Suspect landlords doesn't have banks consent to let... mortgage arrears of 7k

davidmcn

stebiz wrote: »

Oh dear, somebody doesn't understand law. Let me spell it out

“A person commits an offence if intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.”

So although a 2 year old can't be held responsible. If he/she continues to open mail, which would be to the detriment of the Landlord (as I guess the Landlord would prefer they didn't know his affairs) without a reasonable excuse they are breaking the law, as it should have been delivered to the Landlord - as it was said the Lender sent to the wrong address.

But others have already explained how the Act defines "correctly delivered". None of that section applies in this case because it's an item which has been correctly delivered.

Ulfar

stebiz wrote: »

Oh dear, somebody doesn't understand law. Let me spell it out

“A person commits an offence if intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.”

So although a 2 year old can't be held responsible. If he/she continues to open mail, which would be to the detriment of the Landlord (as I guess the Landlord would prefer they didn't know his affairs) without a reasonable excuse they are breaking the law, as it should have been delivered to the Landlord - as it was said the Lender sent to the wrong address.

You can open any mail addressed to your address as long as you aren't acting with intent to the detriment of the addressee. No intent no offence. The laws tricky like that, the clause isn't an OR clause its an AND, so both intent and lack of reasonable excuse have to apply.

Also it could be argued that the tenant was acting in the LLs best interests and they are abroad, the letter is obviously important and time sensitive.

G_M

Yup - the Act applies while the mail is in transit. Not once it has been correctly delivered.

If it is correctly delivered to the postal address on the envelope, the Act no longer applies.

But as said, this is pretty much a red herring - What OP needs to establish is

* are there mortgage arrears
* is mortgage lender planning, or likely, to repossess
* does landlord have CTL

Letting agent is an unreliable sourse of information and can probobly only at best go on what the LL tells them.

Lender will not tell tenant anything till legal proceedings commence.

So lanlord is the only source of information, and he too should be doubted as he's unlikely to admit to financial difficulties. If he produces a Consent To Let letter, and/or mortgage payment statement - that would clear matters up. But I don't see that happening.....

Best advice? Start house hunting, and if you find somewhere, request an 'Early Surrender' from the LL and get out while the going's good.

bouicca21

FYI when I had my problem I could get no information whatsoever from the bank or their solicitors even though I was facing imminent eviction (the bank had already obtained a county court judgement about a year previously so had only to take steps to enforce it). I managed to move super quickly, with just days in hand before the bailiffs were supposed to take possession. I did apply to the court for a stay of execution and that probably would have bought me more time, but the landlord's assurances that all would be sorted did not inspire confidence without similar assurances from the bank, and it seemed best just to get out.

I think op should get out as fast as possible.

arcon5

Okydoky25 wrote: »

Had the identical happen to us. We was hounded by debt collectors the whole time we were there. Any problems never got addressed I suspect due to lack of funds. I finally negotiated an early release when they wanted to try and sell before they were repossessed and they wanted me to allow viewings and funnily I refused! Nightmare start to finish!
I reported to their mortgage company and HMRC and gave their true address to all their debtors.

No YOU wasn't hounded by debt collectors.

arcon5

Some really poor advice around

Like ask his lender if he has consent to let knowing he may see an increase in rates - talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Opening his mAil - talk about burning bridges.

Even mention of hmrc. His tax affairs are irrelevant

SerialRenter

arcon5 wrote: »

Even mention of hmrc. His tax affairs are irrelevant

Tax evasion is always relevant. it's our pocket they're stealing from.

Always report to HMRC if suspected.

dancingfairy

I'm not sure there's a lot you can do at the moment. Sadly you are locked in a contract. Someone earlier has explained the difference it makes if the landlord has permission to let the property (or not).
Keep an eye out for letters addressed to the occupier.
Keep an eye out for any official bank letters that may be addressed to your house.
Check whether your deposit is registered. If it is not registered then obviously your chances of getting it back are a lot lower (especially if the house gets repossessed) but on the other hand it would give you leverage to try and negotiate your way out of the contract.
All I can think of is that you try and negotiate your way out of the contract. The landlord is unlikely to agree but you can always try.
Also double check whether there are any break clauses in your contract. If you can find one for the landlord then you can argue that the same should apply to you ( I know you said you had a look but it's worth double checking).
If you need specific help then try Shelter.
df

stebiz

arcon5 wrote: »

Some really poor advice around

Like ask his lender if he has consent to let knowing he may see an increase in rates - talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Opening his mAil - talk about burning bridges.

Even mention of hmrc. His tax affairs are irrelevant

Yup, I agree with you.

Wirenth

If the LL is resident overseas, he won't owe HMRC tax on the rental income (assuming it's below the personal allowance threshold). He'll owe the tax on this 'foreign income' to the country he's resident in...

And if it is above the personal allowance threshold, tax will be deducted and given to HMRC and then he'll declare it to the other govt for relief, assuming he's in a country that has a dual taxation agreement with the UK.