Messy Landlords divorcing, who do pay rent to?

steampowered

greatcrested said:

Dubious. Which of their email addresses will you receive this from? It willnot resolve the issue.

Ask for it in writing with two signitures.

.......................................................................

I would suggest the Op asks for an email from both Mr and Mrs directing him where to pay rent, and only takes action if they both agree.

Email does count as writing for legal purposes, the key point is the Op needs an email from both, not just one !

pitkin2020

steampowered said:

The first thing is to find a copy of your tenancy agreement and check what it says about payment of rent.

If the tenancy agreement is clear about where you should pay rent, I would continue paying rent in accordance with the agreement.

If the tenancy agreement is not clear, I would be tempted to hold onto the rent and put it to one side, until both Mr & Mrs confirm in an email where the rent should paid. Tell both parties in the same email (copying both) that this is what you are doing and that you will pay the rent immediately as soon as they jointly confirm where it should be paid. Say that you cannot be held responsible for paying rent to the wrong person, and you are not involved with the court process so do not know who is correct.

The original account was a joint account and is no longer active I beleive and there are no account details on the agreement as to where it should be paid strangely.  The only address I have aswell is the agents address but they don't manage the property they were merely acting as an introduction.

Hannimal

pitkin2020 said:
 id love to but the cost of doing so isnt viable, were still trying to save for a mortgage and moving would eat into that plus the extra rental costs would kill our ability to save which is already hard enough.
Its a proper rock and hard place.  Obviously with MRS taking the property back i dont want to be on the wrong side of her, she could increase the rent, sell the property etc but then i dont want MR trying to put a CCJ on me for breach of tenancy,
MRS has said she'll put in writing what she has asked me to do i.e pay her not MR and assures me she has no intention to sell but would that legally be enough i dont know.  

I really feel for you, it's so tough paying rent and trying to save. I've nothing helpful to say - just hope it all works out and sorry you're in the middle of someone else's mess

greatcrested

pitkin2020 said:

The only address I have aswell is the agents address but they don't manage the property they were merely acting as an introduction.

By law, the landlord must provide a postal address in England Wales "for serving notices on the landlord".

This may be c/o an agent, hismum, his home, whereever, but

* you should write there, and legally he is demeed to receive it (if he does not that's his problem) and

* if there is no such address, you need not pay rent till there is

Landlord and Tenant Act 1987

48Notification by landlord of address for service of notices.

(1)A landlord of premises to which this Part applies shall by notice furnish the tenant with an address in England and Wales at which notices (including notices in proceedings) may be served on him by the tenant.

(2)Where a landlord of any such premises fails to comply with subsection (1), any rent [F204, service charge or administration charge] otherwise due from the tenant to the landlord shall (subject to subsection (3)) be treated for all purposes as not being due from the tenant to the landlord at any time before the landlord does comply with that subsection.

Jumblebumble

pitkin2020 said:

So basically my landlords have decided to divorce and have been doing so for nearly 2 years, during this time i've been paying MR the rent money but its just been decided (still not offically) that MRS will be given the property, they have both told me this.
Now this is where its getting messy as MRS has told me to stop paying the rent to MR and to now pay her but ive not had anything official from either solicitor or court etc as to whom i should actually continue to pay.  Obviously with MRS going to be the official landlady i dont want to !!!!!! her off but i also dont want MR to decide to try and get a CCJ against me for not paying the rent.  Im between a rock and hard place and in the wrong which ever way this goes.

Does anyone know legally where i stand?  My original tenancy agreement is from 2012 and was never updated after the 6 month period, it was also originally in agreement with MRS mum as it was her property which she gave to MR & MRS several years later.

Im basically being told opposite things from each party, both want to be paid.  Im at the point now i just want to with hold the moneys until someone can show me a legal document to say who i should bloody well pay for the next two months as its proposed to be finalised end of October now.

Any advice, cheers (one stressed out tenant)

There is nothing to stop you paying half the rent to each if they are joint landlords
Take with a very large pinch of salt what someone alleges an unstamped court document says as this has the same validity as piece of bog paper

TBagpuss

Jumblebumble said:

There is nothing to stop you paying half the rent to each if they are joint landlords
Take with a very large pinch of salt what someone alleges an unstamped court document says as this has the same validity as piece of bog paper

In a divorce, where matters are agreed it is normal to have a consent order which is signed by both parties and then sent to the court. Unfortunately at present , the court's have huge backlogs so it can take 3-4 months from the document being submitted to it being sealed and returned.
An order signed by both parties, even if it is not sealed by the court, it has a lot more weight that a piece of bog paper. It is extremely strong evidence of the parties agreement and intentions. 
So, if they show you an order signed by them both which says that H is to receive rent and pay outgoings on the rental property until it is transferred, then that is very strong evidence that you should continue to pay him until you are notified that it has been changed to W (at which point you should presumably be formally notified of the change of landlord) 

That said, I think Steampowered's suggestion is the best one - e-mail them both, make clear that you are in a very difficult position and don't wish to end up being chased to pay twice, and ask them to confirm in writing, signed by both of them, where the rent should be paid. Alternatively, as it sounds as though the wife will be your new ,landlord, let her know that you are happy to transfer the payments to her on continuation that she confirms to you in writing, duly signed, that you are to do so and that she will indemnify you against any claims made by her husband.

Jumblebumble

TBagpuss said:

Jumblebumble said:

There is nothing to stop you paying half the rent to each if they are joint landlords
Take with a very large pinch of salt what someone alleges an unstamped court document says as this has the same validity as piece of bog paper

In a divorce, where matters are agreed it is normal to have a consent order which is signed by both parties and then sent to the court. Unfortunately at present , the court's have huge backlogs so it can take 3-4 months from the document being submitted to it being sealed and returned.
An order signed by both parties, even if it is not sealed by the court, it has a lot more weight that a piece of bog paper. It is extremely strong evidence of the parties agreement and intentions. 
So, if they show you an order signed by them both which says that H is to receive rent and pay outgoings on the rental property until it is transferred, then that is very strong evidence that you should continue to pay him until you are notified that it has been changed to W (at which point you should presumably be formally notified of the change of landlord) 

That said, I think Steampowered's suggestion is the best one - e-mail them both, make clear that you are in a very difficult position and don't wish to end up being chased to pay twice, and ask them to confirm in writing, signed by both of them, where the rent should be paid. Alternatively, as it sounds as though the wife will be your new ,landlord, let her know that you are happy to transfer the payments to her on continuation that she confirms to you in writing, duly signed, that you are to do so and that she will indemnify you against any claims made by her husband.

 
My point is that If one party is giving the OP a document this document could be a draft which has been superseded, forged  etc
If the order is genuine then as both parties have signed and it provided it has been delivered by a solicitor then the OP is probably safe.
Pragmatically You are correct that the OP is by far best off getting them both to confirm where the rent should be paid.