Urgent help neeeded please

Kaz232

Hi everyone

I'm hoping someone can give me some good advice please asap.

My daughter is about to start her third year at Uni in London and has just rented a flat along with three other students. They paid a finders' fee to an agent and signed a tenancy agreement a month ago. The agent is providing a full service for the landlord.

Odd items of post have turned up for the owner since they've moved in - one of them from Abbey National mentioned arrears (she could see through the window of the envelope) they've been forwarded to the agent.

Today two identical letters turned up from Eversheds - one addressed to the owner and one to 'the occupiers'. She opened the one for them and it said that they had a possession order and bailiffs would be arriving tomorrow at 9am and that everyone had to vacate the premises!

She's spent the afternoon at the agents - they've been trying to get hold of the owner but can't. They've advised her and her flatmates not to let the bailiffs in unless a policeman says they have to leave. They've said they'll sort out some emergency accommodation for them if they have to.

Does anyone know if they can be forced to leave tomorrow, considering they've got a signed tenancy agreement for a year? If so what happens to all their stuff? They're packing some bags tonight just in case but there's no way they can get all their stuff out tomorrow. I'm hoping that the tenancy agreement will buy them time and a court order would have to be made to evict them.

I feel so helpless - we live in Lancashire so it's not like we can just nip down and help them to sort things out. I'm furious at the agent - apparently this man has been a customer of theirs for 10 years and they've admitted they were aware that he had financial problems but he assured them that they were all sorted (yeah right :mad: ) I'd have thought a credit check on him by the agents would have shown it.

Any good advice gratefully received, thanks.

pinkshoes

The tenancy agreement will probably stand for nothing. If they only signed it a month ago, the owner was probably well aware of the mortgage arrears, and given that it takes quite a long time to get a possession order (through courts I think), then the owner was in no position to be letting people sign 1 year contracts!! This was probably a final effort on their behalf to try and get some money!

I would suggest that they all pack their bags, and insist that the agent rehouses them today!! ok, that's maybe a bit late now... They should not under any circumstances open the front door tomorrow!! Not even for the police, or at least until the police push ID through the letter box to prove who they are. Show the police a copy of the tenancy agreement, and explain that the reposession letter was only received today and that you weren't given any notice. They might give you some extra time...

If the worst comes to the worst, they should hire a minivan, and dump all their stuff in the agent office, and insist on camping out in there until they are rehoused.

Is it possible for them to move some stuff tonight and leave it with friends?

Kaz232

Thanks for that.

pinkshoes wrote: »

Is it possible for them to move some stuff tonight and leave it with friends?

Unfortunately not. There's no one they know who lives anywhere near them, none of them can drive and they've no means of moving stuff out at such short notice.

I'll just have to wait and see what happens in the morning. Either way the agents are going to get it in the neck for putting them in this position. :mad:

Generali

Kaz232 wrote: »

I'll just have to wait and see what happens in the morning. Either way the agents are going to get it in the neck for putting them in this position. :mad:

If it was me, I'd get the problem sorted first and then sort the agents out. A little goodwill could be very helpful to your daughter.

Kaz232

Generali wrote: »

If it was me, I'd get the problem sorted first and then sort the agents out. A little goodwill could be very helpful to your daughter.

Thanks - that's exactly what I meant, the agents will be sorted when we know the extent of the damage. Unfortunately there's nothing I can personally do to sort the problem at the moment, apart from offering my support and limited advice to my daughter and her friends, so I'm just hoping they'll have a roof over their heads by tomorrow night.

barnaby-bear

Kaz232 wrote: »

Hi everyone

I'm hoping someone can give me some good advice please asap.

My daughter is about to start her third year at Uni in London and has just rented a flat along with three other students. They paid a finders' fee to an agent and signed a tenancy agreement a month ago. The agent is providing a full service for the landlord.

Odd items of post have turned up for the owner since they've moved in - one of them from Abbey National mentioned arrears (she could see through the window of the envelope) they've been forwarded to the agent.

Today two identical letters turned up from Eversheds - one addressed to the owner and one to 'the occupiers'. She opened the one for them and it said that they had a possession order and bailiffs would be arriving tomorrow at 9am and that everyone had to vacate the premises!

