Help!..Homeless!!!Deceived by Lettings Agency/Landlord

Angie_pangie_2

Hi,

Thanks to some completely corrupt individuals we're going to be homeless and I would really appreciate some advice. About roughly a month ago we received notice that the current property we were renting was to be repossessed because the landlord could not keep up the mortgage. So started looking for properties to rent, found one and put a holding deposit for it with the lettings agency. A few days later we were informed our references were fine and he was just waiting on the landlord to confirm everything.

Well, he calls up three days before we're due to move informing us that the landlord had decided to rent it out to a so called family friend!!!!!!!!!!!! We've hired vans to move, my new job at the new place starts in five days and so my job is being jeopardized. He hasn't even had the decency to give enough notice, even though the whole process has taken a month, he informs just two days before the move to inform us he has got no flat!!!

We're literally at our wits end and really feel that we've been duped royally either by the lettings agency or the landlord ( someone is lying and blaming the landlord or maybe not, either way we're in trouble). He still has our deposit and hasn't answered any of our calls as we need to speak to him to resolve it or find something alternative so that we're not on the streets in three days time.

I would be really grateful as to how I can resolve this situation, any legal recourse? Associations that can help us?

Thanks in advance for any advice.... we really need it! .

Angie

Hump

Assuming you're in England

Welcome to the world of unregulated lettings agencies.

If you have kids, or are expecting kids or have some infirmity/ disability/ mental health problem - then seek help from your local council's housing aid, housing advice or housing options unit first thing tomorrow morning.

You may be able to get an extra 2 months in your current home due to a newish bit of legislation Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants) Act 2010 - again your council can help you with this.

I think you will likely need a brief consultation with a solicitor to determine whether you have a claim against the landlord - a lot will depend on what documentary evidence you have i.e. letters, e-mails etc

wazza24

i wouldn't be leaving the rental your in stay there till you get somewhere else........

rentergirl

Call their bluff. Put in writing, call in if you feel and see if they back down. Good luck!

Angie_pangie_2

Yes, we're in England. Is there anyway that we can threaten them with any kind of legal recourse? Completely unsure what to do??? Feel really helpless and we're literally going to be on the streets in a few days.... while these people completely get away with it because of no motive other than greed.

Werdnal

Leaving aside the issues over your loss of the new property, can we go back one step here please?

What notice did you receive to leave the property you are currently renting? What form did the notice take? Who did it come from? What does it say?

Even in repo cases, so long as you have a formal tenancy to rent the property, and your LL had consent from his lender to rent the property to you, there are formal routes to follow for your eviction, and they cannot just give you a date and expect you to be out by then unless they do it all legally.

You may not actually be homeless as quickly as you think!

phill99

Angie_pangie wrote: »

while these people completely get away with it because of no motive other than greed.

That's because they are private landlords and are in it purely for the money, not because they have a charitable bent to provide housing.

It's a timebomb waiting to explode. The councils have lost most of their stock due to Right to Buy (you have Mrs Thatcher to thank for that), and the money that ws raised was not allowed to be used for building new public sector stock. With house prices getting further and further out of the reach of first time buyers and the banks constantly making it harder and harder to get mortgages, people like you and many thousands more are left at the behest of landlords whose motive is purely profit and you end up living in over priced substandard accommodation.

Its a national disgrace. And successive Governments have encouraged it.

Angie_pangie_2

Werdnal wrote: »

Leaving aside the issues over your loss of the new property, can we go back one step here please?

What notice did you receive to leave the property you are currently renting? What form did the notice take? Who did it come from? What does it say?

Even in repo cases, so long as you have a formal tenancy to rent the property, and your LL had consent from his lender to rent the property to you, there are formal routes to follow for your eviction, and they cannot just give you a date and expect you to be out by then unless they do it all legally.

You may not actually be homeless as quickly as you think!

Thanks, however we were looking to move as we're moving to a bigger city and I'd got a job offer which starts two days after my move, now if I don't have a place to stay or sleep....it's going to be expensive to stay in hotels plus the problem of furniture, where to store and then to move it twice.

We were sent the notice in December and allowed to stay till end of February so we made a request for a week longer as this new property wasn't going to be ready till the beginning of March.

Anyway due to the job situation and the move to a different city, I do really need the new flat.

Angie_pangie_2

phill99 wrote: »

That's because they are private landlords and are in it purely for the money, not because they have a charitable bent to provide housing.

Its a national disgrace. And successive Governments have encouraged it.

Yes, I can imagine they would want a higher rent but they could have turned our offer down instead of unnecessarily stringing us along till the day of the move!! I just don't get the pointlessness of it all, if he did ask us to pay more, we would have had to... no choice but to string us along to the point where we're literally homeless..... just pure VILE GREED!

Werdnal

Angie_pangie wrote: »

Yes, I can imagine they would want a higher rent but they could have turned our offer down instead of unnecessarily stringing us along till the day of the move!! I just don't get the pointlessness of it all, if he did ask us to pay more, we would have had to... no choice but to string us along to the point where we're literally homeless..... just pure VILE GREED!

To be fair, whilst I do not condone the LL's actions here, you do not know the full facts for their decision. They should have told you sooner, but perhaps it may not be greed - why would they charge a family friend more than you? Perhaps the friend has had some crisis/relationship breakdown etc and needs to move somewhere at short notice.

As I said, it is very unprofessional of the LL to string you along this far then drop you, but given the choice of renting to someone you didn't know, or helping a long term friend out of some dire situation - wouldn't you do the same?

I sympathise with your situation but lets not crucify the LL without knowing the full facts here!

PasturesNew

This is often a problem as they don't let you sign the agreement usually until the day you move in.

I'd be looking for:

Cheap/local self storage, get removals to take everything to there
Pack enough stuff for a month's stay and find a local private hotel to move into, not a chain. Tell them you'll be staying 2-4 weeks and they'll be OK for you to move out when you need and you're not paying deposits or notice periods
Then start looking for somewhere.
Once you've found somewhere else, hire a cheap van and move your stuff into your new place yourselves.

When you get to your new job, put the word round to find out if anybody's got anywhere to rent, or if anybody's got a handy man/van removals contact, or if anybody's interested in helping you move once you find somewhere.