Rented flat sold with vacant possession.

suited-aces

I assume you're solicitor is going to inform the head of the local police exactly how it is a criminal matter, and point them towards cases where the police have faced payouts for assisting with illegal evictions?

Yorkie1

I cannot believe this (I do, it's just incredible). I really hope your solicitor gets you a result.

The council are a disgrace - they are the experts with a legal duty to deal with the sort of behaviour your LL is exhibiting, and if you can't rely on them then words fail me.

(Having just regained my words after the police's behaviour!).

I wonder whether the local government ombudsman is an option worth pursuing on top of everything else.

Good luck OP.

Zorz_2

Here's what happened since my last post:

-I went again to the council and insisted on making a homeless application. They booked me an appointment in 4 weeks time (2nd week of September)!

-I 've managed to get a part time job and I'm starting this week. It doesn't pay much but at least will keep me afloat until I get everything back in order.

-I've checked out of the hostel and managed find somewhere else to stay temporarily. Can't really settle in (I won't go into detail here) but at least I escaped that dirty, noisy, bug infested place! And, I can use my computer here, so I am able to do work.

-The LL2, replied to my solicitor, once again with a vomitful of lies. Lies that I had only left one box of things in the property, that I agreed to move out before the start of the works, that I consented with work being carried out while I was residing there (W-T-F????) and also added that their offer of payment is still on the table. :mad:

I still haven't been able to retrieve the rest of my things, I've nowhere to put them and can't afford to hire someone to get them for me in storage now. To be honest, I don't even know what condition are they in, if they damaged them or not. I'm just grateful that I managed to salvage the most important things.

-I haven't replied to the LL2's offer yet, but I'm inclined to refuse, as I find it insulting. That weasel broke every law in the book. Tturns out that even construction work on a Sunday is prohibited by the Control of Pollution Act 1974 (and I'm pretty sure he did this intentionally, since both relevant departments of the council are closed on Sundays so I couldn't call them and ask for intervention immediately). He "saved" a huge amount of money by breaking the law, and now he wants to get away with it, by paying a few hundred pounds? I don't think so!


Basically, even by chasing the route of non protection of my deposit, I can get him to pay much more...


-About the deposit: Remember that my deposit was protected with Mydeposits (an insurance based scheme, the LA was in possesion of the money). The notice I got from the LA that his firm was sacked by LL1, said that the deposit remained protected with them. I checked this at the Mydeposits' website and it is correct.

However, when I learned that the flat had been sold, it didn't sound right anymore so I called Mydeposits (and emailed them afterwards) and they told me that the Deposit Protection Certificate is no longer valid and that the new LL needs to protect it again. I quote:

"We would like to take this opportunity to make you aware that should a Landlord change during a Tenancy, a new Deposit Protection Certificate should be purchased to reflect this change"

and

"Further to your email below, should your new Landlord fail to provide you proof that your Deposit has been reprotected with one of the three Government Approved Schemes under his/her control (in which they can still using the Agent), we would strongly advise that you seek qualified Legal advice as you would not be entitled to use our free ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution Service) to raise a dispute once you have vacated the property."


Pretty clear, right? I even read the Mydeposits Scheme Rules and it's there, in black and white, in sections C3 and C4
http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/sites/default/files/mydeposits%20Scheme%20Rules%20Version%206.pdf


(In this case, my Staturory Periodic AST is supposed to be replaced by assingment to LL2, right?)

I've even went as far as to read
The Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007, and it seems to my layperson eyes the same. Change of ownership? New prescribed information should be sent to the tenant. I've never received any!


So I emailed the LA (more than once), and said that as they are no longer an involved party of the tenancy, they have to hand it over to LL2 or return it to me (a little bit cheeky, I know). They replied reassuringly that the deposit remains protected with them. And afterwards, I got completely ignored. I told (in person) to LL2 that he should get the deposit (obviously this before I got kicked out!) but he ignored it, and even said "But I'm not your landlord!". If you say so....


Last week, I called (and followed by email) the LA and asked for my deposit back. The arrogant pr*ck replied that:


"In your case, it's my understanding you failed to vacate the property as at when due and therefore breached the applicable agreement. You also confirmed you owed rent to the current owner of the property and therefore fully liable for payment. The deposit gets paid to whosoever is entitled to it, you or the landlord. From all you've told me, it's unlikely that person is you. You may exercise your applicable rights in the courts or through the alternative dispute resolution if you believe you have a case."


and went on to say about Mydeposits' ADR, even though I told him that I have confirmation that the deposit is not protected! Can you believe that this imbecile is a member of ARLA and NAEA? :eek:


Enter, the Localism Act. I'm not a specialist (and I need to get in touch with someone like Tessa Shepperson!), but I reckon this allows me to pursue them now.



-Date of completion. I think this is a key element, as (I guess) from that date, LL2 becomes the legal owner of the property, inherits the tenancy and all the obligations of it. I asked someone I know from the freeholders, and was told a date (that themselves were given by the solicitors doing the sale). This date is a little over a month ago from now. Obviously I need to verify this with Land Registry, but I have to wait until they update their database. For what is worth, Mouseprice and Zoopla still list only the previous sale of the property, a few years back.

Zorz_2

This week I had the homelessness application meeting at the council. I can't say it was very productive! I still haven't received their answer, but unofficially, they will deny my application.
While I am homeless, unintentionally homeless, eligible for assistance and I have a local connection, the issue is that -being single with no dependents- their opinion is that I don't have a priority need for housing. I pointed out that under the "Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities" issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government, persons in priority need include those who are vulnerable as a result of ceasing to occupy accommodation because of violence from another person or harrassement.

