Rented house being repossessed - how quickly can I get out..
Discussion
Hi,
I posted a thread a while ago wondering what I can do about exiting a tenancy early because there is a threat of the place being repossessed.
Well, it turns out that last week the court upheld this repossession order and, as of the beginning of JUNE, the house I am renting will be taken over by the lender.
Now - I'm not worried about staying there as I have somewhere else to go BUT our agency are telling us we HAVE to pay for the minimum term of our contract which is to the beginning of JULY. Therefore, they're expecting us to pay for a house which won't belong to the landlord with whom we took out the contract for one month. It would be preferable for us, obviously, if we don't as this will effective mean we pay for two places for the month of JUNE.
I'm currently on the phone (in a queue) to the CAB, however, does anyone know if this tenancy contract and it's minimum term is enforcable after the house changes possession?
Thanks,
I posted a thread a while ago wondering what I can do about exiting a tenancy early because there is a threat of the place being repossessed.
Well, it turns out that last week the court upheld this repossession order and, as of the beginning of JUNE, the house I am renting will be taken over by the lender.
Now - I'm not worried about staying there as I have somewhere else to go BUT our agency are telling us we HAVE to pay for the minimum term of our contract which is to the beginning of JULY. Therefore, they're expecting us to pay for a house which won't belong to the landlord with whom we took out the contract for one month. It would be preferable for us, obviously, if we don't as this will effective mean we pay for two places for the month of JUNE.
I'm currently on the phone (in a queue) to the CAB, however, does anyone know if this tenancy contract and it's minimum term is enforcable after the house changes possession?
Thanks,
Edited by Landlord on Wednesday 13th May 16:27
s off.I was almost in this situation but it didn't get as far as the lender taking posession.
From what we learnt at the time, lenders are generally quite keen to talk with a sitting tenant as it can prove an easy solution for them (this was from the perspective of buying the property though.)
From what we learnt at the time, lenders are generally quite keen to talk with a sitting tenant as it can prove an easy solution for them (this was from the perspective of buying the property though.)
Oldandslow said:
It seems it's your choice to leave early. You're breaking the contract. Unless the lender has said the tenants need to get out I don't think you've any choice but to pay the rent for June. Well you have a choice you could just not pay it but I assume you have a deposit to get back?
Hmm. That's kind of my thinking. However, the landlord doesn't own the property so how can he recieve monies for it? Presumably there'll be a clause in the contract that says "for as long as he owns the property" or something...Also, the contract is between me and the landlord - not the "owner of the house" whomsoever that may be from time-to-time, I'd have thought.
I'll dig it out later.
Edited by Landlord on Wednesday 13th May 16:37
Landlord said:
Apparently we're to expect a letter from the baliffs telling us when they are planning to take possession. We can use this letter as proof that we were served notice and not the other way around.
The tenancy is effective until the lender takes possession (not the date ordered for the landlord to give possession on the possession order). Depending on how quickly the lender moves and how busy the bailiffs are you're looking at at least 2-4 weeks after the date of possession. In effect the landlord could hold you to the contract until the date possession is taken by the lender, so that's how long you are required to pay rent for.If your landlord hasn't opposed the possession action it's worth pointing out to him that by voluntarily surrendering possession to the lender on the date specified (if not earlier) he will avoid bailiffs fees and other legal expenses that he will end up paying if he waits for the lender to enforce the order and see if an early release can be negotiated. If there's an agent involved the agent probably won't be too keen on that as he'll potentially lose out on some commission by you leaving early.
Andy_GSA said:
Landlord said:
Apparently we're to expect a letter from the baliffs telling us when they are planning to take possession. We can use this letter as proof that we were served notice and not the other way around.
The tenancy is effective until the lender takes possession (not the date ordered for the landlord to give possession on the possession order). Depending on how quickly the lender moves and how busy the bailiffs are you're looking at at least 2-4 weeks after the date of possession. In effect the landlord could hold you to the contract until the date possession is taken by the lender, so that's how long you are required to pay rent for.If your landlord hasn't opposed the possession action it's worth pointing out to him that by voluntarily surrendering possession to the lender on the date specified (if not earlier) he will avoid bailiffs fees and other legal expenses that he will end up paying if he waits for the lender to enforce the order and see if an early release can be negotiated. If there's an agent involved the agent probably won't be too keen on that as he'll potentially lose out on some commission by you leaving early.
Landlord said:
Oldandslow said:
It seems it's your choice to leave early. You're breaking the contract. Unless the lender has said the tenants need to get out I don't think you've any choice but to pay the rent for June. Well you have a choice you could just not pay it but I assume you have a deposit to get back?
Hmm. That's kind of my thinking. However, the landlord doesn't own the property so how can he recieve monies for it? Presumably there'll be a clause in the contract that says "for as long as he owns the property" or something...Also, the contract is between me and the landlord - not the "owner of the house" whomsoever that may be from time-to-time, I'd have thought.
I'll dig it out later.
Edited by Landlord on Wednesday 13th May 16:37
Your contract is with the landlord. You don't have a contract with anyone else.
In fact the shoe is quite rightly on the other foot. The party in breach of your contract is your landlord as he can no longer provide you with the contractually agreed dwelling. You would actually be entitled to sue him for the damage caused from this.
If you wanted to leave early, the technical term contractually is repudiation. That means you are aware that the other party can no longer perform the contract and therefore you do not have to provide your part of the contract either. You just need to put that in writing to whoever your contract is with.
If there is now the possibility that you may be asked to leave on short notice, then go whenever it suits you - but make sure you clearly put the reasons in writing to whoever your contract is with that the reason for your moving is their non-ownership of the abode and there being no guarantee that you won't be asked to leave on short notice by the new owner as you have no contract with them and have to expend great cost in moving around and around at short notice.
You won't hear anything more. Apart from maybe a couple of begging bluffs from the agent who realises that they may pocket the money you are paying.
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