Rented flat sold with vacant possession.

bitsandpieces

theartfullodger wrote: »

However you have another option: If you don't leave the LL will be in a right mess and it may cost him a lot (a lot - £10's of thousands possibly..). You could all agree to leave, for a LOT (I mean a LOT..) of ££££. If you do get an agreement make sure you do it through a solicitor and the money is safe in his hands before you go...

Your landlord sounds like a right twit & idiot.

Indeed. This could have a good outcome for you - you might be able to negotiate a decent sum of money to leave early while also getting away from a rubbish landlord.

One thing to consider when negotiating is what his finances are like. Part of the reason he's selling at auction and having tenants in till the last minute might be that he's short of cash. This isn't your problem - but, depending how keen you are to leave, you could think about this when deciding what you'll accept to go.

Zorz_2

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Forget all this auction taking-place-or-not business, as that is not any concern of yours. What is, is the formal documentation you have received and can be proven has been served on you.

Yes, this is a secondary thing, but knowing it would be beneficial, as a bargaining chip. Plus, I'm also observant and curious by nature and can't help it!
I knew already the rest you wrote, I've been doing a lot of reading here and at Shelter, CAB, Landlordzone, etc. Thanks nevertheless.

G_M wrote: »

If you can prove it was sent 2nd class, I do not believe it was served in time and was therefore invalid. I assume you received it on the 21st

I've kept the envelope it came in. It doesn't have the agent's logo, but it is clearly postmarked on the same day the notice (and the cover letter!) is dated, plus it has the RM4SCC code that marks it. By sending it 2nd class, it means that the notice arrived one day late, when the next rent period began. So, the notice is invalid. Am I right?

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

OP: that Section 21 Notice has never been safely received by you, has it? It can't have been unless the agent sent two copies from two different post offices on the same day. Do not acknowledge to anyone, not even verbally, that you have received it. They might have proof-of-postage for that Notice but no proof that you got it at all. Items of mail go astray all the time....

I have discussed this with the other flatmates, so I can't keep it entirely secret now. Plus, I don't relly like lying. Not that I can't do it -and very convincingly for that matter!- but I prefer not to do it, as it is unethical. There is no need to, after all, since I have other 2 ways to defend against it, instead of the "What notice? :A "

As for the Olympics, the current owner seems to have been forced to sell by financial problems. The prospective owners may have the games in mind, but this is west London. Not many olympic venues around here, apart from Wembley. If we were somewhere around Stratford, I would have agreed. Everybody there are so much into the goldrush and landlords have pound signs rolling in their eyes! :rotfl:

Anyway, just I predicted, 2 days ago, the managing agent of the flat downstairs knocked our door. I knew exactly what it was, so I immediately told him what was happening and passed the details of our agent. (Can I give them the owner's contact details as well and suggest they bypass the agent?) Someone from the freeholder company came too (for an unrelated reason), I brought them up to speed about the situation and even though it's not their responsibility, they agreed to write to the owner.

Lo and behold, our agent called me yesterday and asked me to arrange someone to come and fix it. Sorry, but I'm very busy. Preparing 2 tax returns simultaneously right now, not fun by any means!

Inside the house, the situation is getting even more absurd, day by day. The couple that moved in recently had a fight and they split. The woman, who is the primary tenant, disappeared about a week ago and only yesterday came, packed her things and moved out. I couldn't care less about their personals, but we're stuck now here with a guy who doesn't pay rent (not my problem), doesn't clean or care about the place and is sloppy all around (a problem to me). Last week, after I was out busy and didn't sleep all night, I returned home early in the morning and got to sleep. He got up afterwards, cooked and left, forgetting one on the hobs on!!!!! :eek:

I woke up around 2pm, only to find the hob was incandescent hot, a permanent burn mark around it (from the burnt oil/grease), the cupboards up and around the stove were very hot to the touch and even the all my food inside the cupboard was warm! :eek: When I confronted him about it, he refused that he left the hob on! :mad:

BitterAndTwisted

When I said "do not acknowledge to anyone, not even verbally, that you have received it I wasn't talking about your flatmates!

Quite honestly, I don't think there's any point in you losing any sleep about the landlord going to court to enforce your S21 Notice while there are people in the flat with fixed-term ASTs. The landlord is either going to have to wait out the fixed-terms and then enforce or pay them off.

If you are happy leave, all well and good, just serve your own one rental-period's notice and go off to your new property.

Zorz_2

The agent called me again today. He asked me to do some Heath Robinson concoctions, instead of deciding at last to fix the damn thing! He said though, that he will eventually come by on Tuesday. And also that the landlord would visit too, but we don't know when.

