Sticky situation.

afternoontea_2

Evening all,

It's my first post so please be easy on me if i ask any silly questions.:p

This morning our family has returned from a nice week in the sun (all happy so far) whilst opening all the post i accidentally opened one addressed to the landlord saying the mortgage has not been paid.

As we know the landlord through a family friend we have found out this afternoon after asking a few questions that he has been suspended from work. Can anyone please point me in the right direction and reassure us that we are not about to be sent on our way packing.:(

Many thanks for your time.

G_M

Similar query - see the reply here.

Fire_Fox

Welcome! It's worth reading MissMoneypenny's sticky on 'consent to lease' and running an advanced search in general.

afternoontea_2

Thank you for the quick reply.

His post has been coming here since we moved in so seems he does not have a buy to let mortgage. From what i gather about our deposit it should be legally protected but we have had no conformation about this.

I'm hoping things wont get too messy as he is a "family friend" but i suppose anything can happen if the situation is bad enough.

sniggings

I wouldn't worry to much about it as all options on getting you out of the property take time, so it's not like you will only have a weeks notice to leave, more like months notice if it comes to that.

Fire_Fox

afternoontea wrote: »

Thank you for the quick reply.

His post has been coming here since we moved in so seems he does not have a buy to let mortgage. From what i gather about our deposit it should be legally protected but we have had no conformation about this.

I'm hoping things wont get too messy as he is a "family friend" but i suppose anything can happen if the situation is bad enough.

E-mail your landlord and ask which of the three schemes your deposit is lodged with. As long as he does that now you can get the money back at the end of the tenancy, I assume you don't want to threaten court given that they are a family friend. Do you have all the relevant safety certificates? If not ask about those too. At the end of the day you are helping him by asking these questions, he is in breach of the legislation.

Maybe just return the letter apologising for accidentally opening it, and say that you hope he is OK. He will know you read it.

tbs624

Check with each of the 3 deposit schemes now online - TDS, mydeposits and DPS. You need to ascertain the whereabouts of your tenancy deposit.

See http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repossession/repossession_by_a_landlords_lender

Send a copy of your tenancy agreement to the Lender.

caeler

sniggings wrote: »

I wouldn't worry to much about it as all options on getting you out of the property take time, so it's not like you will only have a weeks notice to leave, more like months notice if it comes to that.

But without consent to let the mortgage company won't inform the tenants so they won't get notice so to speak?

Yorkie1

caeler wrote: »

But without consent to let the mortgage company won't inform the tenants so they won't get notice so to speak?

The mortgage company always writes to The Occupier (as well as to the Mortgagee) if commencing proceedings, so OP must keep an eye out for such a letter and open it.

Werdnal

Yorkie1 wrote: »

The mortgage company always writes to The Occupier (as well as to the Mortgagee) if commencing proceedings, so OP must keep an eye out for such a letter and open it.

And OP when you do get that "To the Occupier" letter, read it carefully and act on it asap. The lender needs to know you are there for you to have a chance to defer any action to evict you if they repo the property. There was a post here not so long ago, where a tenant got the "Occupier" letter, panicked and passed it on to their landlord - he is not the occupier, you are, so make your presence known, even if it is dropping your LL in it with them. You need to safeguard your own future, never mind there being a "friend of a friend" connection here!

As mentioned above, check your deposit status with the 3 schemes, incase LL has registered it and just forgotten to pass in the info. If you cannot find any record, write to the LL and ask where it is. If he tells you it is not lodged, request it is returned in full NOW as he has breached the regulations. If he is struggling to pay his mortgage, money is tight, so do not wait until you are moving out, and find he doesn't have the funds to return the deposit then!