I'm renting, paid 6 months up front and the flat is being repossessed!

Trollfever

As you now know the date of the court hearing I would suggest that you go to the court on the day and ask to speak to the duty solicitor.

From the posts above my guess is that your LL will NOT bother appearing.

Imp

This is something which I have been thinking about, but I don't know if it has been tested in court. If you went through a letting agent, the letting agent would have charged you various spurious fees for setting up the contract. Probably around 100 pounds. I suspect this imposes a duty of care on them to you to ensure the contract etc. is all correct and the landlord is pucka.

If they have a duty of care to you, and they have breached this duty of care by not checking the landlord's mortgage properly, then you may be able to claim losses arising from this breach of duty of care.

I am not a lawyer, and this is just my thoughts, but are there any legal people out there who could confirm this.

I am suggesting this because the the letting agents are probably in a better position to pay you compensation compared with the landlord, so it is better to go after them.

silvercar

WHen NR say that they let tenants stay in certain circumstances, those circumstances are when the mortgage was a BTL (or consent to lease given) mortgage. NR's own financial circumstances are nothing to do with it, if they acknowledged the tenancy by the mortgage type they are obliged to acknowledge the tenancy in repossession.

chris_a_p

Thanks again to all for the replies.

I've made a bit of progress. The LA spoke to the landlord again and she assured them that she has paid off her arrears after the letter I received (30th Jan).

The LA said to me that if this is not true then they will refund me my money and find me somewhere else to live, which is fair enough.

Of course, I don't want to sit it out until the 27th Feb waiting to see what happens, so I've asked for confirmation in writing from the landlord that her mortgage is up to date and I want a copy of the confirmation from Northern Rock that she is up to date and that the court case has been withdrawn.

Failing that I've asked for written confirmation from the LA that my money will be refunded in full.

They've now spoken to the landlord and have given her until Monday to provide me with this information and they've also said that they will be withholding rent money from her other property (which is paid monthly, to cover themselves) until they receive this information from her.

So I'm hoping this situation will be sorted by the beginning of next week. It looks like I should get my money back whatever the outcome but I'd still like to know ASAP what's happening so I can relax and set up furniture I wanted to set up a while ago!

I'll update next week. Thanks once again to all!

Catblue

Sounds like you have done all you can so far. You were absolutely right to request everything in writing. It is also good that the LA is fighting for your interests.

You seem very sensible and mature for a 19 year old (compared to myself when I was a 19 year old ). It is a rotten thing to have happened but I think you've dealt really well with it.

I guess you just have to wait and see for a few days. Hardly the ideal start that you were looking for.

Even if things do get sorted out this time, you may feel that you should look around for another rental place to move into when the 6 months are up. If the landlord got into arrears before, (I didn't know I had to pay the mortgage, indeed :mad: ) then it could happen again further down the line.

chris_a_p

Lol, thanks!

I'll give the LA their due, the owner is doing all he can at the moment, but I won't say too many nice things until everything is sorted!

I have been thinking about what I will do when the 6 months is up, and if I do decide to stay I certainly won't be paying 6 months up front again, I would either consider staying and paying monthly so then at least I do not have to worry as much if things did go wrong again! Or I'd move and start a fresh.

But if it's all innocent and she just couldnt afford to pay the mortgage while it was empty and my money has been used to pay off the arrears, then I would like to think that my rent from then on will be going towards the mortgage, but I hope she has something sorted until I start paying monthly!

clutton_2

a LA has no legal authority to "check up " on the LLs mortgage status - under the Data Protection Act. Landlords who are in the financial doooo will always lie about their circumstances out of desperation and fear.

deary65

The fact tha yout have a letter from NR solicitor means they know the property is let out, So i see no reason for you to concern yourself. Keep the letter.

chris_a_p

Hi Clutton

I know this, I even tried to get the info from Northern Rock myself but they couldn't give me any info!

The LA have asked the landlord to provide a copy of the confirmation she got from Northern Rock.

I asked for this because if she has paid then she should have no problem faxing or sending them a copy to sort this mess out for sure…

I'll have to wait and see!

I know Northern Rock now know that I'm in the property but I'm still worried because the lender's rights overrides a tenants rights and because I've paid it all upfront, Northern Rock wouldn't be interested in letting me stay as I'd be paying no rent, so I'd be out..!

deary65

I don't know where got that from, if you have proof of payment 6months in advance NR are bound by it. I do wish solicitors when sending letters, advise the tenants of there rights. Solicitors are notorious for thinking people don't know their rights. See cab and stop worrying.