How Can The Bank Find Out I Don't Have Consent to Let?

franklee

G_M wrote: »

No. Interestingly there are more tenants on this sites than LLs. And tenants have a greater motive for LLs to get CTL.

But I suspect if you went to a LL-centric site (eg landlordzone) you'd get even more of a concensus in favour of compliance

Yep. Also try asking on property tribes (quite a few of the members who came from singing pig who were far more del boys than landlordzone) and yet they are pro getting the right consents as they personally know people who have been burnt by getting it wrong.

Henman_Bill

Hamish, let's hope the bank never writes me a letter to the house giving away that I don't have consent to let. If they do, let's hope it gets redirected by Royal Mail. If not, let's hope the tenant doesn't open it. If they do, let's hope they never threaten to tell the bank. Gotta be unlikely that all 4 events happen. If they do, I will try and use their argument to stop them following through. At the very least it has to be worth a try for some leverage. It's probably not appropriate to say "you leave the house or I'll report this to the police", but as you originally stated, you are not going to get in trouble for just hinting at such an arrangement. It might not work but it's worth a try.

Anyway, the majority of people are good in my opinion so let's hope I don't get unlucky.

Henman_Bill

franklee wrote: »

Yep. Also try asking on property tribes (quite a few of the members who came from singing pig who were far more del boys than landlordzone) and yet they are pro getting the right consents as they personally know people who have been burnt by getting it wrong.

Any particular threads or stories you can remember of people who lost out as a result of not having consent to let. Or maybe I need to get on Property Tribes to find out.

Fire_Fox

Henman_Bill wrote: »

I think I've replied to everything but it was very thick and fast so let me know if I'm missed anyone or anything. Interesting that the majority viewpoint is tending against me, although I do wonder if that might be due to some people's conservative nature, wanting to sleep well at night rather than taking a risk that could lead to reward? I actually see myself as somewhat/slightly conservative, and am only looking at going down this route because the risk/reward from a financial point of view with the current tracker and anticipated low interest rate continuing seems balanced solidly towards the reward.

I have pink hair and a big mouth, conservative is not a word used to describe me too often. Actually ever, I might even be quite offended. :rotfl: Don't believe in letting greed ride roughshod over the rights or feelings of others.
.

franklee

Henman_Bill wrote: »

Now that I think about it, a bank could just look on Right Move or Zoopla or wherever. Of course, they'd have to be looking in the short window of opportunity that the property is listed on there before being removed a while after being let? And, it probably would be an ineffficient use of their time to just scour it. Then again, if the banks really wanted to chase down these people, they probably have someone smart enough to write some computer software (or just buy some) that would travel the internet and provide an up to date report of all address in the country available for rent. They could then cross reference that with their own database of contacts looking for matches between "no consent to let" and "property being offered to let" and then investigate further those matches.

Err no I don't think the bank would bother doing any of that, they'd just pay the likes of Experian LOL. Plenty of landlords get the please prove you're not letting or we will assume you are letter in these credit crunch times. In the boom years I doubt anyone cared but then there was always going to be house prices rises to bail everyone out of debt if the let went sour.

Edit or of course there is National Hunter. The point being there is a lot of data being cross referenced nowadays.

franklee

Henman_Bill wrote: »

Any particular threads or stories you can remember of people who lost out as a result of not having consent to let. Or maybe I need to get on Property Tribes to find out.

Yeah suggest you try asking, plenty over there are very experienced and they seem willing enough to help new posters:
http://www.propertytribes.com/

neas

I sold my house, bagged the equity and am currently in 'temporary' accomodation i.e. a rental while I look to buy in my new location.

I dislike people like yourself who cut corners. My landlord did a similar thing, she moved to australia, didnt get consent to let, does minimal repair work and always wants a 6 month tenancy as opposed to periodic tenancy agreements.

After looking up her name and address at the property, AND getting the land registry I have found out the following:

1. She did a runner and owed a car firm thousands of pounds... resulting in a CCJ for her at this address.
2. She didn't get consent to let ( I rung the bank up)
3. The CCJ has now been added as a charge on the house and the final step is a forced sale (aka repossession).


Now... if she had got consent to let properly and been a normal landlord I would have the normal notice period... as the bank aren't aware (other than my phone call) of me I will get less notice when a repossesion is ordered.


Now she has shafted me by her 'saving a few pounds' I have reported her to HMRC and made sure the bank knows we are here.

