Think my landlord has sold the house

Ptolly

My partner opened some mail today and by accident opened someone else's mail addressed to our address. It was in fact a notice of completion for a mortgage to our house not addressed to our landlord. We think our landlord has sold the house without telling us! 

kazwookie

And the problem with that is?

IF he/ she has then you will have a new landlord.

I suggest you contact them and ask.

AdrianC

And what did your landlord say when you asked them about this?

davidmcn

Bit odd for mail to go to the property though (unless that's meant to be a security measure). Or your new landlord is fraudulently not getting a BTL mortgage.

Ptolly

Thanks for the quick reply, wasn't expecting that. Does he not have a legal obligation to inform us of house sale? Where is our deposit now? And who do I pay rent to. Think he has been very underhand and is surly breaking laws. 

Ptolly

I will ring him, but have had problems with him in the past being very aggressive, not abiding by laws (had no gas certificate for 4yrs until I reported him!) he has threatened to evict us over petty things, and in all honesty will not expect a straight or honest answer if I do contact him. was really after some legal advice if anyone knows any links or has any legal advice 

AdrianC

Ptolly said:

Does he not have a legal obligation to inform us of house sale?

The onus is probably more on your new landlord.

Have you actually... y'know... asked him?

Where is our deposit now?

Exactly where it was. Your tenancy is unchanged.

And who do I pay rent to.

Keep paying as-was, until such time as you're informed by a new landlord. It's then up to him to recover the rent from the vendor.

Think he has been very underhand and is surly breaking laws.

Let's put it another way... In what day does it affect you?
Your landlord may or may not have changed. You don't know yet. Your tenancy is definitely unchanged, though.
You don't even appear to have actually asked the one person you know who can give you a definitive answer.

greatcrested

Ptolly said:

My partner opened some mail today and by accident opened someone else's mail addressed to our address. It was in fact a notice of completion for a mortgage to our house not addressed to our landlord. We think our landlord has sold the house without telling us! 

Chances are he has simply remortgaged! Eg he had a 2 year fixed rate mortgage. It ended. Rather than move to an expensive standard rate he moved to a new lender or a new mortgage product with the same lender.

But if he has sold the property, then Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 S3 applies:

3 Duty to inform tenant of assignment of landlord’s interest.

(1)If the interest of the landlord under a tenancy of premises which consist of or include a dwelling is assigned, the new landlord shall give notice in writing of the assignment, and of his name and address, to the tenant not later than the next day on which rent is payable under the tenancy or, if that is within two months of the assignment, the end of that period of two months.

(2)If trustees consititute the new landlord, a collective description of the trustes as the trustees of the trust in question may be given as the name of the landlord, and where such a collective description is given—

(a)the address of the new landlord may be given as the address from which the affairs of the trust are conducted, and

(b)a change in the persons who are for the time being the trustees of the trust shall not be treated as an assignment of the interest of the landlord.

(3)A person who is the new landlord under a tenancy falling within subsection (1) and who fails, without reasonable excuse to give the notice required by that subsection, commits a summary offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

[F1(3A)The person who was the landlord under the tenancy immediately before the assignment (“the old landlord”) shall be liable to the tenant in respect of any breach of any covenant, condition or agreement under the tenancy occurring before the end of the relevant period in like manner as if the interest assigned were still vested in him; and where the new landlord is also liable to the tenant in respect of any such breach occurring within that period, he and the old landlord shall be jointly and severally liable in respect of it.

m0bov

Return it to sender, not known at address.

iampetesmith

Ptolly said:

I will ring him, but have had problems with him in the past being very aggressive, not abiding by laws (had no gas certificate for 4yrs until I reported him!) he has threatened to evict us over petty things, and in all honesty will not expect a straight or honest answer if I do contact him. was really after some legal advice if anyone knows any links or has any legal advice 

I wouldn't worry about it. He sounds like a bit of a dipstick anyway, so surely if you're rid of him and got a new landlord then that's a good thing. You've had no notice to leave so no one wants you out and even if they did, you wouldn't be going anywhere without 2 months notice.

Yes, maybe you should have been told but really if the rent money is going to the old landlord then the new one will soon be after it. That's when you tell them that it's the first you've heard about it and let him sort it out with the guy he's just bought the house from.

greatcrested

Ptolly said:

I will ring him, but have had problems with him in the past being very aggressive, not abiding by laws (had no gas certificate for 4yrs until I reported him!) he has threatened to evict us over petty things, and in all honesty will not expect a straight or honest answer if I do contact him. was really after some legal advice if anyone knows any links or has any legal advice 

If there was no gas certificate at the start of the tenancy, he can only evict via a S8 (eg for rent arrears). S21 would probably be invalid. (See Caridon Property Ltd v Shooltz, Central London County Court, 2 February 2018. )

You have two choices:

1) do nothing.Continue to pay rent as normal on the assumption that until told otherwise as required by the LL/T Act, your landlord has not changed

2) stop paying rent on the assumption you have a new landlord so the old LL is not due the rent. and risk a S8 for rent arrears....

3) write and ask.

(must improve my maths...)