Notice to quit issued by one of divorcing landlords

renter_hell

Hi all,

I have a query which I’ve been getting conflicting information on and was wondering if anyone on the forum had any insight into the issue.

a friend of mine has been in a rented property for 6 years and recently the landlords have decided to get divorced. Upon commencement of the divorce proceedings the property was managed by a letting agency and her fixed term came to an end over the summer. At the time the Mr landlord wanted to put the rent up by £75 a month and the Mrs Landlord said no that’s too much it should go up by £50. My friend spoke to the letting agent who advised keep paying what you are paying and when the divorce gets sorted then it can be looked at.

Approx 2 weeks ago she got a notice to quit issued By Mr Landlord solicitor of which the letting agent and Mrs Landlord were completely unaware of. The Mrs landlord has spoken to her and issued a letter from her solicitor saying that the Mrs landlord does not consent to the notice to quit and is happy for my friend to stay. My friend has spoken to housing rights who advised that Mr landlord cannot do that without Mrs Landlord say so. Belfast city council environmental health have told her that Mr Landlord is well within his rights to issue the NTQ. 

So she’s sat very confused at the minute and not knowing what to do. She got in touch with the letting agent to say that she would pay the extra £75 per month that the Mr Landlord wanted but his response was “the notice has been served and that’s final”.

as I say any help / guidance would be greatly appreciated!!

GrumpyDil

Are Mr and Mrs Landlord both on the tenancy agreement. If they are then both can individually give notice, in the same way that individual tenants can give notice on a tenancy.

renter_hell

GrumpyDil said:

Are Mr and Mrs Landlord both on the tenancy agreement. If they are then both can individually give notice, in the same way that individual tenants can give notice on a tenancy.

Hi GrumpyDil,

Thanks for replying, yea both landlords are named on the tenancy agreement. And both them have a 50% share of the house which is being looked at as part of the divorce. 

nyermen

Not sure if its different in Northern Ireland, but this is a good place to start on whether its a valid notice:
https://markprichard.co.uk/content/documents/170522-Section-21-checker-tool.pdf

(i'm assuming we're talking a section 21 or equivalent here?)

GrumpyDil

The share of the house is probably less important as your friend's right to occupy is related to the tenancy agreement. 

I don't know if the NI letting rules differ from England/Wales but assuming they don't and your friend is not in a fixed term then I would say it is very likely either landlord could give valid notice (something your friend would need to look into).

Unless the letting rules are very different I would recommend asking a moderator to move this post to the sales/lettings forum. 

renter_hell

nyermen said:

Not sure if its different in Northern Ireland, but this is a good place to start on whether its a valid notice:


(i'm assuming we're talking a section 21 or equivalent here?)

Thanks for the reply nyermen, as I understand it the rules around renting are different in NI 

renter_hell

GrumpyDil said:

The share of the house is probably less important as your friend's right to occupy is related to the tenancy agreement. 

I don't know if the NI letting rules differ from England/Wales but assuming they don't and your friend is not in a fixed term then I would say it is very likely either landlord could give valid notice (something your friend would need to look into).

Unless the letting rules are very different I would recommend asking a moderator to move this post to the sales/lettings forum. 

HinGrumpyDil

as I understand it the laws for renting are different here in NI 

nyermen

Found this site for what its worth, so maybe do the same sorts of checks (gas certificate, deposit protection, etc) as they say?
https://www.housingadviceni.org/advice-landlords/right-evict

KiwiCoop

Mr Landlord needs to be careful - your friend could simply decide to stop paying the rent and tell him he'll need to get a court order to remove her, which will cost him plenty and take ages, all the while doing a deal with the friendlier Mrs Landlord...

MalMonroe

I would have thought that if the landlords were using a letting agent, then any notice to quit would have to come from the letting agent after taking instruction from the owner-landlords. It seems a bit daft to have two people saying different things to a tenant - with the man seeming to have the upper hand. Or thinking he has. 

Is the information here of any use? 

https://www.housingadviceni.org/advice-private-tenants/notice-quit-and-due-process

Surely it isn't right that Mr Landlord is well within his rights to issue the NTQ -surely they both have to act as one? It's a shame that things appear to have deteriorated so much that the couple can't even discuss this important matter without using your friend in this way.

There's also some information here : https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/protection-against-eviction

This pair of landlords need to try to sort things out between them and then tell the letting agent what they come up with. Whether what they come up with will be legal or not will be another matter. 

Whatever happens, in N.I. private tenants have to be given at least 12 weeks' notice - see advice in above links. 

MalMonroe

KiwiCoop said:

Mr Landlord needs to be careful - your friend could simply decide to stop paying the rent and tell him he'll need to get a court order to remove her, which will cost him plenty and take ages, all the while doing a deal with the friendlier Mrs Landlord...

Ooooh, no, I'm not sure stopping paying rent will be a good thing to do. It may also impact the tenant's credit reports. She needs some quality, sensible advice. The Landlords need to grow up and discuss the matter with their letting agent and stop harassing the OP's friend. It's not her fault they're getting divorced.