Rented property being repossessed! What's my options?

sugarbabe84

What a crook. I hope the law will hold him to account.

Smodlet

I am probably missing a trick here but surely, if a valid tenancy agreement is in place, ownership of the property is, to an extent, moot? Whoever buys it will have sitting tenants, won't they? They will then have to go through all the court proceedings necessary to evict said tenants unless I have misunderstood the situation, which is entirely possible.

lookstraightahead

Smodlet wrote: »

I am probably missing a trick here but surely, if a valid tenancy agreement is in place, ownership of the property is, to an extent, moot? Whoever buys it will have sitting tenants, won't they? They will then have to go through all the court proceedings necessary to evict said tenants unless I have misunderstood the situation, which is entirely possible.

That is what I thought too

franklee

Smodlet wrote: »

I am probably missing a trick here but surely, if a valid tenancy agreement is in place, ownership of the property is, to an extent, moot? Whoever buys it will have sitting tenants, won't they? They will then have to go through all the court proceedings necessary to evict said tenants unless I have misunderstood the situation, which is entirely possible.

It depends on if the tenancy is binding on the landlord's mortgage lender. See links posted earlier in the thread. Given the OP's description I'd bet the mortgage is a residential mortgage taken out before the tenancy began and without consent to let. So unlikely to be binding. Thefore the tenancy may not be honoured but of course there are still legal stages the lender has to go through to reposess.

Of course if the OP has to leave before the end of the fixed term then the landlord may be in breach of the tenancy agreement so the OP may have a claim against the landlord for that.

Meanwhile the OP is not free to move until the situation becomes clearer. The landlord may yet find the cash to pay off the mortgage arrears.

Hopefully the OP attending the court hearing will mean he finds out the true state.

[Deleted User]

lookstraightahead wrote: »

That is what I thought too

I assumed it was ' sold ' to some family member as a con rather than a bone fide sale

silvercar

The Mortgage Reposessions - protection of tenants act 2010 (details here )
will give you some protection. Basically the lender who repossesses becomes your new landlord for the short term. You must go to court to ensure the court and lender are aware of your existence and that you need as much time to remain in the property.

G_M

Smodlet wrote: »

I am probably missing a trick here but surely, if a valid tenancy agreement is in place, ownership of the property is, to an extent, moot? Whoever buys it will have sitting tenants, won't they? They will then have to go through all the court proceedings necessary to evict said tenants unless I have misunderstood the situation, which is entirely possible.

Read the link in post 2.

diggingdude

Please keep up updated OP. What a D**k of a landlord

muz3562

Definitely attend the court hearing or send someone to represent you at it with a copy of the tenancy agreement. Ensure that the lender is aware of the full situation . It might be that you have longer in the property than you have consigned yourself too . Obviously goes without saying that I would be prioritizing putting whatever money I had away for the costs associated with a new private rent .



I appreciate the instinct to want to sue him , and I would want to do the same . But bear in mind that if he is in mortgage arrears he is likely to be up to his neck with other debt as well so you have to weigh up the cost of legal proceedings vs what you can actually recover .



Also not worth dwelling on the fact that he deceived you because even if you had stayed in the original property if the LL is in financial difficulties with what was originally their home what are the chances of them being or going into the same sort of arrears with the house you lived in ? Clearly the landlord is dishonest to the core . So its not as if they would have given you any heads up if it was the original property you rented either .

thelem

Have you been able to establish if the tenancy was authorised by the mortgage lender?

I know normally advice is to always pay rent on time, but could there be scenarios here where withholding the rent is the sensible thing to do? If the deposit isn't protected can an amount equal to that be withheld, which could then be used to fund the deposit on a new property.

Why do you think you'll need to move to emergency accommodation? Were you paying below current market rent? I'm sure you've invested a lot of time and money into your online business, but does that need to be put on hold so you can have some more reliable income (even if just from a part time job)? Would you even be able to continue that business from emergency accommodation? Are you claiming all benefits you are entitled to? Can you reduce your outgoings to save up enough to cover moving costs? Head over to the debt free wannabe board for advise on where you can save.