Really need help! Landlords bankrupt!

Therenter55

Hi all, I made a post previously about the dis repair in my flat and now I've done some digging I've found out that the landlord is bankrupt and her mortgage lender now owns her estate from repossessing it. I'm four months into a 12 month shorthold tenancy agreement and as the Solicitors ask, no there isn't a break clause :-(

I have had no keys for windows since agreement was signed even though I requested for them. I have no code for the alarm in the flat. The door handle and lock is falling off the main door to my flat.

The windows are all coming away where its been sealed so lets in a very bad draft. The showers broken twice and is still waiting for repair after a month of it being reported. They spent three months before they fixed my hallway timer light. My switches to the shower and storage tank were very hot when turned on and were left for 3 weeks before they repaired them. A convector heater went and I had to buy my own heater as they took three weeks to replace that.

I have since contacted the environmental agency, the Tenancy relations officer who I'm waiting to hear from, a Solicitors firm and Shelter charity who by the way were very very good.

I have been told the repair times are well out of the reasonable time of repair and my landlord has given me permission to leave the agreement BUT the problem is the letting agency are saying I can't leave because the banks need to apparently give me permission not her. Is this true? They also refused to give me the new landlords name and address which is against the law as we all new under the tenant and landlord agreement act 1985.

What should I say to the banks? Should I just leave now my Landlords given me permission or doesn't she have a say anymore?

Sorry about the long post it has been a nightmare the letting agents are making me feel like I've done something wrong I wouldn't wish this on anyone!

RAS

Ok

Stop paying any rent. Because you are not allowed to pay rent to your old landlord because they are bankrupt.

Your landlord can agree nothing with you as she no longer owns the house.

And until the new owner provides you with ther contact details, you are not legally required to pay rent to anyone. Put it aside until they get in touch.

You could contact her Insolvency Practitioner; you may well find their details here http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/eiir/

They will take your details and may pass them to the lender or give you the name of the lender.

Or go to the Land Registry and find out who the lender are (cost £3). Note the lender may be very cagey but should then send you information on the rent situation.

dancingfairy

Hi. What you need to do know is find out where you stand legally. This page from Shelter is a helpful starting point: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repossession/about_repossession/repossession_by_a_landlords_lender
In addition to the legal contracts, common sense comes into play. The new landlord may be quite happy for you to both walk away.
You need to decide what you want. Do you want to stay (and try and get the repairs done) or do you want to break the contract early?
I also suggest that you write to the new landlord and let them know that you are in the property. This means that if they did decide to evict you then you would at least have some warning.
I'd suggest that the best bet would probably be to try and get a surrender (if the contact hasn't already been voided - though this will depend on whether your landlord had a buy to let mortgage or consent to let or neither). Trying to enforce repairs with your new landlord will probably take time, even if they are happy to do them.
Have a think about what you would ideally like to achieve in this situation.
Best of Luck
df

G_M

Has the bank, or Official Receiver, contacted you?

How do you know the LL is bankrupt?

Who has taken possession of the property?

Until you know the answers to these Qs, do not pay any rent. Set it aside (don't spend it!), you'll need to pay eventually.

IF the LL is bankrupt, then
* he does not own the property anymore so
* he is not your landlord

Your new LL must inform you in writing who they are and what their address is "for the serving of notices"( see the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 S3). Until then you do not have to pay them rent.

Once you have this confirmed, they are the people to report the repiaring issues to.

As for your security as a tenant, read:


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

Therenter55

Thank you all so much for the quick replies. I think it was a buy to let mortgage she had as the letting agents have said "everything will carry on as normal" I am so angry I had to find this out and they didn't inform me. I had to dig deep for the landlords number and when I called her she sounded really surprised as she said shed got permission off the courts to still authorize repairs and still I haven't had anything repaired.

And do I stop paying my standing order of my rent to the letting agents? Wouldn't that make me worse off if it went to the courts?

Noones contacted me, the landlord said herself she's bankrupt as alot of tenants were not paying there rent so she fell behind on mortgage payments and they've confirmed the bank has took the property back.

Isn't the contract now void since noone told me about all of this? It seems like the letting agency are trying to prevent me from leaving as I hate the place its falling apart and is in need of alot of repair its making me feel mentally ill the amount of phone calls and chasing around I'm having to do.

I have bought the £3 property info PDF it says who was the mortgage lender for the property would this be the same bank that's took repossession? As the agency are not letting me know the banks name.

G_M

Read the advice given and the links supplied!

Either the landlord still owns the property, and you should therefore continue to pay the rent.

r the landlord no longer owns the property, so you do not pay rent till the new landlord writes to you as per the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 S3

Why should your contract be void? It is not. The only change may be that you have a new LL, as explained.

And if you have doubts, and are not sure if the LL still owns or not, stop paying rent till it's clarified, and write explaining why.

As for ending the tenancy, that is nothing to do with the agent. Only the current landlord (whoever that now is!) can agree your request for an Early surrender.

So the big question for you is........???

Therenter55

That is good advice and I have read all the links and done the research but if I fail to pay the rent I could be evicted myself. The agency just said "the banks own the property now" so I have no idea as they've refused to give me the name of the bank that's why I contacted the council.

I'm hoping the bank wants to sell up so I can leave all this mess behind.

Thanks for your reply anyway.

G_M

1) if they evict you, that will end the tenancy. Isn't that what you want!!!?

2) if it is the agent who has told you there is a new landlord, then how can they evict you for failing to pay rent, since you have not been told who the new LL is?

Annisele

Therenter55 wrote: »

That is good advice and I have read all the links and done the research but if I fail to pay the rent I could be evicted myself.

The only person who can evict you is your landlord. That can't happen overnight - they'd have to serve court proceedings. And the very first step of all of that is telling you who they are.

If you keep the rent saved up separately (as others have advised) then as soon as the new landlord proves that they really are your landlord you can just pay the money over - so non-payment of rent wouldn't be an issue.

Therenter55

Ok ill follow this advice and keep the thread updated so anyone having the same problems in the future can find some good advise and possible solutions to their nightmare. Thank you to everyone who has replied.