Family just moved in to new rented place....now owner is sellng already!!! Help!!

barnaby-bear

carolt wrote: »

Learn from this to NEVER EVER spend your own money doing up a place - you will gain nothing from it, and it will just make it easier for a landlord to sell it out from under you. A lick of paint to suit your taste? Sure - it's cheap. But new flooring? No way. A few years ago, we got turfed out of a property at very short notice, as the landlady's parents were ill and she wanted to move them into our place (just round the corner from her). Like you, we'd been told we could be there for years, just redecorated (just paint though) - absolutely gutted. The lying scum estate agent, knowing we were desperate to find somewhere v quick to either rent or buy, hard as we live in a village, tried to get us to rent a dump of a house on the grounds the landlady was v old, in a home, going to kick the bucket any minute etc and we could then buy it. We decided not to rent it. Of course, now, about 4 years later, that property has never been sold and I assume the landlady is still hale and hearty. But the only way one could have lived there is by completely redecorating, new kitchen, flooring etc as it was in such a state. So we would have paid for it twice - once as tenants, and once again as potential buyers, having increased the value of her house at our expense!

If it does turn out your information is correct then your landlady is lying, thieving scum too, as she must have known that she had financial difficulties all of 2 months ago when she rented it to you under false pretences, and allowed you to redecorate.

I'd find somewhere else pronto, then withhold the last month/two months' rent as appropriate to cover deposit and remove your flooring when you go - check if you still have the receipt. As she still has the carpet originally there, she's lost nothing.

Also, don't let her through the door without prior agreement from you - anything else is illegal. Likewise, any viewings to sell the property have to be done with agreement from you - she cannot just fix up any time to suit herself or an estate agent. I'd make sure you're there for any viewings and be sure to point out problems with the house, that it's your lovely flooring and it's going with you, that you are a sitting tenant and not leaving till x date etc.

Good luck - hope you find somewhere much nicer without scummy landlord.

Weren't you the woman who told me I was stupid for knowingly and openly admitting I pay more to buy than to rent because I put a price on tenure (i.e. not having to drag kids around every 6 months) and being able to have flooring / decor of my choosing.... No scummy landlord to treat me like dirt....

jonewer

Eat loadsofonions the night before and then drop the kids off at the pool just before the viewers come round

SquatNow

For a real laugh, when you do go, take the wooden flooring and put the carpet back. Buyer moves in, expecting nice wooden floor, and promptly sues the sellers @$$ off.

silvercar

You are not obliged to allow viewings to potential buyers. In fact why should you?

If she is really in financial difficulties then she could soon fall behind with her mortgage payments. You could find that her mortgage company repossesses even if she doesn't throw you out.

The writing is on the wall, time to look around for something better.

kunekune

I'm a bit concerned about that flooring, actually. Is wooden flooring fixtures and fittings? If a tenant fixes something to the landlord's property, technically it then becomes part of the property. There is one case where a tenant actually got charged with theft after removing a shelf they had put up themselves. There's no chance it would be criminal - don't worry about that - because it would not be dishonest for you to remove it - but the danger is that you might end up in a bit of a wrangle and not get the flooring back or the cost of having it put it down.

PasturesNew

If it is laminate, they're sold/advertised as being something you can take up again.

I'd do as suggested. Tell the landlord to get the old (!!!!y) carpet back .... because you're taking the flooring back with you.

carolt

barnaby-bear wrote: »

Weren't you the woman who told me I was stupid for knowingly and openly admitting I pay more to buy than to rent because I put a price on tenure (i.e. not having to drag kids around every 6 months) and being able to have flooring / decor of my choosing.... No scummy landlord to treat me like dirt....

I can't remember but I quite possibly was - mercifully, this has only ever happened to me the once and it was HORRIBLE - hence my sympathy with the OP. That said, I've been in situ now in one (rented) property for the last 3 and a half years, with no increase in rent - so I don't take my earlier experience as typical. More to the point, it's a risk one takes with renting, just as house prices falling and incurring negative equity is a risk one takes with buying - of the two risks, I think the latter would affect me much more seriously and long-term. Others obviously view the relative risks differently.

But not really relevant to this thread.

Back to subject:

poppy10_2

If you were planning to stay there for 5-8 years, why did you only get a 6 month contract? Mines annual, and I would have made it longer if I was planning to settle down here.

silvercar

poppy10 wrote: »

If you were planning to stay there for 5-8 years, why did you only get a 6 month contract? Mines annual, and I would have made it longer if I was planning to settle down here.

Most BTL mortgages stipulate that tenants need to be on ASTs maximum 12 months. Obviously they can be renewed but only for 12 months at a time. This would protect the lender should they need to repossess and honour the the AST. So landlords hands are tied by the lenders' policies.

fiona_babe

Woodsy wrote: »

When people start coming round to view...do what we did...paint lots of mouse holes on the skirting boards and leave buckets of water everywhere so it looks like theres lots of leaks!
I also made sure one time I was still dozing in bed when some people came round....they left in a hurry! prob due to my hungover face :-)

Hope it all works out for you.

If anyone is reading this kind of "advise" I would recommend that the Landlord asks the Agent to accompany ALL viewings. Tsk!