies of everything .
See if you can get some professional advice from a solicitor .Some do a free half hour thingy.Good luck .
It's very frightening having a bailiff knock on your door.
I had this through no fault of my own and won't bore you with it but ,be aware they may come back .
If they do ,don't let them in ,don't let them bully you and if they try to enter call the law pronto .
In the meantime pay your rent and feign innocence .If the bailiffs should be visiting anyone ,it's the landlord ,not you. Keep copies of everything .
See if you can get some professional advice from a solicitor .Some do a free half hour thingy.Good luck .
I may be wrong but I thought that a county court judgement was needed before bailiffs could be sent in? It seems strange to me that this has got to the point where bailiffs are involved before you heard anything.
Another point is that I am wondering if the landlord has got a proper 'buy to let' mortgage or just an ordinary one.I would have thought that the lender would have warned the tenant if there was a problem with mortgage payments.
Another point is that I am wondering if the landlord has got a proper 'buy to let' mortgage or just an ordinary one.I would have thought that the lender would have warned the tenant if there was a problem with mortgage payments.