rented house, n bailiffs

fkelanne

hiya all, ive just moved into a rented house a few months ago. I signed for 6 months..
since moving in, i get loads of mail for me landlords.. they have a business and all the mail still comes here!! i drop it off every week at the estate agents.
The thing is, my son opened one of the letters by mistake, (he is only 2) It Was from a court saying thy owed 20k to a hire comany.. i took that letter along to and explained y it was open..
but now im worried i will get bailiffs or that they will loose the house im renting from them because of there debt!
i am on the council list but only in group E,as i have a house over my head and i can efford my rent.
WHERE DO I STAND IF THEY DO LOOSE THE HOUSE? OR IF I GET BAILIFFS TO MY DOOR?

theartfullodger

Sorry to read your story.

Various points..

a) If he owes £20k to a hire company it is sadly quite likely he owes more to other people including his mortgage lender.. so they may come after him..
b) But the law on repossessions by the landlord's lender has changed recently, with stronger rights for the tenant from 1st Oct 2010 see...
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/eviction/repossession_by_a_landlords_lender
c) It might be useful to see any other debts to find out your landlord's position. I would suggest opening all the mail but think that may not be legal.. so I won't suggest that then... ;-)
d) Re. any Bailiffs turning up. Firstly don't let them in .. Secondly keep a copy of your tenancy agreement near the front door to show them (through letter box if need be) that you are legal tenants and not Mr Landlord. Thirdly ask them to go away.. Fourthly 'phone the police immediately of they won't leave. Chances are they won't turn up: I've lived in houses with loads of threatening letters for previous owners & previous tenants and no bailiff ever turned up (I was looking forward to the argument.,..).
e) Might be worth going back to the council housing debt , explaining your position & that you are "imminently homeless" (I don;t think you are..) and seeing if they will help. The help may be for the sort of home you wouldn't want to live in mind..
f) I wonder what else he's fiddling?? Gas safety certificate?? Tax man??

Hope it works out.. What a b****rd!!

Artful

DVardysShadow

No point in mincing words. If the Landlord is in serious debt, he could lose the house, you would be evicted and you would have to sort out another place. If the debt you are aware of is the only one, it would not go straight to a sale of the property. However, it is probably the norm that anyone who has a debt taken to court will have a heap of problems, so your biggest concern should be whether the mortgage is being paid.

Your best bet is to plan to move at the end of your 6 month term. I doubt anything will happen on that timescale, so moving will give you some peace of mind.

As for bailiffs and debt collectors, don't let them in the house. Keep a copy of your tenancy agreement to hand and show them through the window. If you have a car, there is a risk that a bailiff could levy on this - in which case you need to post on DebtFreeWannabes part of these forums. The levy can and will be lifted once the correct people are advised.

DVardysShadow

theartfullodger wrote: »

c) It might be useful to see any other debts to find out your landlord's position. I would suggest opening all the mail but think that may not be legal.. so I won't suggest that then... ;-)

I think it would be pointless telling the 2 year old not to. Obviously, opening the present letter was a mistake you would expect him to make and I suppose he wouldn't be able to stop himself in future. But for his own safety, he should not be allowed to use a letter opener....

SouthCoast

i get loads of mail for me landlords.. they have a business and all the mail still comes here!!

Are you being paid for providing a redirection service?

The Post Office charges.

BitterAndTwisted

OP, if mortgage payments are not been kept up on the property you occupy the lender will often send communication addressed to "The Occupant" if they are intending to go down the route of repossession, so please be on the lookout for this.

Repossession can often take some months so your onward move may not be imminent, but I think you should plan to make alternative arrangements when your AST ends.

n.b. It is not illegal to open mail delivered to the correct address. The illegality arises once that mail is put to use to the detriment of the addressee. Therefore opening and forwarding the landlord's mail to the agents would not be illegal.

mlz1413

fkelanne stop giving the mail to the EA, write Gone Away or RTS (Return to Sender) and put it back in the post box. This helps the sender of the mail know that the person is no longer there.

Bailiffs can only remove goods from the person who owes them money, so keep a photocopy of your tenancy at the door so that the bailiffs can see you are not the person they are chasing.

The LL has probably rented out the house in an effort to keep paying the mortgage and pay off some creditors, but they could equally be renting to get some money together and disappear completely.

Long term this does not sound like a good place to be, but the creditors will take a while to attach any debts to the house and even longer to force a sale. Even if the mortgage company is owed money there should be a period of them threathing repossension before it happening.

Regarding opening mail, you are NOT breaking the law opening a letter that is delivered for someone else, but do ensure you shred it once it is opened as using the information gained from opening someone elses mail is illegal

tbs624

If the property is in Eng/Wales then any tenancy deposit you have paid should have been scheme registered by the LL - check now with DPS, TDS and mydeposits.

I agree with Artful's & DVShadow's posts but it sounds as though you will need to start looking for a new place to live.

princeofpounds

Opening the mail is only illegal if you do it with an intention for it to be to someone's detriment. So don't worry about that.

But you don't really need to open it unless it is also addressed to the occupant. Return to sender.

As stated, bailiffs will not be interested if you explain that you are a tenant. You do not have to give them any further info. Keep a copy of your tenancy agreement as suggested near the door. They cannot break in, but just to be doubly safe you should never let them in to discuss matters (as they only gain powers of re-entry once let in in the first place). Ask them to move away from the door if they turn up so you can exit and close it behind you to discuss matters. If they do bother you any more than that, call the police, but you will probably find that very few actually turn up, and most bailiffs are relatively polite if you can demonstrate you are not the person they are looking for as they don't want to waste their own time.

If the house becomes the subject of repossession proceedings, the court will communicate with the occupant. These normally take a couple of months to come through and another month or two to be enforced, so you should be fine - just don't sign another fixed-term contract.

oh yes, and make sure your deposit is protected! If not, use it to pay your last month's rent rather than trying to claim it back from a bankrupt as you will not get it back.

franklee

As the OP has only moved in a few months ago we and the OP do not know if any court letters came before the OP arrived. There is a slim possibility a repossession might already be underway and the "Dear Occupier" letter arrived before the OP. I'd be looking up the lender at the land registry and writing to them letting them know I was the new tenant.

fkelanne

thanks all, going to phone the council tomorrow. I am through an estate agent and they are really nice. They have already told the LL'S to get the post sorted.. But they havnt as of yet..
The house i rent at the mo, was up for sale before I started renting the house. And it didnt have any instrest in it at the price they wanted .. so they put it up for rent..
I really love this house.. i hope they get it sorted..