landlord arrears

[pawel]

I've been renting a flat for six months now and the landlord now demands we pay advance rent again for another 6. We only paid advance rent initially because, being from overseas I did not have a landlord reference and they would not accept my partner acting for me, being a conflict of interest.

It was agreed a few months ago that I'd remain on statutory periodic tenancy however the landlord now wants us to pay another six months advance again and in the event we don't co-operate he would serve a section 21 to end the tenancy.

I'd like to stay in the flat and am happy to pay advance rent although I have concerns about the landlord financial position. There are have been a number of letters to the apartment addressed to the occupier which suggest that there are mortgage arrears amounting to nearly my six months in the flat.

If I stay in the flat and pay him advance rent and the mortgage company try to repossess the flat, how long notice will i have?
Also, how would I go about getting a refund on my rent, would the mortgage company pay me or the landlord?

i signed a contract for the 1st of the month, but the letter now demands a six month payment by next week ( my six month tenancy ends at the end of the month), and again threatens notice unless paid, can the landlord really demand payment before the date on my contract or evict me?

Any answers would be gratefully appreciated.

[theartfullodger]

Sounds like he is desperate for money: I think you are wise to be cautious, particularly with the letters arriving for him.

What does the tenancy agreement (you have a copy??) say the initial "fixed term" will be and what does it say about how rent is paid : For example a recent one of mine said...

1. THE TERM
1.1 The lease will be for the period of 7 months from the 11/12/2012 (“start date”) and will end on 10/07/2013 (“end date”)........


.....
2. THE RENT
2.1 The rent is £ xxx pounds zero pence per calendar month payable by the tenant in advance.

If he started the eviction process now it will probably take him 3-6 months to get you out... you do not have to leave when the S21 notice expires...

Best wishes

[pawel]

What does the tenancy agreement (you have a copy??) say the initial "fixed term" will be and what does it say about how rent is paid : it says the tenancy is for six months and the rent £1000 will be paid in advance, payments are to be made on the 6th every month. i paid the rent upfront to start with just don't understand why they want my next rent instalment next week, i think it would have to pay next on the 5th as written on the contract?

do i have to go to court to get my rent back? if they evict me because he cant pay his mortgage?

[jjlandlord]

OK, so when the fixed term ends you will be on a monthly periodic tenancy. There's nothing your landlord can do against that if you don't agree to his terms apart from evicting you.

Did you pay a deposit? Is is protected? Were you given the protection details and scheme's T&Cs?

Now, about that threat of eviction: If landlord really has problems paying his mortgage I don't see the benefit for him to evict a paying tenant. It would be better I think to try to increase your rent.
He might be bluffing.

[pawel]

yes i paid two months deposit six weeks before my tenancy started along with rent.
it was protected two months later after payment but the details were wrong,and they changed the protection date to suggest they protected it within a week of getting.

do i have the right to pay month to month as it said in my contract or do i have to pay six months in advance as i paid originally?

i can pay am just concerned flat will be repossessed and if he doesnt have money to pay his mortgage
then ill unlikely be able to recoup this back from him.

[LesleyAnne]

The letters to "the occupier" - have you opened them? Mortgage lenders will try to contact tenants if they suspect the property has been let. If you do not open these letters, you may miss the chance to make them aware that you have a tenancy, and give yourself a chance to stay in the property if the lenders start repo proceedings. If they do start proceedings, they will send a letter to you to advise the date of any hearing, and you must attend.

[pawel]

yes, i didn't pay too much attention to the letter or the name of the bank until now as the landlord wants me to pay six months again.

if i pay six months should i try to get him to give me a contract for a new 6 month tenancy? to reflect the payment or should i just continue to live here on a month to month basis, which will be six months anyway asi will have paid it? will a fixed term contract give me more security with the bank if they evict?

what are my options for recovering the money? should i be evicted by the bank later down the line.

[Wight Knight]

do i have the right to pay month to month as it said in my contract or do i have to pay six months in advance as i paid originally?

Yes, under s5(3) Housing Act 1988 the periodic tenancy arising under after the fixed period is under the same terms and conditions. So, if the agreement says monthly payments, then that's what you do, regardless of how you actually paid the previous rent (that issue only arises in an oral or informal tenancy).

[jjlandlord]

do i have the right to pay month to month as it said in my contract or do i have to pay six months in advance as i paid originally?

