Urgent help needed -- Landlord a complete nightmare

Dougalina

Hi

I am really hoping someone can help with this, we are at our wits end.  I'll try to keep it brief:

My daughter is renting a flat with he boyfriend.  She was recently made redundant from igloo, and the b/f has goneabroad to get work, as he was also laid off.  She wants to move back home, as she cannot afford the rent.  Ahe has 5 months of her lease left.

The tenanacy agreement states that she can leave the tenancy if she finds a replacement tenanat and pays the fees for doing so.  This she has done.  However, the landlord now has stated that she wants to sell the property and has put it up for sale with a different agency, without informing the letting agency.  We found out  that she has also marketed it as sale for first time buyers, and not told the selling agency that there is a tenancy agreement for 5 months, but that the tenant has a rolling one month contract (not true).

Added to this, she is now dragging her feet on signing the agreement to let the tenancy pass to the new person, keeps asking for stuff to be amended etc. 

Its obvious to us that she is dragging her feet, so that if she gets a buyer, she can force my daughter to stay on and be liable for the rent (which she cannot afford).

Her emails are nasty and almost threatening, the last one reads:

"with all due respect, you are entitled to interpret my condition to accepting your break out of the TA  to the best of your understanding.  The condition is clearly spelt out and I do not consider this to have been met"

She offers no explanation as to whyshe considers it not met, and wont explain herself.

My daughter is obliged to show prospective buyers round the  flat, and I suggested that she asks them all if they are landlords, as she is the sitting tenant

Any advice as to how to deal with this would be so very gratefully recieved.  My daughter has spent the whole day in tears, and I am worried for her mental health (she lives 100 miles away, otherwise I would be there right now)

thank you 

PRAISETHESUN

When selling a property with sitting tenants, the tenant is in an extremely powerful position. They can make life very difficult if they refuse to allow viewings (yes, she can refuse access for viewing), refuse to leave when the sale completes, forcing the LL to go through a long/expensive eviction process. The LL here sounds a bit daft if they don't realise this. Legally though, your daughter is stuck until the end of the fixed term unfortunately. Any goodwill as to leaving early is solely at the discretion of the LL, which from the sounds of it is non-existent.

There is also no obligation for your daughter to co-operate in the sales process and she would be within her rights to change the locks and refuse access for any purpose except emergencies/the LL's legal obligations such as gas safety checks, etc, until she is no longer responsible for the property - that would definitely turn off a lot of buyers and might help the LL realise they need the tenant to be on board and make it easier for them to leave. 

Dougalina

Hi thanks for replying.  Her tenancy states that she is obliged to show viewers around as long as there is 24 hours notice.

The thing is,the contract says she can leave early as long as she finds a replacement tenant at her own expense, which she has done, but now the LL wont sign it over to new tenant. 

If she does not agree to the viewings, then would she get evicted?  And if she is, then would that mean she did not have to pay the remaining months rent?  If so, eviction would be a good thing!

The LL is just playing everyone off against each other, even the lettings and saled agents.

Dougalina

As for the goodwill, she would not even provide my daughter with a key to the letter box, as she said, she should of asked for it on moving in, and afterwards was too late!  My daughter has been polite, a model tenant, the place is spotless, but this woman is completely devoid of any empathy or basic human kindness

sammyjammy

As an aside has she claimed Universal credit to help with the rent?

sammyjammy

On the basis she has five months left I would use the moving of the tenancy over to another as a bargaining chip. If Landlord isn't going to let a new tenant take over she has five months and is entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property until that time.

Madmel

Dougalina said:

Hi thanks for replying.  Her tenancy states that she is obliged to show viewers around as long as there is 24 hours notice.

I'm pretty sure that is an unenforceable term. The contract could state that she has to wear red on a Monday and eat sausages on Thursdays and you would most probably ignore them as they too would be unenforceable. Your DD is in a very strong position as Praisethesun says. Before she starts to assert her rights to quiet enjoyment, is her deposit protected and has she received all the correct information as per the sticky threads at the top of this board?

emmajones1976

Dougalina said:

If she does not agree to the viewings, then would she get evicted?  And if she is, then would that mean she did not have to pay the remaining months rent?  If so, eviction would be a good thing!

Eviction isnt an overnight process. It would take months and months. Given she wants to leave in 5 months then I would crack on and let nobody in.
And no, she would be liable for rent accrued if it got to that point 

Dougalina

Hi, yes, her deposit is protected, and no, I dont think she is claiming any benefits, she is living off her savings at the moment

ripplyuk

Getting a lodger would help with the rent. 

She should stop allowing viewings (regardless of the tenancy agreement) or any visits to facilitate this sale. 

Jude57

Dougalina said:

Hi, yes, her deposit is protected, and no, I dont think she is claiming any benefits, she is living off her savings at the moment

Then she needs to claim immediately. If for no other reason than that she will get National Insurance credits while claiming and although her State Pension probably seems very far away, missing credits will impact her Pension when the time comes. She should run her situation through entitledto.co.uk to be sure, but I'd say she'd get Universal Credit, including help with the rent, and Council Tax Reduction. It will ease her financial worries a bit anyway.