Visit from NCI personnell

confused_tenant

I am currently renting privately from a landlord, but through a letting agents.

Our landlord now lives in Spain and is only contactable through phone. However, with previous problems with the house it has been extremely hard to get in contact with him, having to get in touch with a friend of his instead.

Anyway, we have a very good neighbour who works from home and keeps an eye on the house. He recently told us that a man had visited the house looking for our landlord. He informed them the house was rented by us and have heard nothing since. We have a lot of post come to the house addressed to our landlord, which we have informed him about, and much of the post is marked by banks and one from NCI.

Having looked up what NCI are it appears they are a mortgage arrears company. My instincts are telling me something isn't right, but I don't feel comfortable getting in touch with the landlord and approaching this topic.

Is there anything that we can do in the meantime? Perhaps with the letting agents? Or should we just send the post back marked with "No longer lives at this address". We have told him about the post and he was going to make arrangements for a family member to collect it but hasn't done so yet!

Many thanks for any advice.

sussexchick

Hi

Personally I'd be inclined to bag up the post and take it to the letting agents office and let them deal with it.

Good luck

G_M

What is the address you have been given (see Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 ) "for the serving of notices" on the landlord?

Write to the LL there.

Read this post just in case, so you are prepared if the worst happens....:

Repossession(What happens if a landlord's mortgage lender repossesses the property?)

re post: you are not a postman - do with it what you choose.

Rent: who do you pay? If the letting agent, fine. But if you pay direct into the landlord's account, beware! As he is overseas you should be deducting tax, and HMRC can chase YOU for HIS tax. Read:

HMRC (Non Resident [= overseas] Landlord Scheme)

ValHaller

G_M wrote: »

.... Read this post just in case, so you are prepared if the worst happens....:

Repossession(What happens if a landlord's mortgage lender repossesses the property?)

confused_tenant, if you take nothing from the above link, remember that ALL mail addressed to 'The Occupier' is intended for you. And once the word 'repo' is mentioned, you would do well to read all such mail.

confused_tenant

As my name suggests I really am confused. Grateful for all help received though.

Firstly, any post received so far has been addressed to the landlord/his wife but nothing to 'The Occupier'. Therefore, nothing had been opened as I was under the impression that may be illegal As for the serving address, all correspondence has our rental address on. I did wonder whether we should send all post back staying no longer living at this address, technically it's true. Plus I hate the thought of being at work and having arrears companies knocking on the door.


Secondly, we pay rent to him which letting agents are aware of! He is an above board landlord (I sound naive I know, but...), deposits all in the right place etc. In sunmary, our main concern is if he has fallen behind on mortgage, which considering the visit from NCI seems very likely, cab we Do anything to confirm this? Apart from returning up his post and considering leaving the beautiful house we love. It's a pain it's taking so long to save a deposit or we would go and buy now!

Fire_Fox

It's not illegal to open mail that arrives at your home unless you intend to use it to the detriment of the addressee. TBH it does not sound like he is an above board landlord, sounds like he is making various mistakes. Either return the mail to sender/ not at this address or write to the lender and NCI stating that you are the tenants, enclose a copy of your tenancy agreement.

If you do not have an address at which to serve notices in England or Wales (pretty sure this cannot be your address, given there is clearly no redirect on the mail) then rent is not due, ie. you can stop paying. Write to the letting agent asking for an address at which to serve notices on your landlord. http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/landlord's_address.htm

He also should be registered for tax, tenants can be asked to pay the tax if the landlord fails to do this
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/nr-landlords.htm

I would not rely on the letting agents to take action on the possible repossession or mail forwarding, they don't have any obligation to and they cannot force the landlord to take action either.

ValHaller

confused_tenant wrote: »

Firstly, any post received so far has been addressed to the landlord/his wife but nothing to 'The Occupier'. Therefore, nothing had been opened as I was under the impression that may be illegal As for the serving address, all correspondence has our rental address on. I did wonder whether we should send all post back staying no longer living at this address, technically it's true. Plus I hate the thought of being at work and having arrears companies knocking on the door.

Fire Fox has addressed the matter of the post. It is often stated on these pages that it is illegal to open post not addressed to you, and sometimes the relevant section of the Act which applies is quoted. But the wording is misunderstood. Basically, you are safe to open any mail delivered through your door, to acquaint yourself with what ever might be incoming in the longer term, as long as you don't use any information to the detriment of the addressee.

Just keep a copy of your tenancy agreement by the door to show to any callers who need clarification.