She's spent the afternoon at the agents - they've been trying to get hold of the owner but can't. They've advised her and her flatmates not to let the bailiffs in unless a policeman says they have to leave. They've said they'll sort out some emergency accommodation for them if they have to.

Does anyone know if they can be forced to leave tomorrow, considering they've got a signed tenancy agreement for a year? If so what happens to all their stuff? They're packing some bags tonight just in case but there's no way they can get all their stuff out tomorrow. I'm hoping that the tenancy agreement will buy them time and a court order would have to be made to evict them.

I feel so helpless - we live in Lancashire so it's not like we can just nip down and help them to sort things out. I'm furious at the agent - apparently this man has been a customer of theirs for 10 years and they've admitted they were aware that he had financial problems but he assured them that they were all sorted (yeah right :mad: ) I'd have thought a credit check on him by the agents would have shown it.

Any good advice gratefully received, thanks.

Without permission to let the tenancy agreement isn't valid or worth the paper written on. However worth contacting mortgage company asap and make them aware of situation and ask/beg for a few days/weeks.
At the moment they have less rights than squatters and legally would have to go when asked bit like trespassers however mortgage company may be willing to be a little bit charitable if you are very polite and understanding - both them and daughter have been ripped off by a shark.

barnaby-bear

Generali wrote: »

If it was me, I'd get the problem sorted first and then sort the agents out. A little goodwill could be very helpful to your daughter.

True they have no legal obligation to help or access his funds (deposit) they may just do it on the sly if you are very grateful and polite - it isn't their fault - they don't do credit checks on landlords. If his name and address on the contract they can wipe their hands if fully managed and they signed contract on his behalf may have a little comeback but they do sound like fairly good guys.

funschine

I suggest that if your daughter does need help to move her things, she asks the Student association or student support at her Uni for help. Afterall, thats what they are there for. WhenI was a student we couldnt organise for transport for our things to be moved to storage for the summer, so the student association sent 12 guys and a van who moved everything. Student support my even be able to offer financial help towards the cost of moving flats again. Its worth asking. Most uni's are good at helping students in crises. They just don't always advertise all the financial support that they do offer.

Hope everything works out for your daughter.

RedTomato

I was under the impression that if a property that had a proper BTL mortage was repossessed, the lender had to honour the tenancy agreement but if the owner was breaking the terms of their mortgage, then the tenancy agreement was void.
Whatever happens, I would say, do make sure that you complain in the strongest terms to your MP about this. My friends were evicted from a flat that had been rented out by an owner who had a residential mortgage and got found out. I find it horrendous that honest people who rent in good faith can be turfed out on the street with no notice if the owner has cheated. We need a law change! Especially as we are likely to see many people who have overstretched themselves by owning several properties losing them as mortgage rates reset over the next year.

franklee

Tenants really do need to check that the landlord's lender has given permission to let. If they have not then the lender will not have to take notice of the tenancy agreement. Although it takes some time for the lender to obtain possession in cases like this that may already be well advanced BEFORE the current tenant came along, if there is already a possession order and bailiffs due then the court process is already done. In which case I think the tenant does have to get out with little or no warning or notice. If the letting agent was any good they should have checked there was permission to let, it looks like they didn't.

Kaz232, Your daughter will have a claim against her landlord for breach of the tenancy agreement but that may not get far if the landlord is broke. Meanwhile the most important thing is to arrange to move out, so I'd agree with the posters saying to ask the Uni for assistance in moving. Until they can move out make sure there is always at least one of the tenants in the property and make sure the bailiff has the proper court order to evict. It may be the bailiffs evict your daughter and friends and change the locks, locking her possessions inside and she may be able to arrange to collect them later. Make sure the bailiff knows what is hers and what is the landlords. Certainly explain what's happened to the bailiff, if lucky they may grant a bit more time. The other option is to hire removers and put her possessions in storage, depending on how much there is. Then stay on a friends floor or a B&B. Maybe the Uni can provide a place in halls?

Let us know how it goes.