seeking advice on legal standing for rent arrears small claims court case

golddustmedia

Hello,
For the first time I've got a difficult tenant, and have had to take court action. Below a brief summary of the current position followed by my question.

On this property I let a property to a couple who were employed, but the property belongs to my family member. As such I am not the landlord, rather I am on their AST contract as the Landlords agent. The tenant has consistently referred to me as landlord but I do not actually receive the rent. Additionally the property was owned the family members parent who has died and named me as their estate executor. As such I have legal probate to administer the property as an asset but also the landlord has given me their full authority to act on their behalf with regard to the tenancy as their agent. Essentially we didn't want to end up in the letting business but had to do so while caring for the elderly relative who owned the property.

The 1st tenant stopped work over a year ago, receives Universal credit and claims tenant 2 has left. However tenant 2 is still resident at the property and named on the tenancy agreement as well as employed. In all correspondence tenant 1 denies this, however to my face has acknowledged tenant 2 is there and all her belongings are there. Tenant 1 keeps stating this is an "untidy tenancy and the DWP are aware". Given he lies about most things I'm not sure what to make of that. At no point have we accepted a change in the tenancy. The council have been involved along the way and acknowledge that tenant 2 is jointly liable on the tenancy agreement.

Due to continued late and partial rent payments an arrears has built up and with housing courts closed I issued both section 8 & 21 last September, In actuality I originally issued section 21 in June, however the gas certificate expired in May and due to lockdown, bereavement and tenant refusing access this was not renewed prior to the eviction notice. So I had to reissue it in September after a new certificate was obtained in August.
To address the arrears I've raised 2 small claims court cases. On one I've accepted their part admission and judgement in my favour, however the tenant hasn't actually paid the claim (stating he is on UC). On the 2nd claim it was transferred to our local county court and the judge has adjourned the case asking me to explain my legal right to bring the claim.

The wording of the court letter is:
UPON the court reviewing the court file, and noting that the the Claimant stating he is the Landlords agent and then "sole executor of the deceased estate to which the property belongs to"
AND UPON the Court being unclear as to on what legal standing the Claimant has to bring the Claim.

So my question is that in order to respond to the court and restore the claim how should I word my response? In the tenancy agreement I'm named and given authority to act on behalf of the landlord, so is that sufficient "legal standing"?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

greatcrested

Agents cannot act in legal cases. The case must be brought by

a) the landlord, or

b) Executer/Administrator of a deceased landlord's Estate, or

c) a qualified solicitor acting for the landlord, or

d) someone with Power Of Attorney for the landlord

On this property I let a a family member lets a property to a couple who were employed, but the property belongs to my family member. As such I am not the landlord, rather I am on their AST contract as the Landlords agent. ..... Additionally the property was owned the family members parent who has died and named me as their estate executor. As such I have legal probate to administer the property as an asset but also the landlord has given me their full authority to act on their behalf with regard to the tenancy as their agent

Very unclear.

1) Who is the registered owner of the property? The 'family member' or the deceased parent? Or you?

2) It appears Probate has not yet been granted and you as Executer are administering the deceased's Estate. This makes a nonsense of your claim that the property is owned by 'a family member'.

3) If you are acting as Executer of the Estateof the owner (see 2 above!), have you complied with the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985, and formally informed the tenant of the change of landlord from the deceased to yourself? Though this seems contradictory to your claim that 'a family member', not the deceased, owns the property. Which is it?

AdrianC

golddustmedia said:

For the first time I've got a difficult tenant, and have had to take court action. Below a brief summary of the current position followed by my question.

On this property I let a property to a couple who were employed, but the property belongs to my family member. As such I am not the landlord, rather I am on their AST contract as the Landlords agent. The tenant has consistently referred to me as landlord but I do not actually receive the rent. Additionally the property was owned the family members parent who has died and named me as their estate executor. As such I have legal probate to administer the property as an asset but also the landlord has given me their full authority to act on their behalf with regard to the tenancy as their agent. Essentially we didn't want to end up in the letting business but had to do so while caring for the elderly relative who owned the property.

The 1st tenant stopped work over a year ago, receives Universal credit and claims tenant 2 has left. However tenant 2 is still resident at the property and named on the tenancy agreement as well as employed. In all correspondence tenant 1 denies this, however to my face has acknowledged tenant 2 is there and all her belongings are there. Tenant 1 keeps stating this is an "untidy tenancy and the DWP are aware". Given he lies about most things I'm not sure what to make of that. At no point have we accepted a change in the tenancy. The council have been involved along the way and acknowledge that tenant 2 is jointly liable on the tenancy agreement.

Due to continued late and partial rent payments an arrears has built up and with housing courts closed I issued both section 8 & 21 last September, In actuality I originally issued section 21 in June, however the gas certificate expired in May and due to lockdown, bereavement and tenant refusing access this was not renewed prior to the eviction notice. So I had to reissue it in September after a new certificate was obtained in August.
To address the arrears I've raised 2 small claims court cases. On one I've accepted their part admission and judgement in my favour, however the tenant hasn't actually paid the claim (stating he is on UC). On the 2nd claim it was transferred to our local county court and the judge has adjourned the case asking me to explain my legal right to bring the claim.

