Rental arrears in someone else’s name

oatsinthewater21

BonaDea said:

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.  

Totally understand where you’re coming from!! Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of options where I live for my circumstances. I would need a property which allows pets as I have a cat and to match the current rental price of approx £515 pcm. I also don’t have the money for any kind of deposit as I myself am in financial difficulty for other unrelated issues, the deposit was made by the current tenant so there was no deposit to pay when I moved in. 

I have been looking for a new property for a few weeks as I’m unhappy with the behaviour of the other tenant regardless, but it seems to be an impossible task to find what I’m looking for  

As much as I agree that they are trying to pull a fast one, this is the only property I can currently afford in my circumstances, which really worries me if I do need to move out! 

theoretica

It looks like if the other tenant leaves you could be left responsible for rent on the whole property, with a landlord who has past form in delaying moving a new tenant in.   Rather a significant downside!

oatsinthewater21

theoretica said:

It looks like if the other tenant leaves you could be left responsible for rent on the whole property, with a landlord who has past form in delaying moving a new tenant in.   Rather a significant downside!

Yes very true, I didn’t think of that…  

So difficult, if I had somewhere else to live I would hand in the right to unwind tenancy notice immediately! However, it really concerns me that I am stuck between a rock and a hard place as they would say 

_Penny_Dreadful

oatsinthewater21 said:

_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! 

If you are still in the fixed term of your tenancy agreement then you cannot serve valid notice to end the tenancy meaning that if you do find somewhere else to move to you can still be held liable for the rent arrears.  This is why you must send the letter about unwinding the tenancy asap.  If the tenancy is unwound then it means no joint tenancy and no joint tenancy means no arrears, for you at least.  Unwinding a tenancy isn't as straight forward as just sending a letter if the landlord does not agree that the tenancy should be unwound.  It can be a lengthy process and your right to occupy the property does not cease as soon as you send the letter.

housebuyer143

Did the old tenant sign a new agreement with you? I don't think the agent can just make an addendum like that to add a new person to the agreement, because the other tenant needs to be in agreement also and sign. When I worked in a letting agent you need both people to sign to change it, because it's a joint tenancy.
I would be surprised if your agreement is legal if they haven't done this. What about the deposit? Is that suddenly in your name as well? They can't just do that without the other persons agreement. 

The agent knew they were going to evict the tenant for sure and it's disgusting behaviour to let you move in. I would definitely speak to shelter, and leave ASAP. 

thegreenone

Maths has never been my strong point but wouldn't 29th June be your 90th day?  Which is next Saturday, so best get that letter sent, tracked and signed for, asap.

Grumpy_chap

It seems here that the OP has what is really a HMO.
Two totally unconnected households living in one premises and sharing some common parts but with some private rooms to each tenant.  It happens to be just two tenants, but I don't think that precludes a HMO.

The LL and EA seem to have tried to circumvent the HMO rules by creating an AST for the whole property to which the two unconnected strangers are both parties.  This is bad for the tenancy, and also bad for other potential reasons - not least the risk of creating a financial association between the tenants.

It may be worth taking some advice as to whether this is really an HMO and not eligible for the AST that has been created.  

RHemmings

Grumpy_chap said:

It seems here that the OP has what is really a HMO.
Two totally unconnected households living in one premises and sharing some common parts but with some private rooms to each tenant.  It happens to be just two tenants, but I don't think that precludes a HMO.

The LL and EA seem to have tried to circumvent the HMO rules by creating an AST for the whole property to which the two unconnected strangers are both parties.  This is bad for the tenancy, and also bad for other potential reasons - not least the risk of creating a financial association between the tenants.

It may be worth taking some advice as to whether this is really an HMO and not eligible for the AST that has been created.  

In the OP it's said that the OP is in England. I believe that in England for a property to be a HMO there need to be at least three people living there. There have been mentions of the OP and the other tenant, but I may have missed if there are any other people living there. E.g. spouse/dependents. But, the other tenant is described as 'the other person' above. 

https://www.gov.uk/renting-out-a-property/houses-in-multiple-occupation-hmo

The tenants share bathroom and kitchen, so it's the number of people which might not make it an HMO. 

I agree with your general gist that there is all kinds of wrong going on here. If the OP makes a formal complaint through the EA's published complaints process, then this could form the basis for a complaint to one of the ombudsman/redress schemes. However, this too would have to be done quickly as if the current court case proceeds, the ombudsman/redress scheme may decline to get involved. 

BonaDea

As to finding another room/flat .... do you have something else that you could offer on top of the rent?  Say, gardening services, baby- or pet-sitting, a few hours' cleaning, carrying shopping etc?  You might find someone willing to take a lodger who helps out in some way for a reduced rent.  Perhaps you could start networking, leaving cards in shops (older people will read these), contacting people advertising rooms/flats to ask whether the rent is negotiable downwards if you thrown in whatever it is.

When I was a landlord I didn't mind tenants having a cat.  I don't think the cat is a major problem.  A badly-behaved dog, on the other hand ....

Myci85

I would recommend contacting the housing solutions officer in your local council, or whoever it is in your council who deals with private rentals. 

This sounds all kind of dodgy to me (I used to work in a letting agency), not least because in what appears to be a standard letter they are sending out, they aren't even using correct grammar... 'instituting legal proceedings'? I think they mean 'instigating'.

You definitely need proper advice on this ASAP, as the fact you have been added to the tenancy as 'jointly and severally liable' means that not only can they evict you for the arrears, they can also continue to chase you for these after you leave, regardless of if you have paid your share on time.