Court citation for Landlord - Scotland

DonnaMul

Hi Guys,

Hope you can help me and my family. We are renting a lovely 2 bedroom house, kids are settled in schools etc, we have been here since May. Around June time there was a 'visit' from a bank representative, I contacted our letting agents to ask what was happening, was assured probably an error - our landlord is an apparent 'successful business man'.

In August Landlord decided he wanted to sell up, after some talks via our letting agents it was due to money, we agreed to sign a longer lease and up our rent - we love where we are, neighbours are great, close to work, one of my sons is also autistic so when we moved in May it took him about a month to settle...

So we came home last night to find a court citation for mortgage arrears, to the tune of £2500!! Has to be 6 months arrears! We didnt open any letters addressed to the Owner, it was A4 sheets of paper put through the letter box. Just to add, we have never missed a rent payment, or even been late.

What should we do? I have tried to contact our letting agents, they normally have an answerphone service - I cannot call the number, it doesn't connect, I am hoping this is a fault on the line........

Where does this leave us in regards to our contract, still has about 20 months to run...

Thanks

Donna

m_13

Unfortunately if your landlord loses his property then it is likely that you can be given notice and will have to leave if the lender wants you out

Shelter Scotland have an excellent page on repossession and the rights of a tenant here: http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/getadvice/advice_topics/repossession/tenants,_spouses_and_partners

What are my rights if I'm a tenant?

If you are a tenant of a landlord whose property is subject to a repossession order, it does not mean that you have to automatically leave the property.

The landlord's lender would have to seek to evict you in the same way as a landlord has to. The section on eviction from private rented accommodation explains the eviction process and what you can do to delay or stop the eviction. You don't have to leave until the lender has got an order from the sheriff court to evict you. However, the repossession of the property is a 'mandatory ground' for eviction, which means that the sheriff has to grant an order for your eviction and can't use their discretion to allow you to stay on.

If you get a notice of an impending notice to remove, or the sheriff officers turn up at your door and request you leave the property, the best course of action would be to contact the lender and tell them that you are a tenant in the property. Hopefully this should stop the impending action. However, if the lender will not recognise you as a tenant, or states that you will have to leave regardless, contact an advice centre or a solicitor.

I'd ring their free advice service. Find the number for your local authority on this page: http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/getadvice/advice_services_directory

Good luck

tbs624

Donna - if you have the details of the landlord's mortgagor you should write to them, enclosing a copy of your tenancy agreement. (Keep a copy) The lender does not have to recognise your tenancy but they do have to get a court order from the Sheriff court to evict you and they may be unaware that the property is tenanted. By making them aware of your presence you should be notified of the sherriff court hearing relating ot the property. In addition to using Shelter, as mentioned in the post above, CAS - Citizens Advice Scotland can help, as can a LL & T adviser at a law centre.

Both your LL and the LA have to be registered by law in Scotland., go on to your local council's website and contact the team responsible for dealing with LL registration to check whether either/both were registered. Check whether your agent is signed up to any code of conduct, requiring them to keep your tenancy deposit in a separate client a/c.

Do post with updates, as it helps others who may be in a similar position.

silvercar

So we came home last night to find a court citation for mortgage arrears, to the tune of £2500!! Has to be 6 months arrears! We didnt open any letters addressed to the Owner, it was A4 sheets of paper put through the letter box.

Are you sure these are genuine?

Normally a lender would write to the property address with a letter marked to "the occupier".

If they are genuine (pretty odd delivery method), then you need to notify the lender that the property is tenanted. If the landlord had a buy-to-let mortgage or consent to let, the lender would have acknowledged the tenancy and you will have more rights than if the landlord was letting on a residential mortgage. If the former you should be able to remain until the end of the fixed term, if the latter a court could order you to leave with very little notice.