Which is a moot point anyway, since I do not want to be housed by the council (even emergency housing). What I want, and asked for is help to raise money for moving costs to a permanent accomodation (rent deposit, referencing fees, etc), even in the form of a short term loan. Turns out though, that the council doesn't have a rent deposit scheme!

I did some digging afterwards and I found that my lovely council, had such a scheme in the past, but after a scandal a few years back (where the council was paying for a foreign family to live in a huge, overpriced house) they scrapped it altogether. The joy!

Oh, and by the way, the council has a similar scheme, but only if you want to move out of London. I know there are a lot of empty homes in Stoke-on-Trent, but then commuting to my job in central London would be a !!!!!...

Fire_Fox

Get all your ward councillors and MP on board if you have not already. You don't need to be a UK citizen or say you are not. I hope you have put a formal complaint into the police.

Yorkie1

Indeed, as FF says, you still need to be kicking up a stink about this.

See this post for info about just how seriously the courts can take illegal eviction.

Zorz_2

Maybe I'm too cynical, but I've looked it up and my local MP is a Conservative. Not that I hold Labour in high regard either, but when it comes to housing their rhetoric -and more importantly, their actions- show that they don't really care about tenants...

I 've read about theWebb v Amreen trial and I hope my own case will end up some day in theartfullodger's thread! But for now, I can't even find a way to "kickstart" the case. Everyone is playing the fingerpointing game. The solicitors says that they can represent me, but it's up to the Council or the police to begin investigating and prosecuting. The Council says that they don't do that and the police and my solicitor ought to start the case. The police, well you know that already... At least the police in Birmingham actually did their job and didn't cave in to this scum's threats (a magistrate and MBE? Seriously? :eek:).

As for the letting agent, it's been a month now since I requested my deposit back. In his last email, he kept insisting that my deposit is still protected! Whether this is ignorance or malice, the result is the same...:mad:
I sent 2 further emails, one asking again about my deposit and one asking for their complaints procedure. The second one, I sent it via letter (with proof of postage) too.

And just as I predicted, he has ignored all of them. However, the LA is a member of ARLA and the Property Ombudsman and this is where I'm turning to. I have to first use the firm's internal complaints procedure (hence the letter) before I resort to them.

Meanwhile, I've asked the solicitors to send those cowboys a letter before action, to show that I mean business and also to ask again for my stuff back. The LL lied in his previous reply to my solicitor, claiming that I had only left "a box" in the property. I had a lot more than. plus my furniture (which he may thought that wasn't mine but came with the house, I don't know). I think he has probably already discarded my stuff, and unfortunately for him I have receipts for pretty much everything! :cool:

Fire_Fox

Zorz wrote: »

Maybe I'm too cynical, but I've looked it up and my local MP is a Conservative. Not that I hold Labour in high regard either, but when it comes to housing their rhetoric -and more importantly, their actions- show that they don't really care about tenants...

There are good and poor constituency MPs on all parties. When MPs are doing surgeries in the constituency they should be treating every citizen because they are your elected representative. They should not be acting according to their party political beliefs which is more about what they do in the House of Commons. I don't see what you have to lose asking the MP and the ward councillors to intervene, sometimes even a half @rsed attempt can send a clear signal to the other side that you are not going down without a fight.

Great to hear you have receipts and are sounding positive about the legal side.

slopemaster

I agree with that.
On 2 different occasions, Tory MPs have helped me because they were good constituency MPs (in spite of being Tory scum!)
In one case the MP even took my side as an employee in a dispute with my employer.
And I think if you live in the MPs constituency you can describe yourself as a constituent, regardless of not being actually entitled to vote.

Zorz_2

You are right abouth this, I shouldn't pass judgement without at least trying. And since I have to wait for the solicitor that is handling my case to return from vacation, I might as well give it a try. Unfortunately, the next surgery of my local MP is only in early October, but I found a phone number for complaints and I'll call tomorrow.

In the meantime, I've began writing a list of the possesions that I lost. So far the tally has exceeded £400, and thats not including the food (here's a quick excercise to get a feel of the situation: go to your kitchen, look at the fridge and cupboards for a minute and then try to quantify the value of the contents!) or any extra costs I had to pay because of that (eg. storage, hostel, etc)!

Also, since the council doesn't have a deposit guarantee scheme, the only other option I could find is a crisis loan from the Social Fund. I definitely need something like that right now, because my savings will run out before my first payday at this job, even if I only eat value baked beans and mushy peas! I am literally counting the pennies right now and this is f*king depressing...:(

So, while I've been searching for this and all the other ways I could get help, I have experienced a bizzare, almost kafkuesque system, where the fact that I didn't receive any benefits before, somehow counts against me now that I actually need help! At this moment, I'm trapped in a vicious circle. I don't have a tenancy, so I cannot get Housing Benefit (neither for the duration that I stayed at the hostel). I work, so I can't get Jobseekers Allowance, but I haven't yet managed to get enough hours of work to get a living wage or get Working Tax Credits.

I understand that at this time of austerity, the authorities must do a form of triage and allocate their resources to help first those that are in most need. But the end result is that I've fallen between the cracks with (almost) no help at all! I'm witnessing supposedly tough legislation, being reduced to empty words because there is noone willing to enforce it. I can almost laugh at the irony of being called a "customer" (Hint: if you were a real company, treating your "customers" like this, you would end up with spiderwebs and tumbleweeds around your offices in no time!) by those organisations...