My Landlord has disappeared and I want to move now.

dansk_84

Hi Guys and Girls.

I've been living in my currently property with my flat mate for approximate 4 years. The first two years the flat was under management by a local estate agent, but our landlords suggested we ditch the estate agent and just have a rolling contract with themselves.

Its been two years since we moved to a rolling contract and we have had no contact with the landlords, however we were not concerned because they have always been a little hands off when dealing with their tenets.

Anyways, this is when it gets interesting, 3 months ago their bank account started rejecting a rent payments and then we tried emailing them, which also go bounced back. We have no record of their address either.

The fact that no one has contacted us to ask why we haven't been paying rent for 3 months is also very strange, that on top of a bank account and email address closed, presumably for inactivity. And to add the the weirdness, last year my flat mate contacted them to tell them the washing machine was broke, they never replied then and we had to buy it ourselves.

I want to leave the flat now, but im a little stuck for what to do. Can we assume that because they are rejecting our money, that is their noticed served and we can leave?

Has anybody else had a situation like this before?

Im also a little concerned about how im going to get a reference for my next place.

Dan

Pixie5740

dansk_84 wrote: »

Hi Guys and Girls.

I've been living in my currently property with my flat mate for approximate 4 years. The first two years the flat was under management by a local estate agent, but our landlords suggested we ditch the estate agent and just have a rolling contract with themselves.

Its been two years since we moved to a rolling contract and we have had no contact with the landlords, however we were not concerned because they have always been a little hands off when dealing with their tenets.

Anyways, this is when it gets interesting, 3 months ago their bank account started rejecting a rent payments and then we tried emailing them, which also go bounced back. We have no record of their address either.

The fact that no one has contacted us to ask why we haven't been paying rent for 3 months is also very strange, that on top of a bank account and email address closed, presumably for inactivity. And to add the the weirdness, last year my flat mate contacted them to tell them the washing machine was broke, they never replied then and we had to buy it ourselves.

I want to leave the flat now, but im a little stuck for what to do. Can we assume that because they are rejecting our money, that is their noticed served and we can leave?

Has anybody else had a situation like this before?

Im also a little concerned about how im going to get a reference for my next place.

Dan

No you cannot assume that the bounced payments mean your landlord has served notice because that's not a form of valid notice not that the landlord serving notice is enough to terminate the tenancy on its own anyway.

What address is given for the serving of notices in your tenancy agreement? Did your landlord ever provide you with a new address when (s)he ditched the letting agency? I'm presuming you were supplied with new bank details to start paying your rent to at that time.

dansk_84

We had always paid the rent directly the the landlords even when we went though the estate agent, and no address was provided, we always communicated though email.

Slithery

I know this advice is coming too late but you should have got the LL's address when you started dealing with him directly, until you were given this you didn't have to pay rent.

Pixie5740

dansk_84 wrote: »

We had always paid the rent directly the the landlords even when we went though the estate agent, and no address was provided, we always communicated though email.

When you first started renting the property were you given a written tenancy agreement?

getmore4less

Is the deposit protected(would the scheme have details)

Check the land registry
and
Check if they have died.

Estate agents may still have some info.

dansk_84

Ill have a look when i get home. I most probably have. If i do find an address, can i just send my notice and leave within a month?

Also if they do not reply, how would you go about dealing with references?

Paul_DNAP

See if the estate agent you used to have as the in-between has any way of contacting them, if only to pass on your notice to terminate your rental when you find somewhere else.
It is tempting to say "whoo-hooo free rent" but I daresay they may well reappear (or someone acting on their behalf) and ask for it all back, so make sure there is something somewhere to say you've tried to pay your rent.
If they are nasty people then they could be bouncing your rent just to evict you for non-payment, so looking for somewhere else could be a good tactic all round.

Pixie5740

dansk_84 wrote: »

Ill have a look when i get home. I most probably have. If i do find an address, can i just send my notice and leave within a month?

Also if they do not reply, how would you go about dealing with references?

In your original tenancy agreement there should be an address for the serving of notices and that's where you should send your notice to, you don't need to wait for a reply. Your notice will depend on what sort of periodic tenancy you have, again check the original agreement.

Read G_M's Guide to Ending/Renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

If you can't contact the landlord then another landlord probably won't be able to contact them either but there's nothing stopping you from giving a new landlord the current landlord's contact details.

moneyistooshorttomention

I'd certainly agree with keeping the rent you owe them to one side and details of the new washing machine they owe you for on the other hand - whatever else happens.

marcmc84

the probably died, check local death records and contact the bank who you were paying.