Rented property being repossessed! What's my options?

desperatedan123

Hello,

Hoping someone can offer me advice. I have a family of 5. Me, partner and 3 daughters. Youngest being 10 months old.

We had been a tenant in a 3 bed house for the last 10 years. My landlord lived about a mile away but also owned the newsagents next to our property.

My landlord approached us in April 2018 and presented the option of a house swap. He said his wife was not very mobile anymore and she needs to be closer to the shop. Understandable.

His house was a 4 bed, driveway, etc, seemed like a great deal for me. So we agreed to swap.
He wanted it done quickly and within a week, we had successfully moved both houses.

Our new tenancy in the new property was for 2 years. Started on the 15th April.


Within 4 weeks of us moving, we discovered that he was 9 grand in arrears with his mortgage company and on the day we moved in, his mortgage company had started rescission proceedings. (Court date is 25th June 2018)!!

It all makes sense now and he basically deceived us into moving quickly so he was safe!!

We now face the daunting prospect of being homeless (and unemployed) as we both work from home running an online business we set up in February 2018.

We earn very little money and cannot afford to move again or pay deposits and application fees for a new property. My partner cries everyday and My kids keep asking when they can decorate their new bedrooms etc. It's all becoming too much.

I have consigned to the fact we won't be staying in this house. Obviously my priority is a new home, and we will look at private renting again, but it's seeming like temporary accomadion from the local council at the moment.

My question is;

I am going to sue my landlord immediately after we are evicted.
First and foremost I will claim for the unprotected deposit, but what else can I sue him for?
Loss of earnings? Loss of furniture? (He made us leave our wardrobes and bedroom furniture as he had all fitted units in the house)
Can I claim for distress? Mental anguish?

I just feel 'robbed and I don't want vto let him get away with effectively destroying our lives temporarily and putting us really on the back foot.

Can anyone suggest the best way of maximising some compensation from this guy?



Many thanks

G_M

What a b*stard!

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


You can certainly claim the penalty for failure to protect the deposit.

* Do you have proof you paid a deposit for the new tenancy?
* on what date did you pay it? Has it been 30 days yet?


To claim for anything else, I suspect you'd have to prove fraud eg based on the fact that he granted a 2 year tenancy in the full knowledge that the property was about to be repossessed.


Get legal advice.

desperatedan123

Thankyou. I am attending court and have written to the lender.
I will fill out a form today.

Agreed. What a bstd

davidmcn

Also bear in mind the likelihood of actually getting anything out of him if he doesn't have enough cash to pay his mortgage.

desperatedan123

I have considered that. I know he has 3 cars in his name still and he sold 60% of the newsgent to a family member ... But all the shop accounts/ paperwork are still in his name.

I've known them fo4 10 years plus. I've done lots of work for him.

I know his possessions and how he manipulates stuff.

I SHOULD have known he would have down something like this but hey ho... I have too much trust in people I guess.

Thank you

desperatedan123

We paid him the deposit in 2008. He never protected it.

G_M wrote: »

What a b*stard!

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


You can certainly claim the penalty for failure to protect the deposit.

* Do you have proof you paid a deposit for the new tenancy?
* on what date did you pay it? Has it been 30 days yet?


To claim for anything else, I suspect you'd have to prove fraud eg based on the fact that he granted a 2 year tenancy in the full knowledge that the property was about to be repossessed.


Get legal advice.

marliepanda

Not sure if you signed something with regards to your furniture but I'd be asking for a police escort for me to remove the wardobes and other furniture you were duped into leaving.

Even if you did sign something to 'swap' furniture, Surely it being signed over on a false pretext amounts to fraud

bouicca21

I was in a similar position a few years ago. I found Shelter very helpful.

need_an_answer

Every so often a thread comes up that is unbelievable,in the sense that the LL has really manipulated you in every direction.


Truly sorry for the situation you now find yourself in please get legal advice on this.

You do not deserve to have been treated like this its people like him that give LL's a bad name.

I hope you can move on from this and wish you luck resettling your family unit somewhere more suitable

davidmcn

marliepanda wrote: »

Not sure if you signed something with regards to your furniture but I'd be asking for a police escort for me to remove the wardobes and other furniture you were duped into leaving.

Even if you did sign something to 'swap' furniture, Surely it being signed over on a false pretext amounts to fraud

I don't think there's any hope of a claim about the furniture. The OP (presumably) agreed to leave them behind, I doubt it was with the caveat that they could come back to get them if they were evicted from the subsequent tenancy.

Red-Squirrel_2

davidmcn wrote: »

I don't think there's any hope of a claim about the furniture. The OP (presumably) agreed to leave them behind, I doubt it was with the caveat that they could come back to get them if they were evicted from the subsequent tenancy.

They left them in the expectation that they would have use of the fitted bedroom furniture in the other house for a 2 year tenancy! The landlord has taken their property by deception.

I'm so sorry your total !!!! of a landlord has done this to you, can only echo the advice to call Shelter, and also keep track of every single communication and event so far, right from the very first suggestion of a swap.