Bankrupt landlord-legal obligation to pay rent to receivers??

BH1976

Thanks Molerat, exactly the kind of info I was after!��
So as far as our deposit, we were told it's know with the receivers, am I right in thinking they should be holding it in a protected scheme, to be returned to us when we leave the property?

PasturesNew

Your existing contract protects (and binds) you for its duration as it was a legal tenancy and the landlord going bankrupt shouldn't interfere with your contract and living at the property.

Your deposit is not lost, it's just a question of ascertaining who is responsible for it and suing (if appropriate).

New landlord will probably want you to stay on, so don't burn your bridges or jump the gun.

Keep the rent available at the drop of a hat while you ascertain, in WRITING, who to pay it to.

BH1976

PasturesNew wrote: »

Your existing contract protects (and binds) you for its duration as it was a legal tenancy and the landlord going bankrupt shouldn't interfere with your contract and living at the property.

Your deposit is not lost, it's just a question of ascertaining who is responsible for it and suing (if appropriate).

New landlord will probably want you to stay on, so don't burn your bridges or jump the gun.

Keep the rent available at the drop of a hat while you ascertain, in WRITING, who to pay it to.

Thanks, yes we're going to try and contact the receiver to establish where the deposit is...we have the rent held waiting to pay, just trying to make sure we're right in doing so!

room512

In the previous house we rented our landlord became bankrupt. The property was taken over by a different letting company appointed by the bank. They would have done any necessary repairs as the bank wanted to recoup as much money as they could. The toilet broke and they repaired it within a few hours (we only had one toilet!). In the end we were given notice to quit as the boiler stopped working and it was unviable to mend it as it was so old and we were on a rolling tenancy so the bank decided to sell it. They did come immediately and sort us out with hot water (it was summer so no heating needed). It was no different to us than paying the original letting agency - better in fact as we had no house inspections!

G_M

Read

* Repossession: what if a LL's mortgage lender repossesses the property?

The principle is the same whether the OR takes possession or a bank.

In the meantime, until legal action takes place, your tenancy is unaffected. You are still bound by it (and must pay rent/gie notice etc as usual) as is the OR.

However note that any change of landlord must be notified to you in writing -
Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 section 3.

Person_one

BH1976 wrote: »

We've found alternative accommodation which we expect to be able to move into in 2/3 months time (it's currently being renovated).

I hope you haven't committed to this new place or signed anything unless there is a break clause in your tenancy agreement?

pinkshoes

As others have already said, DO NOT sign any new contract for another house.

Your tenancy will continue until July 2017, and you have a LEGAL obligation to remain and pay rent until the contract ends, UNLESS there is a break clause in your contract. You cannot just move out and break the contract. You just have a new LL, nothing else have changed.

Likewise, the new LL has to protect your deposit. If the roof is leaking, they are now responsible, so let them know IN WRITING and give them a reasonable time frame to sort it out.

Again, DO NOT sign another house contract, as you will end up having to pay both!!

steampowered

Assuming that your tenancy agreement is a 'lease' rather than a 'licence', it will be binding on any future purchaser of the property. I understand that neither party can get out of it unless the other party consents.

If the property is being sold at auction, the buyer is likely to be an investment buyer, who might be happy to do the necessary repairs and have you as tenants.

I think Shelter's page on this has very sensible advice (http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repossession/about_repossession/repossession_by_a_landlords_lender).

If you believe you have a binding tenancy, but the lender has not made any contact with you to confirm this, you should contact the lender as soon as you find out that repossession is a possibility:

Ask them to confirm in writing that your tenancy is binding.
Enclose a photocopy of your written tenancy agreement (if you have one) and/or any other evidence that shows that your tenancy is binding.
Ask what they intend to do with the property – will they be seeking to evict you once the correct procedure has been followed?
Ask how future rent payments should be paid and how any deposit you have paid will be returned to you.

I would also make them aware that repairs to the property are required under the tenancy agreement, but have not been done, and ask for them to be done.

wantonnoodle

I would say that you should be ok staying where you are for the moment. We had something way more complicated with the flat we rented for 5 years. 2 years into that tenancy, the whole block was seized by SOCA in relation to money laundering and the IRA, I kid you not.

Well, to cut a long story short, the property was handed over to Savills to manage as the official receivers. We were given details of where to pay rent, and were advised to change the locks and provide them with receipts for reimbursement. Maintenance was completed - not necessarily better than before, but essential works were completed. The property was then sold at auction, and the new landlords were happy for us to stay, however, after they had owned the place a few months, they decided to put the rent up to stupid levels (way above market value, especially given how much of a dump the place had become). At this point we moved out. Needless to say, we didn't get a deposit back, despite chasing around various people. We were advised we should have followed up on it with the original landlords at the time of the property being passed to the receivers, but given that at that point we had been instructed by SOCA to have no further contact with them, it was a no-win situation. We just put it down to experience and moved on. As there was no deposit forthcoming for refund, we didn't make too much of an effort to clean etc when we moved out.

BH1976

Thanks for the advice re a break clause, nothing signed as yet on the new place so will check all that out.