As per my previous post: Contract says you should pay monthly so obviously you have the right to do so.

[pawel]

i have the right to do so, but he has threatened eviction in two months, I feel this is unwarranted and amounts to blackmail so can i claim against the landlord for my costs in moving???

i understand he has the right to have his flat back, but i feel he is taking advantage of me,by asking for thousands of pounds of money upfront or he has said he will evict me and he is asking for this money in the middle of my current tenancy which has already been paid up to date and is unwarranted

[thesaint]

I feel this is unwarranted and amounts to blackmail so can i claim against the landlord for my costs in moving???

It doesn't amount to blackmail. No, you can't claim for moving costs. He has no obligation to let you stay, so why would you think he would be liable for your moving costs?

Do you know if the landlord has consent to let? As the letters are coming addressed to "The Occupier", it suggests so. What seems strange to me is that they have put the amount of the arrears in a letter addressed to someone they know not to be the debtor.

Hopefully a member will be able to state whether a lender will honour the full term of a contract if they reposses.

What I would do is tell the landlord that I can only pay 3 months in advance in return for a new fixed term for 3 months.

If you pay 6 months upfront to a landlord with serious money problems, and rely on getting it back by taking him to court, I wouldn't see that as a fruitful exercise.

and he is asking for this money in the middle of my current tenancy which has already been paid up to date and is unwarranted

I thought it ended in about 2 weeks?

[jjlandlord]

Lender can evict tenant during fixed term if s.8 ground 2 has been followed. A tenancy agreement for a mortgaged property should include a notice of ground 2.

If there's no consent to let, I'm not familiar with the procedure.

[Snorkerz]

Eviction if the property is still owned by the landlord:
Landlord may give you at least 2 months notice of eviction but this is just the 1st stage of a 3 part process. More details here but if it happened I suspect there will be at least 1 error on the notice so ask on here when the time comes for info about how to defend the possession claim.
http://tenancyanswers.ucoz.com/index/being_evicted/0-21
http://tenancyanswers.ucoz.com/index..._eviction/0-22

If the property moves to lender:
By the time anything happens, you will be out of contract so your rights to stay very long are limited because they would be in any other circumstances. However, the mortgage companies usually follow the section 21 process outlined in the above links if your landlord has their permission to let. If the landlord does not have permission to let then they are not tied to the contract but letters will arrive for 'the occupier' (you) advising you of the possession date for the mortgage co -v- the landlord. You can attend that and ask for a delay of possession of up to 2 months under the Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants etc) Act 2010

Do not pay excessive advance rent. Indeed in your situation I would consider missing a months rent in order to ensure that both sides owe he same (rent/deposit) and you don't get left with trouble recovering your deposit. I must point out that this is not the correct way forward but sometimes a balance has to be struck between practicality & lawfulness

[pawel]

deposit protection before commencement

under the deposit protection rules, does the landlord protect the money within 30 days from receipt of the full deposit or from the commencement date of the tenancy??

can the landlord use a section 21 to evict if he has protected the money more than 30 days after he received it?? regardless of when tenancy commenced and was signed.

if the deposit is held on an insurance scheme and he holds the money in his bank account, if the flat gets reposessed for mortgage arrears and the landlord is unable to return me the deposit do i get some protection that someone will give me this deposit back?

[Dinkum]

under the deposit protection rules, does the landlord protect the money within 30 days from receipt of the full deposit or from the commencement date of the tenancy??

30 days from receiving the deposit.

can the landlord use a section 21 to evict if he has protected the money more than 30 days after he received it?? regardless of when tenancy commenced and was signed.

If the deposit is not protected within 30 days, the LL cannot use Sec21 to evict. The LL would have to return the deposit to you or negotiate with the tenant regarding the deductions.

if the deposit is held on an insurance scheme and he holds the money in his bank account, if the flat gets reposessed for mortgage arrears and the landlord is unable to return me the deposit do i get some protection that someone will give me this deposit back?

If the LL does not return your deposit (regardless of the reason), you would still need to lodge a dispute with the TDS. The landlord is then required to submit the disputed amount to the TDS. If he doesn't do this within 10 days, the case is sent to arbitration based on the tenants submission and the Adjudicator can make an award in your favour. The TDS would then pay the disputed amount to you and pursue the LL for recovery.
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