Vendor pulling out - but buyer already moved in!

pinkshoes

What the vendor has done is lousy, so now that your sister is the "just the tenant", I would advise her to change the locks on the external doors (keep the old locks and put them back when she moves out), and refuse ALL viewings on the house (she is entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property, and the LL may only have access in an emergency, giving 24 hours notice.).

Given the LL is not permitted to enter the property, he should never discover the locks have been changed.

The LL has to give a full 2 months notice (from a rent date) to ask her to move out.

cake21

Big thank you to everyone who has contributed! I will be passing on all comments and suggestions to my sis, feeling much better / less powerless now, hopefully I can pass some of that feeling on :T

cake21

bryanb wrote: »

I'd guess it would be difficult to show prospective buyers round if the tenant did not cooperate much. Anything in the tenancy agreement about that? Tenants are entitled to quiet enjoyment of their home.

Not sure. Will advise my sister to check that, thanks.

cake21

EliteHeat wrote: »

If, for any reason, they were feeling vindictive they might wish to double check that the rent is being properly declared for tax on Inland Revenues grass-line

I don't think they are feeling that vindictive, but I am

pinkshoes

cake21 wrote: »

Not sure. Will advise my sister to check that, thanks.

Your sister does not have to allow ANY viewers to look round, and I advise her not to.

This will make it near impossible for the LL to sell, so he would have to give her 2 months notice, and would then end up having to pay his mortgage on an empty house again whilst trying to sell.

bryanb

cake21 wrote: »

I don't think they are feeling that vindictive, but I am

The "Grass" line is anonymous, anyone who knows the facts can call them, doesn't have to be the people concerned.

G_M

1) They have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. As such they have a right to a MINIMUM of 6 months contract, whatever the written contract says.
2) After 6 months the LL will still need a court order to get them out. Assuming he has served them the correct S21 notice, at the correct time, it will still take several months to enforce. So the tenant is pretty well guaranteed 6 - 9 months there. As (I'm guessing) amataur LLs, they may get this process wrong, delaying it further.
3) throughout this period, the tenant is entitled to 'quiet enjoyment' which means the LL cannot enter for ANY reason (including showing the property to prospective buyers, without the tenant's permission. The tenant does not need to give a reason (though explaining honestly that he wants to buy might be worth doing!). All this dispite whatever is in the contract. Change the locks just to be sure but keep them or cost of new ones can be taken from the deposit at the end.
4) The tenant should NOT stop paying rent. This immediately is breach of contract and gives LL a reason to go to court earlier
5) Tenant can insist on: Gas safety certificate, deposit registration, repairs to the heating, washing machine, electrics, fire resitant furniture etc etc

See rights of tenants here.

An alternative is to allow visits by buyers but a) at restricted/inconvenient time b) make sure the house is dirty, messy, smelly c) talk about the damp, the smell, the nightmare noisy neighbours, the broken windows from local teenagers, etc etc

Go to the Land Registry site and look at the Charges Register (£6) for the house and find out who the mortgage is with. Tell them you are renting the house and are concerned the LL is not paying mortgage. Even if not the case it alerts the bank that the house is rented out, probobly without their permission.

Do same with insurers though harder to find out who.

These vendors have messed you about. they deserve to be messed back. And your sister deserves the house.

dwichmann

While i recognise all of the above may make your sister feel a little better, it will certainly not help her purchase the house she wants to buy and certainly not help her move on with her life.

All of the above will simply create a very stressful living environment, which could in turn cause relationship issues and is not exactly the best environment in which to bring up a baby.

I would suggest your sister talks to the landlord, establish her rights as a tennant, discuss whether she has any way of still purchasing the house she wants.

If not move out and move on, learn the lesson. Harsh but revenge will not get her the house that she wants.

clutton_2

yet another thread in which lnadlords are witch-hunted and vengeful, un-necessary mean acts are suggested -

at last dwichmann has the common sense to suggest a CONVERSATION

tek-monkey

Get a tennant in under the pretence of them buying, then tell them tough its back on the market? Sorry but the guy deserves whatever he gets, he knew they only moved in as tenants to avoid 2 moves, if he didn't want to sell at the price already agreed he should have said so beforehand. I have absolutely no sympathy for his situation, and would happily cause him financial troubles because it is his greed that caused the problems.