Section 146 issued against my landlord

qcx88

Hi all, 

Looking for some advice on where I stand. 

I rent my flat privately from my landlord, no estate agents involved. 

Following a CCJ been issued for non payment of the ground rent/ service charge for over year by my landlord a section 146 has now been issued.

This was served to myself on Friday, despite my protests as I am not responsible for the ground rent. However, they did not seem to care I was not the property owner, nor the person named on it. 

The CCJ was not settled as the landlord is currently a-wall, despite multiple attempts from various parties to imply that it was my issue to ensure my landlord resolved it. I do not think he is in the UK.

Now, I have only met him once. 2 years ago when he gave me the keys to the flat. I have no idea what his current address is and he doesn't answer either of the phone numbers I have for him. 

Given I can prove, I have never missed a rent payment and have a tenancy agreement what are my rights here? 

I am also classed as a disabled person, not sure if that makes any difference to the protection I may or may not have?

He has 14 days from last Friday to resolve the matter of the £5,000+ bill. I find it very unlikely this will happen as nobody is able to make contact with him. 

What would the next steps of a section 146 be?  Do I need to start looking for somewhere new to live. 

I must admit I am worried about someone turning up and trying to collect the value of the debt in goods because everything in the flat is mine and I may be at work when they turn up. 

SDLT_Geek

qcx88 said:

Hi all, 

Looking for some advice on where I stand. 

I rent my flat privately from my landlord, no estate agents involved. 

Following a CCJ been issued for non payment of the ground rent/ service charge for over year by my landlord a section 146 has now been issued.

This was served to myself on Friday, despite my protests as I am not responsible for the ground rent. However, they did not seem to care I was not the property owner, nor the person named on it. 

The CCJ was not settled as the landlord is currently a-wall, despite multiple attempts from various parties to imply that it was my issue to ensure my landlord resolved it. I do not think he is in the UK.

Now, I have only met him once. 2 years ago when he gave me the keys to the flat. I have no idea what his current address is and he doesn't answer either of the phone numbers I have for him. 

Given I can prove, I have never missed a rent payment and have a tenancy agreement what are my rights here? 

I am also classed as a disabled person, not sure if that makes any difference to the protection I may or may not have?

He has 14 days from last Friday to resolve the matter of the £5,000+ bill. I find it very unlikely this will happen as nobody is able to make contact with him. 

What would the next steps of a section 146 be?  Do I need to start looking for somewhere new to live. 

I must admit I am worried about someone turning up and trying to collect the value of the debt in goods because everything in the flat is mine and I may be at work when they turn up. 

This does not address your question, but just to check: given that you believe the landlord is out of the UK and no agents are involved, are you deducting tax at source from the rent you pay the landlord? https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-resident-landord-guidance-notes-for-letting-agents-and-tenants-non-resident-landlords-scheme-guidance-notes/notes-for-tenants

SiliconChip

In addition to the tax situation the landlord is required to give you a correspondence address, which I believe (although happy to be corrected) has to be in the UK. I'm not sure what happens if you don't have one but it may be that you don't have to pay rent (although you'd still owe it, but if that is the case you could put it in a savings account and earn yourself some interest).

On the ground rent I can't see how it is in any way your issue, and the worst case would be that the leaseholder takes your landlord to court, wins and the house has to be sold to pay the debt, but that would take probably years to conclude and would simply result in you having a new landlord in the first instance. I'd simply refuse to accept any documents and return anything that comes in the post to the sender.

pinkshoes

Perhaps not pay your rent next month and put the amount aside and then I bet your landlord will be in contact! You can then pay the rent and notify him of the ground rent bill.

I would write to the ground rent people letting them know you are a tenant and the LL does not live at the address.

Jonboy_1984

Personally I would spend the £3 at land registry to check the LEASEHOLD title and see if the landlord holds a mortgage on the property.

If they do I would send the mortgage provider a copy of the section 146, as their security is at risk and they may simply pay it and add it to the mortgage.

doodling

Hi,

What address do you have "for the serving of notices" - there should be one in your tenancy agreement.

If you don't have such an address then you don't need to pay rent (but put it to one side as you may need to pay someone eventually).

If you do have such an address then a letter to it explaining the situation, sent by first class post, might be a good idea.

Ultimately, if your landlord doesn't resolve this then you will end up being evicted.  Failure to pay ground rent could mean that your landlord will lose his flat with no compensation so I'm surprised he isn't up to date with this.

If the flat is repossessed by the freeholder then you will need to leave - I don't know how quick that repossession process is and how quickly you will need to leave afterwards so others will need to comment on that.

propertyrental

As said above:

1) if LL is overseas resident and receives rent directly  (ie not via a UK agent) , then tenant should deduct 20% tax, unless HMRC have agreed the LL can receive rent gross

See HMRC here.

2) Unless overseas landlord has provided an address in Eng/Wales "for serving notices", then T does not have to pay rent.

See Landlord and Tenant Act 1987   S48.

3) Yes it seems likely you will have to move, so start looking. However you'll have a minimum of 2 months. Read

Post 6: Repossession: what if a LL's mortgage lender repossesses the property?

saajan_12

The CCJ would be against the leaseholder, and bailiffs should not enforce against you or your possessions (especially if presented with your tenancy agreement). 

However it depends on how the freeholder goes about enforcing their rights - ultimately they could repossess the flat after sufficient notices and escalation. In that case, you want to make sure the freeholder, any authority on an eviction case are aware of your tenancy. You'd still have to leave eventually, but that may allow you time to receive sufficient notice. 

eddddy

I doubt that the freeholder plans to send in bailiffs. 

Serving a section 146 notice is a step in the process to forfeit your landlord's lease. i.e. The freeholder would repossess the flat and sell it. Unfortunately, that would also bring your tenancy to an end.


As @Jonboy_1984 says, your landlord's mortgage lender might step in and pay what your landlord owes - which would solve the problem (for the moment).



In legal terms, your landlord is the freeholder's tenant, and you are a subtenant. As a subtenant, you can apply to the court for relief from forfeiture (i.e. stop the flat being repossessed).  And the court would decide if you can stay in the flat, and on what terms.

But I wouldn't raise your hopes on that. From what I've read, the terms might be that you don't have to pay any more rent to your landlord, but you have to take over your landlord's responsibilities.

i.e. You pay landlord's arrears (£5000), plus the landlord's service charge and the landlord's ground rent - but you don't have to pay any other rent to anyone.

But I'm not certain about that - and you'd probably need a specialist solicitor to look into that stuff, and they'd be expensive.