landlord in receivership,property in disrepair who will be responsible

hi123

G_M wrote: »

As I advised earlier!

If the OR has said this on the phone, get them to confirm formally in writing.

If they are now your landlord, then write to them formally

* with the list of repairs.
* requesting notification of the address 'for serving notices' (required by law)
* where/how they want rent paid
* whether they are managing the tenancy or employing an agent, and if so who

Meanwhile, since the agent claims it's a 'short-term problem' (whatever that means- either in Receivership or not!), write also to the original landlord, at the address originally provided for serving notices on him, formally requesting repairs.

Stop phoning people. Write.

The money paid is not an issue:


* they presumably paid to be credit vetted/referenced by the agent. That was done and the tenancy granted, so payment was owed and paid. No issue
* advance rent was paid. Keys provided. No issue (till next rent due- see previous advice)
* deposit paid. Not an issue till the tenancy ends. Presumably they have a receipt to prove payment? At the point the tenancy ends, the then landlord, whoever it is, has to return it (or justify deductions)


If the deposit has not been protected, this gives the tenants security from eviction via a S21 Notice. They could also claim the penalty (now or later) but frakly till you sort out the receivership aspect it's pointless. And if the OR has taken over, then claiming the penalty from them for the original LL's oversight seems a bit harsh!

thanks written and just sent letter to the receivers company

received another letter from them this afternoon,confirming them to be landlord and also asking our full details with a few forms

seems some clarity coming
no contact details of the owner so sent letter to the property manager

TBagpuss

hi123 wrote: »

thanks for all suggestions,
had gas checks done yesterday
spoke to receivership company who confirmed receivership,
spoke to agent who manages the property he says its a short term problem and the owner did not know that she had gone into receivership but now onwards he is not arranging any repairs as he may not get paid(( difficult to believe as i have just found that owner has a prominent company,own personal website with her name
and siting her as enterprenuer ,philanthropist amongst others)
but no contact details ,when click contact us goes blank
so still cant formally send letter to owner
any suggestions
also can i insist on receivership company to sort out urgent repair issues
does the letting agent who took 800£ from tenants has any duty towards them? he has been not picking up his phone or replying to any messages

Your son / other tenants should WRITE to the OR, send a copy of the tenancy agreement and proof they have paid the rent and deposit, and set out the repairs needed and a request for the details of the scheme holding the deposit. State that the agents are telling them that they musts continue to pay rent to them (the agents) and that they are refusing to carry out any repairs, and ask the OR to let them have something in writing to confirm that they (the OR) are in fact the receiver and when and how rent should be paid.

They should also WRITE to the landlord at the address set out in the tenancy agreement for the service of notices setting out the same information / requests and adding that they have already raised the issues with the agents who are refusing to deal with the problems.

With regard to rats contact the local environmental health department for advice.

Check if the university student services or housing offices can assist.

Does your son think they could fins alternative accommodation? If so, ask the OR if they will consent to end the tenancy early, and they can then move elsewhere.

hi123

we have just received a group message on behalf of original landlord saying that *this situation is temporary for not more than 4 weeks and till then we should comply with agent acting on behalf of receivership company and this does not affect your current tenancy and normal procedures will resume by the end of month*
as suggested on helpful posts here
have sent letter to receivership company
also to landlord i am not sure of address as seems not to be of landlord on tenancy agreement but the manager's
taken appointment with university college of londons students services for tomorrow
i can arrange an alternate accomodation for my son but may have influence on other 3 students so will see if it can be made inhabitable
thanks again for all the help here on these forums

martindow

I'm pleased that you seem to be on the way to resolving this issue, but I get the impression that you are stepping in to do everything while your son leaves it to you.


I hope I've misread what is happening, and that he is more involved than the thread implies to help him learn about tenancies and dealing with problems. I know it is natural as a parent to step in and protect your children (I've done it myself) but it is much better to support and advise rather than taking over. He's an adult now!

hi123

thanks i am glad that
he has been the one to ring around ,write letters (this generation doesnt seem to know what a letter is) ,meet university people and take the lead for the other three house mates and hopefully get it resolved
i am the one who has sought information and passed it on the link to this forum and my message to him has been that this experience would be great learning curve

hi123

an update and further opinion sought
the property had a new landlord,rent paid for last 2 months
still awaiting repairs
they have appointed agency to arrange repair who have been dragging their feet and still not done anything

today they have received notice that property is being auctioned
can they deduct part of rent to get the repairs done
can they opt out of tenancy? and will they get their deposit back
thanks in advance

Out,_Vile_Jelly

There is a specific legal procedure by which tenants can organise repairs themselves and deduct the cost from rent; check the Shelter website. In this situation it might be best to see who buys the property in case they're more pro-active.

hi123

they did use shelters template and sent it
promised repair but agency responsible just delaying for various reasons
bed bug infestation found but new landlord said informed two months after contract start ,not their problem as per agreement so tenants have had to pay themselves to change all mattresses
he just feels like getting out of the house if can be done legally as it has just been hassle he doesnt need from first day

Crashy_Time

Cakeguts wrote: »

The problems would have been noticeable at the viewing 6 months ago but your son and his fellow tenants didn't take enough care when viewing. They probably only looked at the general accommodation and the cost of the rent rather than the overall state of repair of the property.

The rat droppings and the fact that the property needs a good clean is down to the previous occupants lifestyle this should have been obvious at the viewing.



Depending on the borough they can try reporting the state of the property to their local council private housing department.



Just because they have got this letter it doesn't mean that they can stop paying the rent. If they don't know who to pay the rent to they need to put the rent into an account and keep it. They must not spend the rent money.

Exactly, they need to view more carefully in future maybe?

hi123

they were promised a professional clean and repaint on viewing 6 months ago
upon moving in,they reported inadequacies and were promised remedial action but only a week in they found the landlord in receivership
the system seems to be fully against tenant
the unscrupolous landlord knew she was in going in receivership ,and before tenants moved in actually did go in receivership
so never had any intention of spending money on cleaning or mantianing etc
the company now owning it is auctioning it so have no need to spend any money for repairs it looks like

if the new landlord is not arranging repairs, can they get them done and deduct of the rent ?