Repossession - advice for tenants & landlords?

jay3_2

There have been reports in the media recently concerning the impact on tenants when a house is repossessed.

In some cases, tenants have only been given a few days notice to quit. The mortgage lender typically only communicates to the tenants after repossession has taken place.

So: what specific advice can people offer to assist tenants who either suspect that their LL may be approaching repossession, or is actually involved in it?

Also, from the LL's perspective, what are our legal and moral obligations to our tenants during repossession?

Apologies if this topic has already been covered elsewhere - I've searched for it but cannot see a dedicated thread.

chesky369

It's not particularly good news for tenants. The first most of them know about it is when they receive a notice to quit. The first thing they should do is get along to the local Citizens' Advice but in the end, it will probably only be a postponement of the inevitable. Landlords have no legal duty to inform the tenants but of course they have a moral one. But they're usually too ashamed to do so. There have been cases where the tenant would have been willing to make an offer on the property concerned if they had been able to do so, so landlords really should keep them informed, since this could be the case.

2912pwil

Or SHELTER ( https://www.shelter.org.uk ) and their helpline 0800 800 444 08:00-24:00

Probably the most experienced organisation for fighting eviction.

However, as chesky says, probably only putting off the inevitable for the tenant. Perhaps someone should write a sticky for tenants in this situation...

tbs624

There has been fairly recent Parliamentary discussion on how tenants should be given more notice if the LL has defaulted on his/her mortgage and the lender is seeking repossession - see this 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. Source