Rented house sold at auction

singingintherain

I've been reading the forum for a long time and have got a lot of useful information, but am now posting because I want to try to help a friend. She has been renting a house for a few years, initially with her ex, but on her own since last summer. She has a small child, works part time and receives some benefits, so has managed to keep up with rent payments on her own. After ex left, the LL agreed to put the contract in her name only. They have been renewing the 6-month AST, last time was in April.

Now the LL is selling the house, together with several other properties he owns next door - apparently everything is going to auction as one lot. There have been a number of viewings and my friend thinks all of them are investors. She has not been issued a S21 or any other notice and hopes that whoever buys the house simply becomes her new LL, but is worried about her rights if they don't want to keep her as a tenant. Is there any risk that she could have to leave before her AST is up (in October)? My concern is if the bank has actually repossessed the properties and LL didn't have permission to let. There is no reason to believe that this is the case, but would she necessarily have found out if the house was being repossessed? All she has to go on is the LL stating that HE is selling the property at auction.

Also, what about her deposit if the property sells to an investor who agrees to let her stay (or gives her notice to leave at the end of the current AST)? She says she assumes it's been protected but hasn't been given any details. Am I right that she could sue the LL to get it returned in full and maybe even plus 3 x? What happens when the property is sold?

Grateful for any answers as to what (if anything) she should do to protect herself and her child. Thank you!

Werdnal

If she has a fixed term until October, she cannot be evicted until then, although new LL could give notice at any time to enforce eviction at the point the FT expires.

Her deposit (or responsibility for it) will transfer to the new owner, who will take on all liability and obligations for the tenancy. They will have to re-protect it an issue her with the scheme's information withint30 days of receipt. If they don't, she can then sue them for its return. At the moment, she could write to her existing LL and ask for proof it is protected. If she has not received the information, sounds unlikley, and the current LL is now in breach of deposit protection regs so she could demand the depost back in full now, and threaten court action for the 1-3x penalty.

However, lack of deposit protection may work in her favour at the moment, as any S21 issued on an unprotected deposit will be invalid, so probably best to say nothing and see what happens. Either way, sounds like she is secure until October, but who knows after that ...?

G_M

Providing you have a fixed term your new landlord will have to honour it (and also takes responsibility for your deposit.

My concern is if the bank has actually repossessed the properties and LL didn't have permission to let.

This is a slightly different scenario. Read:

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

dodger1

With regard to repossession this happened to me and I received a letter from the Building Society addressed to the Occupier. With regard to the deposit my previous LL hadn't protected the deposit and the Building Society added the amount to the mortgage arrears and then protected the deposit with the DPS themselves.

singingintherain

Thanks everyone, that's brilliant - sounds like she's ok then as she hasn't had anything addressed to the Occupier. Presumably it's just a regular sale and whoever buys it will have to either keep her as a tenant or give her the correct notice.

Good to know also that responsibility for her deposit will be transferred to the new owner, thanks Werdnal - I assume this is the case even if the LL doesn't forward the actual money to the buyer?

There is actually a bit of a complication as she has an issue with the current LL... She bought a brand new trampoline for her child, and within a couple of weeks this was ruined by LL burning rubbish in a "fire pit" on a piece of land next door which he also owns (part of the whole lot that's going to auction). The cinders and ash were blown across to my friend's garden and burned proper holes in the trampoline itself and the protective netting etc. Just lucky her child wasn't on it at the time :eek: Anyway, she has tried to confront him about the damage (by text - I know, I've told her to put everything in writing instead) but she got no reply. She has now informed him that she intends to withhold the cost of the trampoline from her next rent payment. I've told her that I don't think she should do this - but then again, the amount is well below even one month's rent, never mind two, so she presumably can't be evicted for this? But it might complicate things with regards to the deposit!?!

Any ideas what she could/should do? I guess she could report him to the council, but doubt that this would get her anywhere? Or should she just forget about it since the house is (potentially) about to be sold? Or can she withhold the amount for a new trampoline from her rent (pretty sure she can't...)?

Werdnal

Never withhold rent as this is a sure fire way to be evicted!

If your friend wants to sue him for the value of the trampoline she should do so as a separate issue as this has nothing to do with the tenancy or the fact that he is her landlord. The damage could just as easily have been caused by an ignorant neighbour doing the same thing, so keep this issue and the tenancy separate.

When is the auction happening? If she can hold off making the claim until the sale has gone through - with auctions you normally complete the sale within a month, then she has no worries about the LL taking any relatiatory action against her, as he will no longer have control of the property!

Claim can be done online through Moneyclaim, or via small claims court.