I'm thinking now, what stance to take if I'm at home when the owner shows up?
-Yes, I got your notice and I'm looking for a place to move (and keep my mouth shut about the errors in the notice).
-Yes, I got something, but it isn't a properly served notice. (1 month lost already by then)
-Notice? What notice?

:rotfl:

G_M

Zorz wrote: »

I'm thinking now, what stance to take if I'm at home when the owner shows up?

-Yes, I got your notice and I'm looking for a place to move (and keep my mouth shut about the errors in the notice). Maybe
-Yes, I got something, but it isn't a properly served notice. (1 month lost already by then) NO! No! Why alert him to the problem? The longer it takes for him to find out, the longer you have and the stronger your position.
-Notice? What notice?

:rotfl:

Or " Notice? What Notice?"

Zorz_2

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

When I said "do not acknowledge to anyone, not even verbally, that you have received it I wasn't talking about your flatmates!

Well, I had something in mind when I wrote that and it turns out that my huntch was correct. Just because we live in the same place doesn't mean that we're in this together.

A couple days ago, the guy from the new couple in the other room moved out as well. The agent also came to do the checkout and receive the keys. I was at work at the time, so I didn't talk to anyone of them. When I returned, I found out that the agent had helped himself into the things of the other (remaining) tenant, took a towel and shoved it against the leaking pipe. Naturally, the towel immediately got soaked and started dripping. For the life of me, I can't understand what were they thinking!

Plus, I would be very miffed if it was my stuff they messed around! :mad:

Finally, I paid my rent again in time and I decided against the "Notice? What notice?" tactic as it would make them serve me a new one immediately. I'll just let the current one brew and use it when appropriate...:cool:

DVardysShadow

Zorz wrote: »

****

You are now leaving enough detail to make yourself identifiable to the agent.

Zorz_2

The LA is now out of the picture.

I got a notice by email from them, saying that they no longer manage the property, have handed the keys back to the LL and that from now on, for any queries about the property I must contact the LL himself.

The only remaining link is the deposit I paid, they will still keep that protected themselves (it's in an insurance based scheme, MyDeposits). I searched at the scheme's site and found the following in a guide for landlords:

What happens if I want to change Agent mid-tenancy?

If you wish to change your letting Agent during a tenant’s stay your Agent is duty bound to continue to hold and protect the deposit. You must provide the Agent with evidence that you have protected the deposit in another deposit protection scheme before they release the deposit to you. All three government authorised schemes are set up to ensure you are able to switch schemes should you wish, however proof of the new protection must be supplied before the deposit is unprotected. my|deposits will write to your tenants informing them their deposit protection has ended with our scheme.

So, it seems that my deposit is still safe, but if the LL changes, the new one must reprotect the deposit.

Naturally, I have cancelled the standing order for the rent (that I used to pay the agent). I plan on sending tomorrow a letter to the landlord at the address "for serving s47 notices", asking his address for s48 since my contract has the (now former) agent's address. I will ask instructuctions on where to pay the rent from now on and I will remind him of some problems with the property that I previously reported to the LA but they have failed to act upon. (ceiling leaks when it's raining, thank god that the planets aligned and it's finally summer at last!!!! )

Following your advice, I will send it twice, from 2 different post offices, with certificate of posting but not recorded delivery.

I've been searching for a place to move for days now, and most of them are either too far away from train or tube stations, or too expensive for me, or slimey hellholes... :mad:

Hence, I won't be able to move at the date they think I'm moving but stay at least for one more month. The -soon to be- new landlord has contacted me a 2-3 times so far, asked to bring his contractors to measure the place and asked me when I was moving out. Very polite so far, but I guess his mood will change, when he finds out that I won't be able to move by the time they think I am supposed to. Plus, I have already caught them lying to me already...

G_M

I plan on sending tomorrow a letter to the landlord at the address "for serving s47 notices", asking his address for s48 since my contract has the (now former) agent's address. I will ask instructuctions on where to pay the rent from now on

Why?

If the LL has sacked/changed his agent, it is up to him to inform you.

What address do you have for him "for the serving of notices"? The old agent? Which no longer applies?

Until he gives you a new address for the serving of notices, and advises where/how rent is to be paid, rent is not due. Put it to one side to pay later if/when you are given the required info.

If at some point he claims you are in arrerars, you write, pointing out the reason.

Zorz_2

I don't know, I think I need to cover all my bases as I don't want to give them any ammunition against me.

You are right, I have the LL's address for s47 and the agent's for s48. The alleged end of the s21 notice is this week. This won't be fun, I reckon...