Tenants receiving post from landlord's lender

aghagain

Hello,

I'm living in a rented house and have received a letter from the landlord's mortgage company. I then looked up the title plan and the landlord's address is this one too.

The letter says:

"We've been attempting to write to the above borrower at this address which has been returned... If you can provide a name/address/number this would be useful.

If you are renting please forward a copy of any tenancy agreement that may exist in order for us to update our records"

Possibly sounds like an unauthorised tenancy and/or arrears to my untrained eye?

He isn't doing repairs either (bathroom leaking into living room below), the place has turned out to be a... hole.

Any advice appreciated.

Thank you

Pixie5740

aghagain wrote: »

Hello,

I'm living in a rented house and have received a letter from the landlord's mortgage company. I then looked up the title plan and the landlord's address is this one too.

The letter says:

"We've been attempting to write to the above borrower at this address which has been returned... If you can provide a name/address/number this would be useful.

If you are renting please forward a copy of any tenancy agreement that may exist in order for us to update our records"

Possibly sounds like an unauthorised tenancy and/or arrears to my untrained eye?

He isn't doing repairs either (bathroom leaking into living room below), the place has turned out to be a... hole.

Any advice appreciated.

Thank you

It does sound very much like your landlord doesn't have consent to let from the mortgage lender. That doesn't make your tenancy invalid.

If it's advice on getting repairs done that you need, read the Tenancies in England/Wales sticky at the top of the board. If it's advice about supplying the mortgage lender with the information they've asked for, why wouldn't you?

aghagain

It's neither really, it was this part that I want clarification on: "Possibly sounds like an unauthorised tenancy and/or arrears to my untrained eye?"

The repairs was an example of him being dodgy.

I will be replying to the mortgage lender to inform them we are tenants, but I don't have the landlord's details to give them. I only learnt his name when I got this letter and I will request his details from our agent but I have a feeling he won't want to give them (I know they have to).

If he doesn't have consent to let and his mortgage isn't buy to let either (seems not as this address is on the title plan), how could our tenancy be valid?

Thanks

Pixie5740

aghagain wrote: »

It's neither really, it was this part that I want clarification on: "Possibly sounds like an unauthorised tenancy and/or arrears to my untrained eye?"

The repairs was an example of him being dodgy.

I will be replying to the mortgage lender to inform them we are tenants, but I don't have the landlord's details to give them. I only learnt his name when I got this letter and I will request his details from our agent but I have a feeling he won't want to give them (I know they have to).

If he doesn't have consent to let and his mortgage isn't buy to let either (seems not as this address is on the title plan), how may it not make our tenancy invalid?

Thanks

Your contract with your landlord has nothing to do with his contract with the mortgage lender.

The name and contact details of your landlord should be in your tenancy agreement even if the address is c/o a letting agency.

aghagain

There is nothing about him, only our agent. I guess I will just supply them with our agent's details?

Your contract with your landlord has nothing to do with his contract with the mortgage lender.

I saw something on CAB about our tenancy potentially not being binding with the lender and if the landlord is in arrears they could take possession of the property, so we would have to apply for up to 2 months extension to avoid having to move at short notice (with no guarantee of it being granted and still having to move before the end of our fixed term anyway). Would that not be the case in this situation?

Pixie5740

aghagain wrote: »

There is nothing about him, only our agent. I guess I will just supply them with our agent's details?

Who is named on your tenancy agreement as the landlord? That is who you have a contract with. The landlord does not necessarily have to be the owner of the property.

aghagain wrote: »

I saw something on CAB about our tenancy potentially not being binding with the lender and if the landlord is in arrears they could take possession of the property, so we would have to apply for up to 2 months extension to avoid having to move at short notice (with no guarantee of it being granted and still having to move before the end of our fixed term anyway). Would that not be the case in this situation?

In what way would that make your contract with the landlord invalid?

Marvel1

aghagain wrote: »

There is nothing about him, only our agent. I guess I will just supply them with our agent's details?

Yes, it's not your duty to find out the home address for their customer, let them do it.

aghagain

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Who is named on your tenancy agreement as the landlord? That is who you have a contract with. The landlord does not necessarily have to be the owner of the property.

Ah ok. The agent is named as the landlord.

Pixie5740 wrote: »

In what way would that make your contract with the landlord invalid?

I understand my contract with the landlord himself is valid, but would that make a difference in terms of the lender taking possession and evicting us? Because it sounds like that only matters if it's a binding tenancy (on the lender), which we possibly don't have. This is why I want to clarify.

Shelter says:

"If your landlord hasn't paid the mortgage on a property they rent to you, their mortgage lender can repossess it. You could be evicted.

In some cases, the mortgage lender becomes your landlord. This happens if your tenancy is a binding tenancy.

In most cases, the mortgage lender won't become your landlord and you'll have to leave. This happens if you don't have a binding tenancy.

You might have a binding tenancy if:

your landlord had a buy-to-let mortgage
the lender gave permission for the landlord to grant the tenancy
the landlord's lender has recognised the tenancy in some way – for example by asking you to pay rent direct to them or by accepting rent from you
you were already a tenant in the property when the mortgage was granted to your landlord
the property was sold to the current landlord after your tenancy started"

Pixie5740

aghagain wrote: »

Ah ok. The agent is named as the landlord.

The the letting agent is your landlord not the owner of the property.

aghagain wrote: »

I understand my contract with the landlord himself is valid, but would that make a difference in terms of the lender taking possession and evicting us? Because it sounds like that only matters if it's a binding tenancy (on the lender), which we possibly don't have. This is why I want to clarify.

Shelter says:

You don't have a contact with the landlord himself. You have a contract with the letting agency, they are your landlord. I strongly suspect, based on the information given, that the owner of the property has entered into a rent guarantee scheme where he lets the property to the letting agent on a commercial basis and the letting agent sub-lets the property to you on an AST basis. If the lender were to repossess the property that would the lender the letting agent's landlord, not yours. Now it might be the case that the commercial tenancy with the letting agent is not binding on the mortgage lender but your AST with the letting agent will still be binding.

This is all hypothetical anyway since there isn't any indication that the owner is in arrears with his mortgage just that the mortgage lender seem to be aware that he is letting the property. Give the lender what they've asked for, the details of your landlord and tenancy agreement, which in your case are the details of the letting agent. Let the mortgage lender then take it up with the letting agent.

G_M

Is your tenancy unauthorised by the lender? Probably.

Is your tenancy legally valid? Yes.

Is the owner of the property in mortgage arrears? No way to know.

Is the owner of the property your landlord? No.

Should you reply to the mortgage lender? Probably not. Data protection and anyway it's none of your business.

Should you pass the mortgage lender's letter to your landlord. Yes.

Might you be evicted by a court? Possible but unlikely. See
* Repossession: what if a LL's mortgage lender repossesses the property?


Can you get repairs done? Yes. See
* Repairing Obligations: the law, common misconceptions, reporting/enforcing, retaliatory eviction & the new tenant protection (2015)