I have no idea who my tenant is...

lottylenya

Ok.. quite an odd situation; and before I fully explain it I am aware it is strange and there are things i should have checked/done before I got to this stage which I didn't; but without too much judgement or "its your own fault because..." I was hoping to try and get some assistance on this matter please

I've become the owner of a property with a tenant on an AST. When it was conveyed to me I was passed as "much information as the sellers solicitors had" which was a very very photocopied AST which was quite illegible and a set of keys.

The previous owners had an AST set up with a tenant who moved in about a month before I bought the place, the previous owners appear to be an investment company. The sellers solicitors claim to have no information about the tenancy and point blank refuse to contact the sellers to get it, so I am left having to investigate it all myself.

The information I was given supposedly indicated that the tenant was on housing benefits and had the rent paid for him, but having contacted the benefits office I have learnt he only enquired to them about benefits and hasn't yet completed a claim for it. I was hoping to just get the benefits office to pay the rent of the property to me direct, but as he isn't on their books yet I now need to get the tenant to pay me direct instead of the previous owners.

I have no contact information for the tenant other than an address. I live 300 miles from this property so I can't go knocking on his door (yet). I just need him to pay me the rent instead of the previous owners, but all I know is the monthly rent amount and I have no idea whether he even had paid any rent or not to the previous owners. I sent him a letter saying along the lines of "the owners of the property you rent have changed can you please now pay rent to this new account yada yada yada" and I said I'd need a reply within 5 days, to email or otherwise.

I only sent this letter yesterday, but what happens now?
If all is great and dandy he will be polite and nice and just transfer it to me instead from now on which will be perfect. If he decides instead to be awkward, what do I do if he doesnt reply to this letter or the reminder letter I'd send after? Surely I would have given him the necessary time to move payments to me, do I then have to serve an eviction notice on him? What is he refuses to vacate? And is there any other way I can find information about this person because the sellers are not playing ball?

Much appreciated

TBagpuss

IF i were a tenant I would be very suspicious of a random stranger writing to tell me to start paying them rent - I certianly wouldn't start paying simply on their say-so.
Did you send anything with your letter to prove that you are the new owner?

You say that the seller's solicitor is refusing to contact the seller to clarify - while it would have been better to have made these enquiries before buying, even at this stage I would get your solicitor to write to the seller's solicitor and ask them to confirm that they have no objection to them (your solicitors) writing directly to the seller - presumably the seller's must know something more - someone must have signed the AST for the landlord, for instance, and that person/organisation ought to have clearer copies.

I think if the tenant fails to pay rent you would be able to start eviction proceedings, but I suspect you might find it very difficult if you can't prove that the tenant was given adequate information about who the new landlord is. I would assume that you will also need to be able to prove what the tenancy says about rent. I that part of the lease legible?

If your solicitor did not advise you to make further enquiries before you completed then I would recommend that you seek advice from a different solicitor.

G_M

See S3 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985:

Duty to inform tenant of assignment of landlord’s interest.

(1)If the interest of the landlord under a tenancy of premises which consist of or include a dwelling is assigned, the new landlord shall give notice in writing of the assignment, and of his name and address, to the tenant not later than the next day on which rent is payable under the tenancy or, if that is within two months of the assignment, the end of that period of two months.
(2)If trustees consititute the new landlord, a collective description of the trustes as the trustees of the trust in question may be given as the name of the landlord, and where such a collective description is given—
(a)the address of the new landlord may be given as the address from which the affairs of the trust are conducted, and
(b)a change in the persons who are for the time being the trustees of the trust shall not be treated as an assignment of the interest of the landlord.
(3)A person who is the new landlord under a tenancy falling within subsection (1) and who fails, without reasonable excuse to give the notice required by that subsection, commits a summary offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.
[F1(3A)The person who was the landlord under the tenancy immediately before the assignment (“the old landlord”) shall be liable to the tenant in respect of any breach of any covenant, condition or agreement under the tenancy occurring before the end of the relevant period in like manner as if the interest assigned were still vested in him; and where the new landlord is also liable to the tenant in respect of any such breach occurring within that period, he and the old landlord shall be jointly and severally liable in respect of it.
(3B)In subsection (3A) “the relevant period” means the period beginning with the date of the assignment and ending with the date when—
(a)notice in writing of the assignment, and of the new landlord’s name and address, is given to the tenant by the new landlord (whether in accordance with subsection (1) or not), or
(b)notice in writing of the assignment, and of the new landlord’s name and last-known address, is given to the tenant by the old landlord,
whichever happens first.]

