Repo on rental

supa-girl

Hi

I live in a rented property with my family. We have received a letter to say that the mortgage lender intends to apply to court for a posession order due to the landlords arrears with his mortgage :eek:

We have spoken to our agent and they have contact the landlord who assures them he will "sort it" but obviously we are concerned.

So far I have established that
- the landlord DOES NOT have permission to rent out the property
- We need to notify the lender of our existence (done) and can attend court IF it gets that far. The court are likely to order a delay of 2 months to allow us to find somewhere else.

My questions are:

- IF the landlord does sort this and/or it goes to court and the lender is awarded a suspended possession order can we still move out? We don't really want the worry of it hanging over our heads (what if he defaults again etc). We have 10 months to run on our agreement, but it has been suggested to me that this breaches the clause "we have the right to quiet enjoyment of the property" as the worry and stress goes against that. Does anyone know if this is correct?

- If the house does get repo'd, what are the chances of us gaining the lenders agreement to act as our landlord. The property is in serious negative equity (they sell for around £175k and the mortgage is £215k) and we are reliable tenants with no arrears.

- Has anyone actually been renting a house when this has happened? How long... did it take to get to court? For the house to be repo'd? Did you get before you had to leave?

It is a really worrying time for us, we have young children in the local schools and haven't been here that long either

Thank you

SG

sequence

The first and most important thing to do is not trust a single word the agent or the landlord tells you from now on. They will tell you absolutely ANYTHING to keep you sweet and keep the rent rolling in! Check everything yourself with the courts and mortgage company.

supa-girl

Thanks, I figured that would be the case. We have paid our rent for this month but will be keeping a close eye on it.

Just another question - our deposit is protected but the LL apparently has to give permision for it to be returned. IF we left early for breach of contract (under the right to quiet enjoyment clause) and he refused to release it what happens next? Arbitration scheme?

SG

supa-girl

Just giving this a bump, to see if there is anyone around who can offer any advice??

SG

G_M

supa-girl wrote: »

Thanks, I figured that would be the case. We have paid our rent for this month but will be keeping a close eye on it.

Just another question - our deposit is protected but the LL apparently has to give permision for it to be returned. IF we left early for breach of contract (under the right to quiet enjoyment clause) and he refused to release it what happens next? Arbitration scheme?

SG

I'm afraid this situation does not give you the right to early termination of your contract. So you would still owe rent and the deposit could be used for this. You could also be chased for continuing rent arrears.

G_M

supa-girl wrote: »

Hi


- IF the landlord does sort this and/or it goes to court and the lender is awarded a suspended possession order can we still move out? We don't really want the worry of it hanging over our heads (what if he defaults again etc). We have 10 months to run on our agreement, but it has been suggested to me that this breaches the clause "we have the right to quiet enjoyment of the property" as the worry and stress goes against that. Does anyone know if this is correct? No.

- If the house does get repo'd, what are the chances of us gaining the lenders agreement to act as our landlord. The property is in serious negative equity (they sell for around £175k and the mortgage is £215k) and we are reliable tenants with no arrears. It's possible. Speak to the lenders directly, and do so now, then again when notified of a court hearing and again AT the court hearing


It is a really worrying time for us, we have young children in the local schools and haven't been here that long either

Thank you

SG

You could also ask the LL to release you early from your contract. Offer to pay his marketing costs etc, but I'm guessing if he has money trouble he'll refuse. Every month's rent he gets is helping him stay afloat.

I assume you know the repossession process? If not, see Shelter here.

supa-girl

Thanks for the advice.

I had never realised until now how as a tenant the odds are stacked against you. The landlord must have been at least £3k in arrears before he accepted our tenancy and it seems madness that he can sign us into a 12 month contract with that knowledge and when it comes to light we have to either sit tight and hope for the best or effectively buy ourselves out of the contract, covering his "costs". On the other hand if he loses the house, we are out of pocket for all the referencing fees, need to come up with a deposit on a new place before getting the one on this place back and have to pay all the associated moving costs again. Not to mention all the worry and hassle.

If it comes to that I don't know what the hell we are going to do. We have 5 kids and signed a 12 month tenancy to give us a bit of security.....what a joke!

SG

G_M

I really sympathise. In many respects tenants have a lot of rights and protection, but in this circumstance it is a harsh reality that
1) You are innocent victims, for all the reasons you list
2) the lender is an innocent victim, having lent money which the owner is now not paying back
3) the LL is the guilty party, having taken on a loan which he is not honouring and offerred a tenancy he cannot provide in the long term.

However there is a lesson here: landlords and their agents nearly always credit check their prospective tenants, but tenants never credit check their prospective landlords.

greenface

"I live in a rented property with my family. We have received a letter to say that the mortgage lender intends to apply to court for a posession order due to the landlords arrears with his mortgage"

Was this addressed to you or just "the occupier" and was it off the lender or agent or LL ?