Renting a property, received a repossession order

bananakinz

Hi, wasn't too sure where to post

My sister has been renting a property privately for the past two years, she has the majority of the rent paid by benefit direct to her landlord and she 'tops' up the rent from her wages.

On friday however, received a notice from the landlords mortgage company to 'the occupier' detailing a repo order as the landlord has not been paying the mortgage.

Does anyone know where she stands, as she will probably be unlikely to get her deposit back, and the couple of months rent up front, therefore does not have a deposit for a new property tis something not really needed just before Christmas.

epz_2

firstly stop paying rent, see if she can get the benifits payed to her instead of the landlord.

then refuse to leave untill the deposit is payed back or legal proceedings are taken.

contact the landloard and check his mortgage is a buy to let, this is important as it means the mortage company need to honor the rental contract. if it isnt then they can just turf your sister out with the repo.

if thats the case then would contact the landlord and make him awair that he has commited fraud and defrauded the government and tell him if the deposit isnt repayed you will contact the bank police and local papers to ensure he gets charged. family defrauded and made homeless over crimbo by !!!!less landlord will get some papers sold and them charged so a nice little barganing chip.

the major point is dont leave untill legally required to, it can take months and that period of free rent should help mitigate any losses.

bananakinz

Thanks, it is a buy to let mortgage as far as she is aware.

Generali

Personally, I'd stop paying the rent and wait for someone either:

1. To send me papers in my name kicking me out

or

2. Until I'd saved enough for a new deposit

Whichever came sooner.

m00m00

get in touch with housing benefit immediately, (they will probably be open tomorrow morning), and make sure the rent is paid direct to the tenant.

also get in touch with citizens advice/shelter and discuss the situation with them, your sister sadly, is not in a unique situation these days

silvercar

If the landlord had BTL mortgage or at least had permission from the lender to tlet the property, then the lender will acknowledge the tenancy. The repossession will result in the property being sold by the lender but the tenant will be allowed to remain in the property until the expiry of the AST.

All the advice to stop paying the rent carries a greater risk that the lender will evict the tenant for non-payment of rent and come after the tenant for the missing rent leading probably to a CCJ.

epz wrote:

if thats the case then would contact the landlord and make him awair that he has commited fraud and defrauded the government and tell him if the deposit isnt repayed you will contact the bank police and local papers to ensure he gets charged. family defrauded and made homeless over crimbo by !!!!less landlord will get some papers sold and them charged so a nice little barganing chip.

This is balony, the landlord hasn't committed fraud he has just got into a financial mess. He certainly hasn't defrauded the government! The bank will acknowledge the tenancy, the police won't be interested as no crime has been committed, the family haven't been defrauded and no-one is being turfed out before Xmas!

Over dramatising the situation doesn't help anyone and causes needless anxiety.

To the tenant I would:

Get in touch with the lender acknowleding the letter, this will let the lender know there is a tenant in situ.

Check when your AST ends, you won't be able to remain after then.

Continue paying the rent or you will face eviction proceedings as soon as you are 2 months in arrears (which actually means the day after the second months rent falls due). Any arrears could be chased by the lender.

Where you go after repossession depends on your circumstances. There is a possibility that you could claim council housing as you have been made unintentionally homeless by the repossession, though any rental arrears will look like you have contributed to this. There is also the possibility that the council could say that the AST ended when due, so you should have expected this. Emergency accomadation may mean shared facilities so not ideal.

The standard procedure for a repossession with acknowledged tenant in place (ie BTL mortgage), is for the property to be sold, often at auction, with the tenant in situ. Tenant then has new landlord who may or may not renew the tenancy. If the tenancy ends before sale then the tenant's AST wouldn't be renewed and the property sold with vacant possession.

Inactive

Good advice silvercar, I agree with all of that.

I would ignore everything that epz has said, it is utter rubbish, and IMO irresponsible to give such misleading advice.:rolleyes:

chocolatechipcookies

epz wrote: »

firstly stop paying rent, see if she can get the benifits payed to her instead of the landlord.

then refuse to leave untill the deposit is payed back or legal proceedings are taken.

contact the landloard and check his mortgage is a buy to let, this is important as it means the mortage company need to honor the rental contract. if it isnt then they can just turf your sister out with the repo.

if thats the case then would contact the landlord and make him awair that he has commited fraud and defrauded the government and tell him if the deposit isnt repayed you will contact the bank police and local papers to ensure he gets charged. family defrauded and made homeless over crimbo by !!!!less landlord will get some papers sold and them charged so a nice little barganing chip.

the major point is dont leave untill legally required to, it can take months and that period of free rent should help mitigate any losses.

You are giving very bad advice!

RHemmings

m00m00 wrote: »

get in touch with housing benefit immediately, (they will probably be open tomorrow morning), and make sure the rent is paid direct to the tenant.

also get in touch with citizens advice/shelter and discuss the situation with them, your sister sadly, is not in a unique situation these days

It's vital that the tenant contacts everyone involved and makes sure that she does everything properly. If she's turfed out, and hasn't dotted her 'i's and crossed her 't's then it's possible that the council might deem her "intentionally homeless" and refuse to provide alternative accommodation.

Contacting citizens advice and shelter is good advice. But contacting the benefits office and explaining the situation would help too. But if examples I've seen on the telly are anything to go by, she needs to be even more careful in case the right hand of the council doesn't know what the left hand is doing. E.g. if she gets told by some council people that she's OK, but later on finds out that other council people say that she isn't. Hopefully Shelter/CAB should be able to help with this, but I believe that the statement "be very careful" applies here.

epz_2

fraud is the act of obtaining goods or services by deception.

if the landlord got a cheaper residential mortgage then the tennant has no protection in situations like this. its the same as a mini cab driver using narmal car insurance, if he crashes with you as a passenger then you are screwed.

financial services have a cost depending upon the risk, if you lie to them to obtain a lower risk and hence price its fraud.

silvercar

But the OP didnt say that it was a residential mortgage, you (incorrectly) assumed it.