I would enclose a copy of the property Title register showing you as owner.

You need to ensure
* they know where/how to pay rent
* that their deposit (for which you are now responsible) is registered
* that they have an address in Eng/Wales 'for the serving of notices'

His benefits claim is not your business - only receipt of rent is.

If he fails to pay rent, you serve a S8 Notice and evict - assuming you have complied with legislation as new owner. See also:

Written demands (for rent etc: LL's actual address needed) Beitov Properties Ltd v Martin

You also need to comply with all other landlord legislation:

[FONT=&quot]New Landlords[/FONT][FONT=&quot] (information for new or prospective landlords)[/FONT]

lottylenya

Thanks for the replies; I've got my solicitors trying to get more information, perhaps from the sellers directly if possible, but so far there has been no luck. There is parts of the AST which is readable which is offering more concern as it isn't signed by the previous owners and only has the tenant's name written down in pen (I'm not even sure if it is his signature or just his name written in pen) - it's just making things a little more difficult and I am wary of this becoming an ever increasing spiral of problems.

G_M

Purely out of curiosity - how did you come to "become the owner" without any of this information? My assumption was an inheritance, except that you refer to 'the seller'.

So you must have made a decision to buy..........

bris

How could you possibly buy a property without getting the essential information required? If this is a professional tenant your in big trouble.

[Deleted User]

Just found previous post https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4797649. Its a repo property and it looks like not enough investigations were done before purchase.

From your original post in this thread.., you purchased the place, knowing new tenants had moved in a month previously, without a clear copy of the tenancy agreement, that might not be signed?

I am afraid you really do need a firm of solicitors who know what they are doing re tenancy law. How can we help you here with so many unknowns? You don't know if the tenants have an implied tenancy or a documented AST.., you don't know if a deposit was paid or lodged as it should have been. You don't know who these tenants are even. You don't seem sure who the previous owners of the property were.

You need to clarify your position before you can act on it. A tenancy specialist solicitor is really needed here. (And BTW, you can't apply to HB to have rent paid directly without showing the need.., i.e. the tenancy rent payments are in arrears etc). If you don't have a clear tenancy agreement, I doubt there'd be much chance of this. You can find the previous owners through the Land Registry site and payment of a small fee. I don't know how the repo process will affect this, but its a start. You seem to be wandering around in the dark a bit, with little knowledge of what you need to do and why. I'd amend that situation if I was you.., quickly.

I wouldn't trust the firm of solicitors who processed this highly risky purchase to be any more helpful than they have been already (what they have done is akin to handing a suicidal person a rope with knots already in place).

I do hope you had some luck with job hunting as I'm afraid this risky purchase could cost you.

princeofpounds

What's the bet the tenants have a maximum length 4 year AST with peppercorn rent?

Land_Registry

deannatrois wrote: »

You don't seem sure who the previous owners of the property were.......You can find the previous owners through the Land Registry site and payment of a small fee. I don't know how the repo process will affect this, but its a start.

The online information (£3 to view the register) will only reveal the current ownership details, which presumably are now the OP.

The normal process with a repo sale is that the registered lender completes a Transfer of the property to the new owner (you) without first registering themselves.

If you want to check the previous ownership details with us you would need to apply by post using form HC1 and paying £7 for an historical edition of the register. The form requires a date to be included for the edition required so simply choose one which predates the sale date to you.

However if you are unsure re the dates then I would recommend contacting us and we should be able to advise on a date to use.

Further guidance on how to obtain past information and where to send the form is available online

Pixie5740

What about your responsibilites as a LL? Are there gas applicances in the property, if so is there a current gas safety certificate? Where is the tenant's deposit being held? How will you manage the property if you live 300 miles away? Just a couple of things to consider along with collecting the rent.