Nothing she could do to 'threaten' me as she is the one negligent.:beer: Just a few anonymous phone calls and BAM revenge.

Hope everything goes well for you but you are just another amateur landlord.... which unfortunately there are plenty about. I paid £200 for a credit check for me and the wife yet the landlord who has a CCJ is fine to rent to me? Go figure.

Dan-Dan

Henman_Bill wrote: »

Yes, I am a law abiding citizen. Probably more than most.

The number of times every month or year that I tell a lie is far below the average, it is almost never.

You couldnt not make this up

Land Lords do get a bad press , but you are a disaster wating to happen , for any prospective tenants and yourself

TopQuark

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

If I were you I'd be more concerned with breaking the law and committing a crime by opening someone else's mail.

And if I were a landlord in the quoted position, I'd be more concerned with paying my effing mortgage rather than attempting to threaten my tenants with spurious interpretations of the law.

missyv

Henman_Bill wrote: »

My Situation
We have a tracker mortgage. We are going to live abroad. The choices are to sell the house, rent the house and tell the bank, or rent the house and not tell the bank.
We never agreed not to let and the issue is not mentioned at all in any paperwork we ever received or signed. However the bank stated more recently that if I want to let it they would move me off the tracker (in a casual verbal enquiry in conversation).

Which Option is Best
Renting and telling the bank is the worst choice. They would be effectively charging me thousands a year to let it and I would be losing money each month. Selling the house was my first thought. I don’t want to just throw away a tracker rate though. By keeping the tracker rate and renting it out we will be able to cover costs and some years later sell the house at a profit. If I sold it now I would incur debt factoring in costs. And yes I have thought about the hassle and risks of being a landlord, and read the commonly referred to and useful thread on here.

Several forum posts (including on other forums) said that mortgage brokers even advised their clients not to tell the bank.

Ways the Bank Might Find Out I’m Letting
From the RGI/ landlord’s buildings insurance application? As far as I can guess, they wouldn’t share info?

From the utility companies, HMRC, PRTB (registration for landlords)? I doubt these kinds of organisations share info with banks?

From statements/bank letters sent to the house. Already changed to online statements, and will set up mail redirect, and maybe leave SAEs at the house for the tenants to forward mail very occassionally. Obviously, I will not tell the bank about any new address, abroad or elsewhere.

From trying to call the house to speak to me. Need to make sure my landline number is cancelled and removed from the bank’s records.

From a disgruntled tenant taking action. I think is lower risk if the tenant doesn’t know which bank I’m with, doesn’t know I don’t have a Consent to Let, and I have a good relationship with the tenant(s). But you never know as it may still be possible for a determined tenant to cause trouble.

If I fall behind on payments leading to them investigating. Will need to be extra careful to make sure this never happens.

Any other ways that they could find out?

Seems to me, and this is supported by anecdotal evidence on forums, that the bank probably won’t find out. Then again, you never know.

What do you think? How might the bank find out and how likely they will?


What The Bank Might Do If They Find Out
Call in the loan in a short time (how short? 1 month? 3?). If this happens, I will just have to put the house up for sale quickly, potentially at a slight loss vs the market value.

Change me a one off fee but let me continue after all on the current rate. Yeah, I wish I was with one of those banks that do that!

They could move me to a higher rate mortgage. No problem, but I may put the house up for sale if this happens.

They could also demand thousands in backdated payments. Again, the slight risk of this is probably worth it vs the likely gain. I haven’t heard any examples of this ever happening, so my guess is this is unlikely. And, if they do ask for this, I may refuse/negotiate on the grounds that I never agreed not to let the property. Anyway, just to be sure, I may keep a savings account to cover this.

The bank could negatively affect my credit rating. Then again, I am moving abroad.

Prosecution for fraud. Extremely unlikely. Wouldn’t it make the news if it ever happened, and I’ve never seen such a story and can’t find one online, so I think the banks would never or rarely take this route, especially given I haven’t signed anything.

Anything else they could do if they find out?

Perhaps they would just move me to the higher rate, at a guess??

Hi, you can get a 'consent to let doc' from your bank - costs about £100 & saves a lot of hassle/trouble down the line. You can let to friends, family, anyone, once you have this. But, by asking for, & applying for a consent to let, doesn't automatically mean a guaranteed agreement from the bank.