Bank commenced possession proceedings in respect to property I am renting?

Flyer333

HI all

I opened a letter yesterday addressed to the Tenant or Occupier of the address that I am renting at.

I have been living here since Feb 2013 on a 12 month agreement through a letting agent who are looking after the property

The letter is from a solicitors and details the following:
Claimant: Bank (HSBC)
Defendant: The name of the landlord/owner
County Court: Address of local court
Claim no: self-explanatory
Hearing date: 12 June.

I have scanned this and sent to my letting agent asking for urgent clarification.

Please can someone advise me on what I should do, and what sort of rights I have?

Thanks

princeofpounds

Thankfully it's not quite as bad as it used to be.

The situation is that your tenancy will continue unless the repossession is ordered.

At that point the tenancy ends. (The exception to this is if the mortgage had consent-to-let on it, in which case the bank must respect the tenancy agreement and will become your new LL)

Even if the tenancy is about to end, the new(ish) rule is that you can attend court as a tenant and ask for 2 months notice for the possession order to be executed. It used to be that you were totally ignored as part of the decision.

So it's a good idea to visit the court. You can find out who wins (and so who you need to pay money to, or not, going forward), and you can ask for the delay.

The court won't stop for you unless it knows you are there, so be assertive before they make an order. You should consult the court clerks about how you should make your presence known (they are allowed to give procedural advice).

The main thing is not to pay rent to the wrong person, as the LL is probably bankrupt and recovering it may be impossible. If you pay too much in advance, it's one of the rare situations I would suggest witholding rent until the situation is clear.

I was in this situation once and it's a pain because usually:

- the LL hides from embarrassment
- the LA says it's the LL's business and they know nothing
- the bank won't say anything due to 'data protection'
- the lawyers won't say anything due to 'client confidentiality'
- the court won't say much as 'you are not a party to the case'

But if you deal with it correctly you will get at least 2 months notice before your occupation ends and 3-4 before any bailiffs actually turn up to evict.

Flyer333

Hi, sorry but I did not understand the part about paying rent to the wrong person.
I am currently paying via DD to the letting agent.

I have asked them to clarify the situation so should I wait until I hear back from them before deciding what to do?
Or should I inform them that I intend to withold rent until the situation is resolved?

Not sure I am clear on that part of your message.

princeofpounds

If the property possession is awarded to the bank, the tenancy ends.

If you pay rent in advance, you run the risk of paying advance money for a tenancy that stops existing (probably only a month's worth, but even so). You then have to try to recover that money, or more likely lose it.

But if you do not pay and the LL wins the case, then you pay up, you will not paid your rent on time. That's unlikely to have serious consequences, but even so it's not great.

So it can be the lesser evil to withold rent temporarily, until you find out who the owner of the property is, and if they will be your LL or not.

You have to do the calculation of your payment dates vs the rental periods they correspond to to see if this could be an issue. You should certainly continue paying the rent due up until the hearing, as your LL is still your LL for that period.

Obviously the agents might come back with more information but you cannot rely on them. They work for themselves first and the landlord second, and they do not work for you.

That's why seeing the court decision first-hand is important if you can. It prevents a 'mistake' being made and your handing money over to someone who is no longer your LL on the basis of misinformation.

Flyer333

Ok, thanks.
My payments are due on the 8th of each month.
So I can pay this one and then withold the payments from next month onwards until I learn the outcome of the case, or hear otherwise from the agents.
I will make sure I inform them in writing.

bouicca21

This is exactly what happened to me last year. I had some terrific advice from Shelter. Ring them.

Whilst the precise details are thankfully now no longer in the forefront of my memory, the advice involved making an application to the county court for a delay in the eviction in order to find another property plus contacting the mortgage company and offering to pay the rent direct as an occupation fee.

Thankfully I had forced the landlord to protect my deposit as he refused to repay it when I moved. I had taken dated digital photos when I moved in and I took dated digital photos when I moved out. It took three months to go through the complaints process with My Deposits but I got the lot back.

G_M

This post give further details:

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

Flyer333

Thanks again for responses.

Specifically with regards to my rent payments, should I withold the June payment and write to the agent advising them that I will pay this depending on the outcome of the case?

Or should I wait to hear from them?

Bit confused about this part really.

As the case isnt til 12th june I should let this April payment through and then withold?

G_M

Flyer333 wrote: »

Thanks again for responses.

Specifically with regards to my rent payments, should I withold the June payment and write to the agent advising them that I will pay this depending on the outcome of the case?

Or should I wait to hear from them?

Bit confused about this part really.

As the case isnt til 12th june I should let this April payment through and then withold?

See the link in my post above.

Flyer333

Thanks, I read it and will be following that advice for sure.
I have already posted a letter to the bank seeking further clarification.

But it does not mention anything about witholding rent as far as I can see.
This is the part I am confused by.

greenchicken

Just found this thread, I am in the exact same situation and posted about it this morning: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4579647

So far I have been sent a letter saying we will receive another letter stating the date of the repossession - will that be the point at which I can attend a court hearing?