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Landlord not paying the mortgage
Cupcakey
Posts: 42 Forumite
Morning all
I'm looking for some advice if anybody has it!
We are in a real pickle with our landlord at the moment. We moved into a 4 bedroom house in February 2018 and signed a contract to stay here for two years. No break clause. The house is owned by our landlord and her husband, though only she is our named landlord.
The husband has insane amounts of debt. Letters constantly spill through the letter box, and I am forever marking them "not at this address, return to sender" and putting them back in the post box. They probably continue to come because it's clear that he's still the home owner, and I have no forwarding address for them. I've asked for one, but they won't give it to me. With this, we're getting numerous visits from bailiffs and it's getting quite stressful. Last night we had a visit from two men who showed up with a van. They were really nice when I showed them some ID and the tenancy, and especially since I was stood at the door quite clearly pregnant and with a small toddler in my arms.
Here's where it gets tricky. We have always been suspicious about letters coming through the door from Halifax. We checked the land registry and Halifax is the mortgage lender. Towards the end of last year, the landlord asked if we were in the position to buy the house from them because they were coming to the end of a temporary agreement with the mortgage lender. Starting to worry, I opened a letter addressed to her and her husband from Halifax. I know my doing so is illegal, but I wanted to know where we stood. The letter said that they would accept £800 for three months and then expected them to pay the arrears as per the agreement. A couple of weeks ago we had a field agent at the door, but he wouldn't tell me where he was from and I was limited to the information about the whereabouts of the home owners. Worried that he was from Halifax, I opened another letter from them that was sat by my front door waiting for me to put back in the post box. This one states that they haven't paid the mortgage since September, haven't kept to the agreement, and that Halifax are going to court to start legal proceedings.
I am gutted. I text the landlord, telling her we've had problems with bailiffs and field agents, and asked if she was paying the mortgage because I'm worried about being made homeless with a one-year-old and a baby due in a few months. She said the bailiffs were due to debt with her husband, and there were no problems with the mortgage and not to worry. She flat out lied. So I asked her if our tenancy agreement was binding and if she had permission from the lender to let the house. She had absolutely no idea what I was talking about and since she originally planned to live here with her two children, I'm quite sure that the tenancy isn't binding. I'm so gutted, she's taking our £1,800 a month and not paying the mortgage with it.
My partner and I can't sleep at night. We'll be stuck for money if we have to move, but could potentially borrow it. My partner is self-employed, so moving house is also going to cost us money in time lost at work as well as the actual expense of moving. If we have to move then we want to do it before the baby comes, but of course there's no saying as to when it'll happen.
We really don't know where to go from here or what to do, or what we legally can do without jeopardising our deposit. Can anyone shed some light?
I'm looking for some advice if anybody has it!
We are in a real pickle with our landlord at the moment. We moved into a 4 bedroom house in February 2018 and signed a contract to stay here for two years. No break clause. The house is owned by our landlord and her husband, though only she is our named landlord.
The husband has insane amounts of debt. Letters constantly spill through the letter box, and I am forever marking them "not at this address, return to sender" and putting them back in the post box. They probably continue to come because it's clear that he's still the home owner, and I have no forwarding address for them. I've asked for one, but they won't give it to me. With this, we're getting numerous visits from bailiffs and it's getting quite stressful. Last night we had a visit from two men who showed up with a van. They were really nice when I showed them some ID and the tenancy, and especially since I was stood at the door quite clearly pregnant and with a small toddler in my arms.
Here's where it gets tricky. We have always been suspicious about letters coming through the door from Halifax. We checked the land registry and Halifax is the mortgage lender. Towards the end of last year, the landlord asked if we were in the position to buy the house from them because they were coming to the end of a temporary agreement with the mortgage lender. Starting to worry, I opened a letter addressed to her and her husband from Halifax. I know my doing so is illegal, but I wanted to know where we stood. The letter said that they would accept £800 for three months and then expected them to pay the arrears as per the agreement. A couple of weeks ago we had a field agent at the door, but he wouldn't tell me where he was from and I was limited to the information about the whereabouts of the home owners. Worried that he was from Halifax, I opened another letter from them that was sat by my front door waiting for me to put back in the post box. This one states that they haven't paid the mortgage since September, haven't kept to the agreement, and that Halifax are going to court to start legal proceedings.
I am gutted. I text the landlord, telling her we've had problems with bailiffs and field agents, and asked if she was paying the mortgage because I'm worried about being made homeless with a one-year-old and a baby due in a few months. She said the bailiffs were due to debt with her husband, and there were no problems with the mortgage and not to worry. She flat out lied. So I asked her if our tenancy agreement was binding and if she had permission from the lender to let the house. She had absolutely no idea what I was talking about and since she originally planned to live here with her two children, I'm quite sure that the tenancy isn't binding. I'm so gutted, she's taking our £1,800 a month and not paying the mortgage with it.
My partner and I can't sleep at night. We'll be stuck for money if we have to move, but could potentially borrow it. My partner is self-employed, so moving house is also going to cost us money in time lost at work as well as the actual expense of moving. If we have to move then we want to do it before the baby comes, but of course there's no saying as to when it'll happen.
We really don't know where to go from here or what to do, or what we legally can do without jeopardising our deposit. Can anyone shed some light?
0
Comments
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* Repossession: what if a LL's mortgage lender repossesses the property?0
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G_M has written a guide to this situation here
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=67759925&postcount=6
It must be very worrying but start by reading this.0 -
Read G_M's guide, but I wouldn't worry too much. You aren't going to be turfed out any time soon.0
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Starting to worry, I opened a letter addressed to her and her husband from Halifax. I know my doing so is illegal, but I wanted to know where we stood.
It isn't illegal.
What the law says s that
A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.
I don't think that wanting to know if your landlord is lying would be 'reasonable excuse', but you were not intending to act to your landlord's detriment.
(But of course, if post comes to your house, and you simply open it without noticing that your name isn't on it, I'm fairly sure that 'I didn't notice it wasn't addressed to me' would be reasonable excuse, provied that you didn't thengo on to yuse the information in ways that were detrimental to the person it was addressed to. )
Your landlord should have provided you with an address for serving notices. You could give that address to anyone looking for a forwarding address.All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)0 -
Since the landlord is not using the money to pay the mortgage, what have they done with the money for the deposit? Have you made sure it has been protected, or could they have pocketed that as well?Credit card debt - NIL
Home improvement secured loans 30,130/41,000 and 23,156/28,000 End 2027 and 2029
Mortgage 64,513/100,000 End Nov 2035
2022 all rolling into new mortgage + extra to finish house. 125,000 End 20360 -
It isn't illegal.
What the law says s that
A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.
I don't think that wanting to know if your landlord is lying would be 'reasonable excuse', but you were not intending to act to your landlord's detriment.
(But of course, if post comes to your house, and you simply open it without noticing that your name isn't on it, I'm fairly sure that 'I didn't notice it wasn't addressed to me' would be reasonable excuse, provied that you didn't thengo on to yuse the information in ways that were detrimental to the person it was addressed to. )
Your landlord should have provided you with an address for serving notices. You could give that address to anyone looking for a forwarding address.
Thank you. Nope, no forwarding address! I've asked, they won't give one.0
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