Help-Landlady gone bankrupt!

NymphFerry

My landlady has been declared bankrupt and is selling the house. She has our deposit (£600) and won't answer our calls or texts when we are have asked about it.
The receivers have sent me a letter asking me to pay the rent to them, but I haven't paid Dec yet as it all happened v quick. Do i withhold rent until i have a guarantee about the deposit? What can i do?
Thanks

mummytofour

What does the letter say and what day do you pay the rent?

siren13577

This must be really worrying for you, my advice is pay the receivers and formally request information from them about your deposit and when you can have this back, if you are planning to move because of the uncertainty, perhaps ask if your landlady will retain the property. As far as I know receivers are responsible for your landlady's assets and I'm assuming this would include any deposits she holds for tenants. I wouldn't withold the rent as this is an essential part of your tenancy agreement and could lead to you being evicted for non payment. I hope you get this sorted out and perhaps it would be best to look for other places in case it's worse case scenario for you. Good Luck

NymphFerry

Thanks for your help, i'll have a look into this as def don't want to be evicted!

Generali

AFAIK, you should get the deposit back in full if you act quickly because that's your money not the LL's. Once it's been disbursed then it's not there to get back.

Talk to the receiver not the LL, she's out of the picture.

silvercar

My landlady has been declared bankrupt and is selling the house.

If your landlady has been declared bankrupt she won't be in a position to sell the house. Any equity after the mortgage will belong to the official receiver.

NymphFerry

mummytofour wrote: »

What does the letter say and what day do you pay the rent?

Rent is due 3rd of every month - letter just states about the debt and the receiver bank details

Diamond78

You can also try contacting your local council as they have a department for private tenants with housing issues like this where they help you recover deposit ect. I only know this as it states it on my local council housing website. try looking online for your local council housing.

If that fails then Id go to your local citiznes advice. Also if you have her address send a letter to her recorded and make sure you have a copy for yourself.Goodluck and hope you get your deposit back soon

clutton_2

when did you move in and when did you last sign a tenancy agreement ?

Pobby

I feel really sorry for you but,I am afraid,we will see more and more of this type of thing happening.Goodness knows how many Johnny-come-lately buy-to-let landlords are out there who just don`t have a clue.A great shame for the folk they let to.

wherediditallgo

siren13577 wrote: »

This must be really worrying for you, my advice is pay the receivers and formally request information from them about your deposit and when you can have this back, if you are planning to move because of the uncertainty, perhaps ask if your landlady will retain the property. As far as I know receivers are responsible for your landlady's assets and I'm assuming this would include any deposits she holds for tenants. I wouldn't withold the rent as this is an essential part of your tenancy agreement and could lead to you being evicted for non payment. I hope you get this sorted out and perhaps it would be best to look for other places in case it's worse case scenario for you. Good Luck

I agree. The receivers will be responsible for realising any assets the landlady has (money as well as property), with a view to distrubuting them proportionately amongst her creditors at a future date. If you pay anyone but the receivers, you're very unlikely to get your money back & you won't be guaranteeing any right to stay in the property either. If you were to pay the landlady direct, she would also be in trouble with the receivers.

By paying the receivers, you also maintain your right to ask questions about where you stand with your tenancy, your deposit etc. Don't bother trying to get info from your landlady - now she's bankrupt & you've been officially advised that receivers have been appointed, she's under no obligation to tell you anything & there's no guarantee the info you get will be correct anyway. She isn't being awkward in not taking your calls or replying to messages - legally she shouldn't be communicating with you, as you're supposed to go through the receivers. Good luck.