Renting and bankruptcy...

MissMuppet

Thanks rosysparkle, that's really helpful. At the moment I don't have any CCJ's or administration orders, I have arrangements with a couple of creditors and there are 2 defaults on my credit file...but I had these when I rented my current property.

So I think my real problem at the moment is being unemployed when trying to get somewhere, which means I either need to use all my redundancy money on 6 months rent in advance, get a guarantor or look into getting a private landlord...?!

Bankruptcy will have to wait until I have somewhere to live, hopefully by then I would have also got myself a part-time job or some temping work.

Trying to do 3 big things at once is rather difficult, I can't wait to be free of some of this stress.

cheshire

Just a word of caution. We went BR last month, however our rental lease is due for renewal at the end of this month, poor timing I know. To cut a long story short, I have just had a call from the manager of our rental agency. She has told me the OR has contacted them (despite my request for the OR not to) to inform them of our BR. Our agent has said if the OR had not contacted them, or even left it until next month there would not be a problem. However since the OR has informed them of our BR our choices are very limited, move out before the 24th of April or find advanced rent. We have already signed the lease for a furthur 12 months but it makes no difference. She did initially suggest 6 months advanced but then suggested we think it over and make an offer. She also said that she had contacted the landlady and the landlady was not willing to accept a month by month offer. Great start to the weekend!

allofadither

cheshire wrote: »

Just a word of caution. We went BR last month, however our rental lease is due for renewal at the end of this month, poor timing I know. To cut a long story short, I have just had a call from the manager of our rental agency. She has told me the OR has contacted them (despite my request for the OR not to) to inform them of our BR. Our agent has said if the OR had not contacted them, or even left it until next month there would not be a problem. However since the OR has informed them of our BR our choices are very limited, move out before the 24th of April or find advanced rent. We have already signed the lease for a furthur 12 months but it makes no difference. She did initially suggest 6 months advanced but then suggested we think it over and make an offer. She also said that she had contacted the landlady and the landlady was not willing to accept a month by month offer. Great start to the weekend!

Hi cheshire,

Your post is of particular interest to me because we also rent privately, but not thru an agent.

Does your lease have a bankruptcy clause? Is this why your landlady is expecting you to vacate or pay advance rental, or is she just being 'difficult'?

Our lease doesn't have a bankruptcy and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the OR won't tell, but I am wondering if landlords can just give notice for a tenant to leave suddenly anyway, regardless of bankruptcy.

rosysparkle

Cheshire, what does your AST say about bankruptcy?

The renewal you have signed is binding on both you and your landlord and the fact that it hasn't yet started doesn't negate that (I checked this a couple of months ago for a different reason).

Would you please look at your agreement and get back to me with the wording of the bankruptcy clause if there is one?

On the face of it, don't move out on 23rd April, and continue to pay rent.

rosysparkle

allofadither wrote: »

Hi cheshire,

Your post is of particular interest to me because we also rent privately, but not thru an agent.

Does your lease have a bankruptcy clause? Is this why your landlady is expecting you to vacate or pay advance rental, or is she just being 'difficult'?

Our lease doesn't have a bankruptcy and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the OR won't tell, but I am wondering if landlords can just give notice for a tenant to leave suddenly anyway, regardless of bankruptcy.

Allofadither - whether you can be given notice depends on the agreement you have. If you have a fixed term agreement, you can be given notice to leave at the end of the term (as long as the notice is served two months or more efore the expiry of the term). If your initial fixed term has rolled onto a periodic (month by month) tenancy you can be given two months notice without a reason, such notice to be in writing and running from the rent date (so if your rent date is the 5th, your notice has to be given by the 5th of the month to leave on the 4th of two months later).

allofadither

rosysparkle wrote: »

Allofadither - whether you can be given notice depends on the agreement you have. If you have a fixed term agreement, you can be given notice to leave at the end of the term (as long as the notice is served two months or more efore the expiry of the term). If your initial fixed term has rolled onto a periodic (month by month) tenancy you can be given two months notice without a reason, such notice to be in writing and running from the rent date (so if your rent date is the 5th, your notice has to be given by the 5th of the month to leave on the 4th of two months later).

Most helpful, thanks.

I've had a look at the agreement which was initially for the first six months, then the month by month as you state, so we have a minimum of two months notice, whatever the reason.

We are good tenants, always pay on time, no arrears etc so I'm hpoing that even if the OR does tell the landlord we might get a reprieve for good behaviour.

Incidentally, only I have gone BR, not my OH, but the tenancy is in joint names. I don't suppose that makes any difference does it?

rosysparkle

Not really. If your landlord wants to serve notice then they can. However your payment history will count in your favour. If the OR does contact your landlord, you might consider contacting your landlord yourself with a copy of your Income and Expenditure to show that your budget works and that you consider your rent to be your priority expenditure.

cheshire

allofadither wrote: »

Hi cheshire,

Your post is of particular interest to me because we also rent privately, but not thru an agent.

Does your lease have a bankruptcy clause? Is this why your landlady is expecting you to vacate or pay advance rental, or is she just being 'difficult'?

Our lease doesn't have a bankruptcy and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the OR won't tell, but I am wondering if landlords can just give notice for a tenant to leave suddenly anyway, regardless of bankruptcy.

Morning. We dont have a BR clause in our agreement, so no problem if we were into our new agreement. However our current lease expires on the 24th of April and so the problem is with starting a new 12 month lease. Very bad timing really, but we had to wait 3 months from booking with the court to getting our BR date. Couldn't have beared to wait another 3 months. However looking back it may prove to have been a better option.

cheshire

rosysparkle wrote: »

Cheshire, what does your AST say about bankruptcy?

The renewal you have signed is binding on both you and your landlord and the fact that it hasn't yet started doesn't negate that (I checked this a couple of months ago for a different reason).

Would you please look at your agreement and get back to me with the wording of the bankruptcy clause if there is one?

On the face of it, don't move out on 23rd April, and continue to pay rent.

Morning. Thanks for the positive reply. Our AST doesn't mention BR. I will check out the situation with the agency this morning given we have already signed a new agreement. Does it make a difference if the landlady has not yet signed her copy? Many thanks.

jules23958

be honest.
but would suggest you may be better off going for non letting agent landlords for the duration of your bankruptcy... the landlords are just grateful to get a deal.