Asked to leave our private rent HELP!!

d_rok69

hi all

i rent a house via remax but the owner of the house has been in touch and said she wants to sell the place. She then said that as ive lost my job her mortgage doesnt allow her to rent to unemployed people and she would like us to leave at the end of April.

I have sort of accepted my fate that i have to move but what im worried about is that our contract on the house is up until august 2012 and remax have said they will find us a new place to live (the places they have shown us have been awful). I have seen a private rent that is lovely and the person who owns the house wants to rent to me direct but im concerned that i wont get my deposit back because our contract runs to August.

Just not sure where i stand the contract is in relation to the house i am in just now but if the owner takes the house away so to speak. Doesn't that void the contract?

Any advice would be really appriciated

vax2002

Get your documents and contracts out and come back with them in hand:
what type of rental agreement do you have.
How long has it been in force
What has been served upon you in way of notices.

HappyMJ

Your contract if it's a assured shorthold tenancy will be up on the date on that contract i.e August 2012. You don't have to anything. Keep paying the rent on time and nothing can happen. Whether you are employed or not doesn't matter she can't rent to unemployed tenants at the start of the tenancy but it doesn't matter if they then become unemployed later.

If the house is sold in the meantime then it's sold with a sitting tenant and your contract continues with the new landlord.

So my advice is do nothing. If she asks you to leave at the end of April then stay on and wait until she goes to court to get an eviction order. If you have your AST until the end of August it will be thrown out.

theartfullodger

Completely agree with HappyMJ

Landlord has no right to boot you out other than through the courts...

Mind, if LL wants to sell they may be "interested" in bribing you to leave so they get a better price selling with "vacant possession". In your shoes I'd want thousands...

d_rok69

its a short assured tenancy we have rented the property since 25/2/11 so just over a year. The current contract runs till august 2012 and the owner of the house have given us 6 weeks notice verbally.

I asked remax if we were due any compensation because we effectively are contracted till august but they said no because it is me being unemployed who has cause the issue and the that is the reason we cant stay in the house. Im concerned remax may keep the deposit if we try to leave them and rent through someone else

newbutold

I have never heard of remix & am unsure what it is. However under a normal rental agreement the owner cannot take the house away until August if you have a contract until Aug 2012. Sometimes the contract can have a break clause in it, normally at the 6 month point where either of you can give notice at this point. If yours doesn't then I really don't see how they can force you to leave before August.

Of course they can ask you and you can mutually agree to move earlier, if this is the case I would expect them to put their request in writing. Also in writing I would get them to clarify that you are leaving at their request and that your full deposit will be returned subject to them inspecting the property.

d_rok69

the owner wants to sell the house as she has bought a second home that needs fixed up and she basically has to sell this house to pay for the repairs. Her face dropped as soon as i told her i was unemployed and she has been very nervous ever since.

she came two weeks ago and showed someone round the house and i think that lady wants to buy it. so she called me on friday right before a job interview and said bad news my mortgage company (Halifax) wont let me rent the house to unemployed people and my landlord insurance has gone through the roof. I have to serve you a notice to quit. She said she spoke to remax and they will help us find somewhere else. I checked with the man at remax and he confirmed that this can happen with a mortgage company. i had never heard of it before. He said he had something up his sleeve for us in respect of a new home then he showed me this grotty, rotting, dis repaired house for £400 a month when we pay 425 for a georgous modern 2 bedroom flat.

I feel the owner is trying to get us out because a) she is fed up with remax she pays them money and does nothing for her and b) she wants us out to sell.

i also should point out im in scotland just incase laws differ between england

d_rok69

newbutold wrote: »

I have never heard of remix & am unsure what it is.

lol Remax is my letting agency

d_rok69

I will move if they give back the deposit and i can then move into the lovely flat i have found but i do think we should be offered some kind of compensation or moving costs and i have been told we arent entitled to any

GAH

6 Weeks verbal notice from the landlord is not correct, the LL and Agent should know this.

For LL to regain possession back, they need to serve you a section 21 notice, which is 2 months notice, and that needs to be served on or before your next rent due date.

Until they serve this notice, they are not taking the correct steps to regain possession of the property.

The fact that the LL says the reason you have to go because your unemployed is irrelevant, the correct notices need to be served.

d_rok69

My rent is due on 25th and we have had nothing except a phonecall from the owner and the letting agent trying to show us other properties