The wording of the court letter is:
UPON the court reviewing the court file, and noting that the the Claimant stating he is the Landlords agent and then "sole executor of the deceased estate to which the property belongs to"
AND UPON the Court being unclear as to on what legal standing the Claimant has to bring the Claim.

So my question is that in order to respond to the court and restore the claim how should I word my response? In the tenancy agreement I'm named and given authority to act on behalf of the landlord, so is that sufficient "legal standing"?

The property is currently owned by the estate of the deceased, and you are executor.
When the deceased was alive, were you explicitly their agent, or were you acting under PoA?

That's all the court is asking...
Are you bringing it as "the agent", or are you bringing it as the executor?

golddustmedia

Thanks for your reply, to be clearer;
The property belongs to a grandparent who is now deceased. The landlord is their daughter and still alive. I am the executor for the deceased and agent for the daughter/landlord (who is my mother in law).
I have a grant of probate in order to administer the estate. However I have realistically approached this court case from the perspective of landlords agent on the basis the landlord had asked me to manage the tenancy on her behalf.

To comply with the Will of the deceased the property needs to be sold, hence the eviction notice. In the meantime I'm attempting to deal with the rent arrears through the small claims court.

golddustmedia

AdrianC said:
The property is currently owned by the estate of the deceased, and you are executor.

When the deceased was alive, were you explicitly their agent, or were you acting under PoA?

That's all the court is asking...
Are you bringing it as "the agent", or are you bringing it as the executor?

I can now see the confusion.
As the deceased was not the landlord I assume I cannot bring the case as executor.
Furthermore as the landlord is alive and I am acting as their agent it sounds like we need to either;
Bring the case in the name of the landlord, OR the landlord give me Power of Attorney to deal on her behalf.

TonyMMM

golddustmedia 

The property belongs to a grandparent who is now deceased. 

No it doesn't  - it either still belongs to the estate (of which you are executor and therefore the landlord), or it has been transferred to the daughter, and so she is the landlord .....which ??  (it makes a difference ) 

golddustmedia

TonyMMM said:

golddustmedia 

The property belongs to a grandparent who is now deceased. 

No it doesn't  - it either still belongs to the estate (of which you are executor and therefore the landlord), or it has been transferred to the daughter, and so she is the landlord .....which ??  (it makes a difference ) 

The daughter was always the landlord.

AdrianC

golddustmedia said:

Thanks for your reply, to be clearer;

Now why do I get that sinking feeling...?

The property belongs to a grandparent who is now deceased. The landlord is their daughter and still alive.

Nope. One or the other of those.
Dead people cannot own things.
Their estates can, and do - right up until the point bequests are disbursed to beneficiaries.
Live people cannot be the landlord for other people's property.

I am the executor for the deceased and agent for the daughter/landlord (who is my mother in law).
I have a grant of probate in order to administer the estate. However I have realistically approached this court case from the perspective of landlords agent on the basis the landlord had asked me to manage the tenancy on her behalf.

To comply with the Will of the deceased the property needs to be sold, hence the eviction notice. In the meantime I'm attempting to deal with the rent arrears through the small claims court.

So you are bringing it as the executor of the estate.
The estate is the landlord. With that executor hat on, YOU are acting as the landlord.
The daughter is not the landlord, she does not own the property, and has no rights whatsoever over it.
You say she cannot own the property, because the bequests from the will cannot be disbursed until the property has been sold, so she will never become the landlord.

The daughter is irrelevant. She is simply in line to receive some money from the estate once the property is sold.

Your previous "agency" for the deceased stopped the moment they drew their last breath, along with any PoA they may have granted to anybody.

This is another fine example of why renting Granny's house out "to provide income for the care home fees" is short-termism. Whose idea was it?

greatcrested

By what right is the daughter 'the landlord'?

She did not own the property during the owner's (grandparent) life.

She does not own the property now - at least not till Probate is granted, the property transferred to her (assuming she inherits), and the Estate wound up.

* Was she acting under a POA for the owner/grandparent?

* Was she the owner/grandparent's tenant sub-letting to the current tenant/occupier?

,

TBagpuss

As others have said, it's hard to see how the daughter could be the landlord as she is not the owner of the property.(and it sounds as though it was let  when her mother was still alive, so presumably at that point the landlord was the (now deceased) mother. If that's the case, you have standing to bring the claim as the executor, but it has nothing to do with daughter who is merely a beneficiary of the estate.

If daughter appears on the tenancy agreement then you probably need to get some legal advice as to the validity of the agreement, and your and her current options.  

golddustmedia

OK, hopefully the below clarifies the position.
The deceased was never named as the landlord.
The daughter had power of attorney for the deceased, and let the property at the request of the deceased.
The tenancy agreement names the daughter as the landlord.
The property currently belongs to the estate, to which I am executor.

So, on the basis that the daughter acted on PoA to let the property, and said PoA ended upon death of the owner, is it possible that the title of landlord now transfers to me?