Should I withold rent due to repossession by landlords mortgage lender

HarryCarter1995

*original post updated as per forum rules*


Hello, I have briefly explained my situation on a seperate discussion, however, I wanted to explain in more depth on this discussion. I hope that is ok.

We are currently renting a house through a private landlord. Myself, partner and 3 children live here. All rent is paid to the agent. The rent has been paid on time every month since we moved in March 2020.

Throughout our tenancy we have had numerous visits from debt collectors asking for the landlord.

Last year we received a letter to advise that an order for sale of the property we rent has been applied for and our landlord has been taken to court due to +200k of debt not being paid back to this company.

We also found out that private investigators had been taking photos of the house we rent and had even approached my partner in the street to ask her questions about the property we rent. 

We were sent the application and evidence to support the order for sale prior to the hearing. It was quite sickening to see that someone had been spying on us and one part even noted 'I could not see inside the property because the curtains were closed'. I considered contacting the police but I assume this is all probably legal?

Firstly, for all of the above reasons I feel our right to 'quiet enjoyment of the property' has clearly been breached.

Landlord did not attend court so the order for sale was granted and stated possession of the property must be handed over to this company in December 2021.

We were in contact with this company's solicitors who advised us not to worry as they are not in the business of kicking families out of their homes during Christmas.

Meanwhile I received a phone call from the agent telling me not to worry as the property will remain the landlords ownership. I assume this was a complete lie.

During December we received another letter, this time from the landlords mortgage lender stating that they are seeking to repossess the property with a court date set to 08/02/2022.

To top things off, I found out that our deposit was never protected.

I have been in touch with Citizens Advice and Shelter. They have advised that our tenancy IS NOT binding on the mortgage lender, therefore there is nothing that can really be done.

They also advised that we can ask the lender for a 2 month delay and if there dont response we can ask the court to delay possession.

We are actively looking for alternative accommodation and the rental market is very tough at the moment with such high demand.

So down to my question. Should I pay next month's rent? If they house may be repossessed after the 8th?

Its hard enough finding somewhere else to rent and even if we find somewhere, the prospective landlord will want to see a reference from my current landlord (if he will even give one). I imagine it won't look good if I landlord advised that I stopped paying rent.

On the other hand, I will probably not get my unprotected deposit back so feel I should keep the rent to cover that.

I could sue for the unprotected deposit but with the landlord most likely becoming bankrupt what are the chances of getting it back?

Apologies for such a long post. I really appreciate any advice or to hear what you would do in my situation?

Many thanks

MaryNB

You should stick to the same thread. The problem with duplicate threads that there is often information in the first thread that would inform responses and you end up with repeated advice. Posters don't know what has already been discussed and advised upon without having to go into your posting history.

Also it's against forum rules. 

Wes121708

HarryCarter1995 said:

Hello, I have briefly explained my situation on a seperate discussion, however, I wanted to explain in more depth on this discussion. I hope that is ok.

We are currently renting a house through a private landlord. Myself, partner and 3 children live here. All rent is paid to the agent. The rent has been paid on time every month since we moved in March 2020.

Throughout our tenancy we have had numerous visits from debt collectors asking for the landlord.

Last year we received a letter to advise that an order for sale of the property we rent has been applied for and our landlord has been taken to court due to +200k of debt not being paid back to this company.

We also found out that private investigators had been taking photos of the house we rent and had even approached my partner in the street to ask her questions about the property we rent. 

We were sent the application and evidence to support the order for sale prior to the hearing. It was quite sickening to see that someone had been spying on us and one part even noted 'I could not see inside the property because the curtains were closed'. I considered contacting the police but I assume this is all probably legal?

Firstly, for all of the above reasons I feel our right to 'quiet enjoyment of the property' has clearly been breached.

Landlord did not attend court so the order for sale was granted and stated possession of the property must be handed over to this company in December 2021.

We were in contact with this company's solicitors who advised us not to worry as they are not in the business of kicking families out of their homes during Christmas.

Meanwhile I received a phone call from the agent telling me not to worry as the property will remain the landlords ownership. I assume this was a complete lie.

During December we received another letter, this time from the landlords mortgage lender stating that they are seeking to repossess the property with a court date set to 08/02/2022.

To top things off, I found out that our deposit was never protected.

I have been in touch with Citizens Advice and Shelter. They have advised that our tenancy IS NOT binding on the mortgage lender, therefore there is nothing that can really be done.

They also advised that we can ask the lender for a 2 month delay and if there dont response we can ask the court to delay possession.

We are actively looking for alternative accommodation and the rental market is very tough at the moment with such high demand.

So down to my question. Should I pay next month's rent? If they house may be repossessed after the 8th?

Its hard enough finding somewhere else to rent and even if we find somewhere, the prospective landlord will want to see a reference from my current landlord (if he will even give one). I imagine it won't look good if I landlord advised that I stopped paying rent.

On the other hand, I will probably not get my unprotected deposit back so feel I should keep the rent to cover that.

I could sue for the unprotected deposit but with the landlord most likely becoming bankrupt what are the chances of getting it back?

Apologies for such a long post. I really appreciate any advice or to hear what you would do in my situation?

Many thanks

It would have been a field agent who attended the property to check the occupancy and record the state of the property.
 The lender will  also instruct them when there has not been any contact from the customer and no mortgage payments for a period of time.

canaldumidi

Forum rules explained above.