Rental arrears in someone else’s name

oatsinthewater21

AskAsk said:

I think the notice is to evict you as you are a joint tenant but you won't be liable for the rent arrears as you were not advised of that before you were added to the tenancy.  I didn't even think you could add someone to a AST but would need to start a new one. 

I stopped adding tenants and removing them when I found out you couldn't do this but need a new AST every time someone leaves and a replacement was found.  It affects the deposit protected as well as that has the names of the tenants with interest in the deposit.

That’s very interesting information thank you! Nice to see it from a landlords point of view aswell 

If the notice is to evict me (if it gets to that point) but not be liable for the rental arrears, I would understand the reasoning from the landlord, as it is a joint tenancy! Let’s hope if it gets to the point of eviction, the arrears won’t affect me as that would be very unfair whilst trying to find a new property. 

Hopefully there would be a way to be considered as a sole tenant for the property if that was the case, as I feel I’ve done nothing wrong as a tenant  

oatsinthewater21

Thought it may be easier to upload the letters, so you can read the full situation 

oatsinthewater21

theoretica said:

Because the tenancy is joint, I don't think the landlord can evict just the other tenant and not you.  But I wonder if you could agree a new tenancy for you, to start on the day of the eviction?

Thank you, I am hoping this is also the case as I would really like to stay in the property! I’ve always paid my rent on time each month and have been a respectful tenant to the property and neighbours etc, if worst comes to worst I do hope this is an option the landlord will consider 

theoretica

Neither you personally, nor a new joint tenancy can have been in rent arrears for 6 months, when you didn't move in 6 months ago.

Is £1025 the whole rent for the property, or just downstair's share?  If 1025 is only for half the property and the rent for the whole joint tenancy is actually £2050 (or anything over £1863) then 3725 is not more than 2 months in arrears for the joint tenancy.

oatsinthewater21

theoretica said:

Neither you personally, nor a new joint tenancy can have been in rent arrears for 6 months, when you didn't move in 6 months ago.

Is £1025 the whole rent for the property, or just downstair's share?  If 1025 is only for half the property and the rent for the whole joint tenancy is actually £2050 (or anything over £1863) then 3725 is not more than 2 months in arrears for the joint tenancy.

This is definitely going to be my argument to them! I only moved in under 3 months ago and have paid my rent on time, the arrears aren’t anything to do with me especially the ones before I even moved in haha! 

£1025 is the whole rent for the property, so we split this in half between us. The other tenant has said she’s paid off bits of the arrears over time but has also got herself into more arrears as there was a delay with me being allowed to move into the property (estate agents fault entirely as all credit checks were completed in January but we were both being ignored by the estate agent when asking for updates for me to move in. So the other tenant racked up 3 months worth of rent arrears as she was the sole tenant in the property) 

So this arrears situation has been going on for years on and off, it isn’t something new which makes me question why only now has the landlord decided to take action? 

_Penny_Dreadful

You moved in under 3 months ago. If this joint tenancy started less than 90 days ago then you might be able to unwind the tenancy if the landlord or agent gave you misleading or wrong information about the tenancy or the property. Shelter has a template letter you can use and you must be very close to the 90 day time limit so do not dilly dally and get that letter sent asap. 

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/how_to_end_a_fixed_term_tenancy_early/right_to_unwind

Whilst you are at it raise a formal complaint with the letting agent and if unsatisfied with their response you can then escalate your complaint to whichever redress scheme the letting agent is registered with. 

RHemmings

If the EA is a member of The Property Ombudsman Scheme, then that may give you an out. It will say on the EAs website whether they are a member of The Property Ombudsman Scheme, or The Property Redress Scheme.

If they are a member of TPOS, then I believe the EA not notifying you that the other tenant was in arrears breaks sections 7a and 7b of the code for lettings agents. I.e. there was a material omission made which would likely have affected your decision to rent this property or not. You were not told that the other tenant was in arrears. 

The first step would be to check which scheme your EA is a member of. 

BonaDea

I really don't understand why you'd want to stay in that property given that it looks very like your LL and letting agent have tried to dupe you (and maybe succeeded!) into taking on a debt that they appear to have known isn't likely to be paid by the person who owes it.   If the debtor can't/won't pay, let's find some numpty that we can load it onto .... isn't this their reasoning?  Why on earth would you want to continue to have any kind of business relationship with such a pair of [expletive deleted]?  

A flat is just a flat, there are other nice ones.  With landlords and letting agents that won't set out to scam you.  

oatsinthewater21

_Penny_Dreadful said:

You moved in under 3 months ago. If this joint tenancy started less than 90 days ago then you might be able to unwind the tenancy if the landlord or agent gave you misleading or wrong information about the tenancy or the property. Shelter has a template letter you can use and you must be very close to the 90 day time limit so do not dilly dally and get that letter sent asap. 

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/how_to_end_a_fixed_term_tenancy_early/right_to_unwind

Whilst you are at it raise a formal complaint with the letting agent and if unsatisfied with their response you can then escalate your complaint to whichever redress scheme the letting agent is registered with. 

Thank you!! This is very helpful!! 

If I can find somewhere else to live in time then I would definitely go for this, however my 90 days in this property will be on the 1st July so I really haven’t got much time… fingers crossed 

I will definitely be raising a formal complaint, thank you for your advice! 

oatsinthewater21

RHemmings said:

If the EA is a member of The Property Ombudsman Scheme, then that may give you an out. It will say on the EAs website whether they are a member of The Property Ombudsman Scheme, or The Property Redress Scheme.

If they are a member of TPOS, then I believe the EA not notifying you that the other tenant was in arrears breaks sections 7a and 7b of the code for lettings agents. I.e. there was a material omission made which would likely have affected your decision to rent this property or not. You were not told that the other tenant was in arrears. 

The first step would be to check which scheme your EA is a member of. 

Wow!! That is incredible, thank you!
I will be doing my research tomorrow morning!