Scammed into subletting

housebuyer143

When I worked at a letting agent, the baliffs turned up at a house which the landlord had an eviction notice for. 
Two people were living there. Turns out the tenant knowing the date the baliffs were coming took it upon himself to "let" the property to this unsuspecting couple. He took 6 months rent in advance and a deposit and they were there 3 days! Bailiffs had to remove them because legally they had no right to be in the property.

Unfortunately it's really horrible but the same applies - you need to leave the HA property as you have no legal right to be there. 
Do you have funds to get another rental in the area so you don't have to move so far away?

Marvel1

housebuyer143 said:

When I worked at a letting agent, the baliffs turned up at a house which the landlord had an eviction notice for. 
Two people were living there. Turns out the tenant knowing the date the baliffs were coming took it upon himself to "let" the property to this unsuspecting couple. He took 6 months rent in advance and a deposit and they were there 3 days! Bailiffs had to remove them because legally they had no right to be in the property.

Unfortunately it's really horrible but the same applies - you need to leave the HA property as you have no legal right to be there. 
Do you have funds to get another rental in the area so you don't have to move so far away?

So best not pay any rent to this so called landlord then, save it for another rental.

housebuyer143

Marvel1 said:

housebuyer143 said:

When I worked at a letting agent, the baliffs turned up at a house which the landlord had an eviction notice for. 
Two people were living there. Turns out the tenant knowing the date the baliffs were coming took it upon himself to "let" the property to this unsuspecting couple. He took 6 months rent in advance and a deposit and they were there 3 days! Bailiffs had to remove them because legally they had no right to be in the property.

Unfortunately it's really horrible but the same applies - you need to leave the HA property as you have no legal right to be there. 
Do you have funds to get another rental in the area so you don't have to move so far away?

So best not pay any rent to this so called landlord then, save it for another rental.

Yes, don't pay another penny. He tenancy agreement means nothing because the "landlord" isn't the owner. They can't rent out what they don't own.

HampshireH

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

It's horrible that this has happened and annoying that the council housing officers don't run occasional checks to make sure tenants are living where they say they are.

Unfortunately it's very easy for people to post dodgy private listings on social media without the relevant people being aware. It's the same with holiday rentals, never use a private listing, use an official platform or agent and never pay anyone privately because not only do you get the issue of sub-letters but also scammers taking money for a property that turns out not to exist and was essentially just photos of someone else's house they stole from the internet.

They obviously did do a check else they wouldn't have found out.

Anyone can pretend they are living somewhere. Months of investigations and even harder when you present all your evidence and a judge then gives them another chance (which you know is just going to cost time and money to repeat the process).

The HA and Council have no obligation to house you. And if you were able to private rent then you won't be deemed high priority. They have done the right thing and they have offered you temp accommodation if you decline it you could be deemed intentionally homeless.

The eviction process for the HA will take a while - unless the possession order has been granted and they are just awaiting a warrant for bailiff eviction. so you may have time to look for somewhere else if you decline temporary accommodation being offered 

Robbo66

housebuyer143 said:

Marvel1 said:

housebuyer143 said:

When I worked at a letting agent, the baliffs turned up at a house which the landlord had an eviction notice for. 
Two people were living there. Turns out the tenant knowing the date the baliffs were coming took it upon himself to "let" the property to this unsuspecting couple. He took 6 months rent in advance and a deposit and they were there 3 days! Bailiffs had to remove them because legally they had no right to be in the property.

Unfortunately it's really horrible but the same applies - you need to leave the HA property as you have no legal right to be there. 
Do you have funds to get another rental in the area so you don't have to move so far away?

So best not pay any rent to this so called landlord then, save it for another rental.

Yes, don't pay another penny. He tenancy agreement means nothing because the "landlord" isn't the owner. They can't rent out what they don't own.

A landlord and owner of a property does not have to be the same person

marcia_

Robbo66 said:

housebuyer143 said:

Marvel1 said:

housebuyer143 said:

When I worked at a letting agent, the baliffs turned up at a house which the landlord had an eviction notice for. 
Two people were living there. Turns out the tenant knowing the date the baliffs were coming took it upon himself to "let" the property to this unsuspecting couple. He took 6 months rent in advance and a deposit and they were there 3 days! Bailiffs had to remove them because legally they had no right to be in the property.

Unfortunately it's really horrible but the same applies - you need to leave the HA property as you have no legal right to be there. 
Do you have funds to get another rental in the area so you don't have to move so far away?

So best not pay any rent to this so called landlord then, save it for another rental.

Yes, don't pay another penny. He tenancy agreement means nothing because the "landlord" isn't the owner. They can't rent out what they don't own.

A landlord and owner of a property does not have to be the same person

 But in this case the so called landlord does not own the property, is not contracted by the owner to let it out and no doubt has a clause in their own tenancy that they must be the person living in the property 

BoGoF

The first 'red flag' for me would be the fact it was on Facebook marketplace.

Robbo66

marcia_ said:

Robbo66 said:

housebuyer143 said:

Marvel1 said:

housebuyer143 said:

When I worked at a letting agent, the baliffs turned up at a house which the landlord had an eviction notice for. 
Two people were living there. Turns out the tenant knowing the date the baliffs were coming took it upon himself to "let" the property to this unsuspecting couple. He took 6 months rent in advance and a deposit and they were there 3 days! Bailiffs had to remove them because legally they had no right to be in the property.

Unfortunately it's really horrible but the same applies - you need to leave the HA property as you have no legal right to be there. 
Do you have funds to get another rental in the area so you don't have to move so far away?

So best not pay any rent to this so called landlord then, save it for another rental.

Yes, don't pay another penny. He tenancy agreement means nothing because the "landlord" isn't the owner. They can't rent out what they don't own.

A landlord and owner of a property does not have to be the same person

 But in this case the so called landlord does not own the property, is not contracted by the owner to let it out and no doubt has a clause in their own tenancy that they must be the person living in the property 

I didn't dispute that I was just correcting the assumption made by housebuyer143

theoretica

The Charity Shelter are likely to be the experts here - I think they need a court order to evict you, and need to treat you as involuntarily homeless, but Shelter would know!

theartfullodger

Robbo66 said:

housebuyer143 said:

Marvel1 said:

housebuyer143 said:

When I worked at a letting agent, the baliffs turned up at a house which the landlord had an eviction notice for. 
Two people were living there. Turns out the tenant knowing the date the baliffs were coming took it upon himself to "let" the property to this unsuspecting couple. He took 6 months rent in advance and a deposit and they were there 3 days! Bailiffs had to remove them because legally they had no right to be in the property.

Unfortunately it's really horrible but the same applies - you need to leave the HA property as you have no legal right to be there. 
Do you have funds to get another rental in the area so you don't have to move so far away?

So best not pay any rent to this so called landlord then, save it for another rental.

Yes, don't pay another penny. He tenancy agreement means nothing because the "landlord" isn't the owner. They can't rent out what they don't own.

A landlord and owner of a property does not have to be the same person

Correct: Quite common for agents to operate rent-for-rent where the owner grants right to rent out to agent (Owner is landlord, agent is tenant), the agent (as landlord) rents out to occupant (as tenant): Entirely legal