Apartment being repossessed... What to do?

princeofpounds

Do what silvercar suggested.

The contract does not end until the court grants repossession. Then it ends immediately.

You need to go to the court hearing. As you have been told, as long as you speak up at the hearing and have evidence of being a tenant then you will get 2 months grace. That is a relatively new feature of the law. That will then give you a certain end to the contract and time to find a new place.

There is absolutely no need to panic.

Do not pay the last rental payment in order to recover your deposit. In fact, if you are really worried or have no onwarde deposit saved, you can probably get away with not paying any more rent for a while, keeping in a separate account as requested.

If the old landlord does resurface to sue you for the money then just settle by paying what is due. You'll probably be at the end of your tenancy one way or the other before any official action is taken and you won't get a CCJ as long as the money is there to pay when required. The only question is the quality of your onward reference.

Hanky_Panky

I also agree with BAT - I have advised many people in the same situation to hold onto the monthly rent as clearly the guy isn't paying his mortgage with it so frankly he is screwing you. That's not to say that he wont come after you but at least you gain some control and of course you could always pay him back if he did threaten legal action etc.

PinkLady25

So do any of you think it is worth spending money on seeing a solicitor before we have sent a letter to the landlord?! Because that's going to be more money we are losing...

SouthCoast

PinkLady25 wrote: »

So do any of you think it is worth spending money on seeing a solicitor before we have sent a letter to the landlord?! Because that's going to be more money we are losing...

I would suggest that you follow the guidance from Shelter:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repossession/repossession_by_a_landlords_lender

princeofpounds

Personally, I don't think there is any need to see a solicitor, but then I am fairly read up on the subject, have been through the process once before.

GDB2222

PinkLady25 wrote: »

Hi silvercar

Could you just clarify a couple of things for me?

We have paid rent for this month until 13th Feb and next month's rent is due 14th Feb. We are likely to be able to get another place before 14th and so ideally would like this to be the end date of the contract.

The court hearing is scheduled for 9th March - would your solution be viable given these dates? Or would we have to remain in the property past that date?

It is extremely unlikely that the landlord is going to attend the hearing, as the summons and paperwork have come to our address and the mortgage co don't have his new address from what I can gather. We didn't give it to them as legally we weren't sure if we were able, and they haven't formally requested it in writing, just the field call agent asking if we have a forwarding address. And we haven't as yet written to him as waiting for solicitor to advise as to content of letter, i.e. request deposit protection info, fix heater etc.

To be honest, after all of this, our main goal is to get out of the property ASAP without being liable/likely to be sued for the rent, and ideally, to get our deposit back which we do understand may be a long shot.

Thanks again.

I wonder whether you are looking at this the wrong way round? Surely, the best way to get your deposit back is simply not to pay 1 month's rent? That means staying on a couple more months, but so be it. That also means attending the court hearing. There is no simple way of getting out of the contract without attending the court hearing.

If these are electric heaters that you are talking about, rather than worrying about whether the landlord will repair them, just go buy one or 2 more. You are looking at a cost of no more than £40. Send the landlord a letter explaining what you have done.

silvercar

It seems that the new piece of legislation, designed to protect tenants, protects the tenants better when they don't forward mail on to the landlord. That way, when the tenant gets to court, they can agree with the judge an end date within the following 2 months which will give a definite end date to their AST. Otherwise they run the risk that the landlord can persuade the judge to suspend the repossession order, leaving the tenant to be obliged to continue the AST when they may want the security of knowing they can leave.

princeofpounds

It seems that the new piece of legislation, designed to protect tenants, protects the tenants better when they don't forward mail on to the landlord. That way, when the tenant gets to court, they can agree with the judge an end date within the following 2 months which will give a definite end date to their AST. Otherwise they run the risk that the landlord can persuade the judge to suspend the repossession order, leaving the tenant to be obliged to continue the AST when they may want the security of knowing they can leave

It's the fault only of the landlord if they don't receive the notice. The mortgage company will contact them at the address the are meant to be living at... The tenants will get the 'occupants' mail.

BitterAndTwisted

I wouldn't be spending any money on seeing a solicitor. They can only tell you about your legal responsibilities which have all been explained adequately already on this thread.

By sending your letter to the landlord at the only address you have for him, sending it by First Class post and keeping a copy fir future reference you will have fulfilled any obligation to try and make conact with your landlord and have proof of having done so. That the mail will not reach him is only the landlord's fault and not yours.

In your position I would not pay the rent on the 14th. This will or will not flush him out of the woodwork. Stay on in the property, send your paperwork to the court, attend the hearing and then after that make plans for your onward move with your deposit money reclaimed and maybe some rent-money in your pockets as well.

PinkLady25

Ok so what would you guys advise to put in the letter as the majority seem to agree to send a letter first, which I can get typed and sent before the post leaves this afternoon...

Thanks,