RENTING? Check your LL has permission to let that property.

silvercar

Apparently in Australia there is no concept of "consent to let" or BTL. A lender assesses whether someone is a good risk or not and decides whether to give them a mortgage. Once the mortgage is given the owner can live in it or rent it out.

If that was coupled with the lender writing to the occupier (as well as the mortgage holder) as soon as any arrears arose, there would be no issue of lenders acknowledging tenancies.

In fact the lender always writing to the occupier as soon as arrears arose would solve a lot of problems discussed in this thread.

chucky

tenants should also check their landlords bank accounts to see if they are financially stable

franklee

silvercar wrote: »

Apparently in Australia there is no concept of "consent to let" or BTL. A lender assesses whether someone is a good risk or not and decides whether to give them a mortgage. Once the mortgage is given the owner can live in it or rent it out.

If that was coupled with the lender writing to the occupier (as well as the mortgage holder) as soon as any arrears arose, there would be no issue of lenders acknowledging tenancies.

In fact the lender always writing to the occupier as soon as arrears arose would solve a lot of problems discussed in this thread.

Wouldn't help a tenant who moves in after the repossession is well under way. There needs to be some check at the outset of the tenancy and perhaps as the article says a minimum number of weeks notice required. Without the check the tenant does not know what stage of the process he is moving into, it could by then be in the last of the seven weeks so that's no use. I do not see why the lenders aren't made to do more.

tbs624

franklee wrote: »

There has been a "steep rise" over the last six months in numbers of tenants evicted after landlords defaulted on mortgages, Shelter has warned.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/7903101.stm

Tenants can get just days' notice to leave their home, says the charity, which wants ministers to "act quickly to give tenants far, far longer". ....

The article does also mention changes due to come in in April , which should allow a min of 7 weeks notice to tenants

I posted this in another thread earlier today:

"from Hansard:

13 Jan 2009 : Column 70WH
Iain Wright
The hon. Gentleman touched on a very important matter. The fear of repossession and repossession itself do not hit just home owners. They also hit tenants; they, too, are potentially vulnerable. We need to act to help tenants who are not in arrears and who are working hard and paying their rent, but who face the prospect of their home being repossessed, through no fault of their own, if their landlord has secured a loan on the property. At present, evidence suggests that buy-to-let landlords are no more likely to be affected by repossession than other households. However, I am concerned about the issue and I recognise that tenants in the private rented sector would face eviction in the circumstances described, which seems unfair.To protect those tenants, we shall ask the Civil Procedure Rule Committee to amend the rules so that buy-to-let tenants get up to seven weeks’ notice if their landlord’s mortgage defaults. At the moment, as the hon. Gentleman said, they have notice of as little as two weeks or even a matter of hours, which is not fair. We encourage all landlords and lenders to communicate with tenants so that they are given time to make alternative arrangements if their home is at risk. We also want to ensure that tenants who are at risk speak up, get independent advice and attend the court hearing so that their needs are taken into account.

My emboldening. IIRC this was due to be in force by early summer this year. Not brilliant but better than nothing."


The Council of Mortgage Lenders say that 10% of mortgages are BTL, but around 12% of all repossessions are BTL properties with 3+ months of arrears.

MissMoneypenny

tbs, I received a letter from Iain Wright MP (forwarded from my MP) dated 20 October 2008, after my MP wrote to Yvette Fielding about those many landlord concerns we aired last year. Iain Wright, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, had replied as he stated that "this matter falls within my ministerial responsibilities."

On the matter of landlords who have failed to ask their mortgage lenders permission to let, he wrote something similar to the above, but in my opinion it seems all "if", "buts" and "maybe". So no protection for the poor tenant that has paid their rent yet the landlord has failed to pay the mortgage lender.

It seems the government might be trying to push the work for this one onto the councils as Iain Wright wrote in that letter "Where a tenant becomes homeless as a result of their landlord's failure to keep up with the mortgage payments, the local council should be able to assist in terms of providing temporary accommodation and assisting the tenant in their search for a new residence."

As this government seems completly lost (or unwilling for reasons best known to themselves?) to stop the scumbag landlords, the best way forward is for the tenants to protect themselves. That's why I started this thread to warn renters to check a landlord has permission to let that property and not be fobbed off with any excuse why the landlord can't provide that proof.

Every landlord has to have permission to let from their lender and will have proof of this permission. If a landlord makes excuses why they can't show you this proof, then they don't have permission to let and a renter could be thrown out with little or no notice if the house is repossessed.

MissMoneypenny

Just reminding tenants to check that a landlord has permission to let.

franklee

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

Just reminding tenants to check that a landlord has permission to let.

Another case
Landlord not paid mortgage, our house is being repossessed! HELP!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1574421

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Just wanting to say to those LL's who would not co-operate in providing proof that the property is authorised to have tennants, you really are shallow imho considering the info you would receive about us, the tennants.

I am going through this now (in nowhere as bad a case as some of those i have seen) and i have found a new property (fingers crossed) and yes i will be politely asking for confirmation that the LL is complying just to ensure that myself and my family aren't uprooted and our lives thrown up in shambles due to the fact that our LL hasn't declared tennants in the property and cannot pay their mortgage (for whatever personal reason, as i do understand it happens to the best of people too).

Estate agents deffinately aren't there for the tennant imho, they are there for the LL which is quite sickening when it is the tennants life that is severely affected.

I think more prospective tennants should do so too to save their families the possible distress we have encountered. If you have tons and tons of paperwork with the needed confirmation why not just black out/tippex/cut out the info you don't want seen and provide a copy as proof. Even if it is just held on the estate agents file for tennants to view. I mean, i have given you info of my employer/past addresses/bank statements/credit report - why can you not give me that one little bit of piece of mind that if the worst happens my family won't be put out on the street with next to no notice, i would at least have time to sort something decent out in terms of a home. By asking this i am not implying you are a fraudster, just trying to protect my family as you are your finances when checking me, the tennant, out. Surely you should see that as a sign of a responsible tennant?

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

I must add - even though we have found ourselves in a similar position our LL has been very helpful considering the situation keeping us informed from the very first point repossesion was mentioned - this has given us plenty of time to look for something else and even the helpfulness of use your last months deposit as rent (it does make me wonder if it was protected - but never mind as we are being given a good deal considering the situation as that helps us a lot). Our LL is not due in court for another month and we found out about 6 weeks ago - so just looking like a fairly decent person in a bad situation and now trying to do the right thing to make up for the mess).:o

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Thank you MissMoneypenny and Franklee, i think you are doing a fabulous job in trying to make many more tenants aware of issues like this. There just seems to be so much protection out there for LL's but nothing for tenants - and its horrible that it becomes an 'us' and 'them' situation, but it is often fuelled by the lack of co-operation from the LL/Estate agent. Now if the tenant doesn't co-operate in providing proof you simply say no thanks and move to the next (no harm done to either party) but if a LL doesn't and you get caught up in a repossesion its 'oops, you should have known better' you(the tenant) stand to lose alot, but how can we 'know better' when there is so little out there to help protect tenants.

I think every LL should provide some kind of BTL document as proof...it's all we really ask compared to the heaps we get checked on. AND the prospective tenant should ALWAYS be notified if the property is on the market and the property therefore only be let on say 6 month short term contracts. It wouldn't solve all problems but it sure would eliminate a fair percentage of them.