Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

[milliesmadmoth]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

MilliesMadMother

We would you please advise when we may expect payment of your outstanding rent?

Letting Agent

As I had not replied to the email the letting agent called me twice at work today to check when I would be making payment to my rent arrears!

I did say that I would pay one month tomorrow so this would be me effectively paying my April account.

For me this doesn't all really add up.

1. Why am I still being asked to pay the rent to the Letting Agent / Landlord when decree has been granted.

2. Shelter Scotland are telling me to continue paying as normal now.

3. Letting agent says I could be here for another couple of months at max but just continue paying at the moment.

4. Lenders solicitor has advised that I have just to continue paying the letting agent as normal until they go back to court to get the eviction notice served on me.

5. Neither Shelter Scotland or the Letting Agent has confirmed if the bank needs to honour my tenancy agreement which has just tacit relocated.

Can you see why I am confused!

PlanB I got your msg saying you would update me tomorrow however just wanted to give you my latest thoughts.

[milliesmadmoth]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

Okay so let's ask somebody else what to do next. I never give up.

Tomorrow (23/04/2015) I will email you the name and contact details of the Mortgage Trust's Customer Service Manager. This guy is a top bloke who helped me (as a Landlady) when the sh*t hit the fan in 2010 because my Tenant stopped paying rent and my property was on the brink of being repossessed. Thanks to him I still own that property *phew*.

As of today your rogue Landlady no longer owns the roof over your head. Yay! That is now owned by the Mortgage Trust. Time to talk to the horse's mouth.

Plan B x

Hi PlanB

Do you have the contact details of the Mortgage Trust Customer Services Manager to allow me to find out if my tenancy agreement was known and approved by the Lender. This will allow me to find out if they need to honour my tacit relocate duplicate agreement.

Thx MilliesMadMother

[PlanB]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

1. Why am I still being asked to pay the rent to the Letting Agent / Landlord when decree has been granted.

2. Shelter Scotland are telling me to continue paying as normal now.

3. Letting agent says I could be here for another couple of months at max but just continue paying at the moment.

4. Lenders solicitor has advised that I have just to continue paying the letting agent as normal until they go back to court to get the eviction notice served on me.

5. Neither Shelter Scotland or the Letting Agent has confirmed if the bank needs to honour my tenancy agreement which has just tacit relocated.

Can you see why I am confused!

Yes I can. And I can also see your post #178 was made at 4 o'clock in the morning which is a sign that you're having sleepless nights over this situation which is understandably unsettling you

I think the reason for what appears to be changes of mind is actually the result of a situation that is evolving on a regular basis which means what was relevant one day may no longer be relevant a day later.

There are three people in this relationship: the Agent, the Lender and the Solicitor. Each of them has their own agenda. None of them work for you so none of them have any duty of care to you. It's not personal, you are just a number on a file as far as they're concerned. Having said that you've quite rightly made it personal by contacting them all.

I'll do a separate post on each of the players because they each need different treatment.

The big issue is what do you actually want to achieve? Are you so in love with the property that you want to buy it, or are you only wanting to stay in the property because you can't face the faff of moving and starting over again? That should be your starting point so you know where to direct your energy.

Plan B x

[PlanB]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

We can confirm that the Sheriff granted Decree in favour of our clients at the hearing on 22nd April. We are now awaiting receipt of the documentation from the court to allow our clients to proceed with action. We anticipate being in receipt of same in approximately 3 to 4 weeks. We shall then review the account with our clients and obtain their instructions on how they wish to proceed then.

As advised in our email of 16th April if we are instructed to seek possession of the property we will firstly issue you with Notice to Quit which will give you a two month period in which to vacate the property. As also previously advised, we can offer you no legal advice in this matter and you should consult your own Solicitor or seek advice from CAB or similar advice agencies.

As matters stand just now your rent should continue to be paid to your landlord in terms of your Tenancy Agreement.

Lenders Solicitor

The Solicitor is the one with most influence on the situation at the moment. Although the Lender gives the Solicitor instructions, they'll do that on the basis of what the Solicitor recommends. You need to keep onside with the Solicitor.

It'll be the Solicitor who asks the court to evict you. However that's not compulsory. You can agree an 'out' date with the Solicitor rather than wait for Bailiffs to pitch up. The Solicitor will know that their client (the Lender) has got a hell's chance of recovering their legal costs from the Landlord, so co-operation all round might be no bad thing.

In order to recommend to the Lender that you should stay in the property they will be looking at two things. Firstly whether you have any legal right to stay and for how long, and secondly whether it's financially advantageous for the Lender to have you remaining in the property.

I think Shelter may have already said that even if you have the legal right to stay until October (tacit relocation for a further six months) the Lender still has the right to take possession of the property and evict any occupants if the Landlord doesn't pay the mortgage during that period. This appears to be what has now happened.

On the second issue (advantageous for the Lender) the Solicitor would need to convince the Lender that having you there for longer than necessary is a good thing. If you don't pay rent then I don't see how they could make that recommendation. The issue is who should you should pay the rent to. The Solicitor says pay it to the Landlord (via the Agent). Shelter says the same because they can't really tell you to stop paying rent since that would look like irresponsible advice from a national charity.

You've indicated to the Solicitor that you might be interested in buying the property. If that is the case they'll want to see something concrete to back that up. Something like a 'Mortgage In Principle' agreed with a lender and proof of the deposit funds (bank statement) to demonstrate that you can put your money where your mouth is. The Lender will have a duty to get the best price possible for the property so accepting a cheeky offer at this stage may not be considered. The Lender would be expected to market the property and only if that fails would they accept low offers or put the property into auction. (My post on the agent will go into this issue.)

I see no harm in you writing to the Solicitor thanking them for their letter and confirming that you've paid rent to the Landlord's Agent as they have advised. That way they'll see you are a responsible person not a lowlife squatter who will need an army of bailiffs to remove if/when the time comes. Express again your interest in purchasing the property and tell them you're taking steps to put that plan into action and you'll keep them informed.

[PlanB]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

Do you have the contact details of the Mortgage Trust Customer Services Manager to allow me to find out if my tenancy agreement was known and approved by the Lender. This will allow me to find out if they need to honour my tacit relocate duplicate agreement.

The Lender won't tell you if your Landlord had their permission to let the property since you are not their customer the borrower is (DPA issue). They have no obligation to deal with you at all.

You have written to them to explain your position and state your good intentions (to pay rent direct to them or even buy the property). They haven't replied. I don't know which department or team you wrote to but contact George Stacey, Collections Manager for Paragon which is the holding company. I'm led to believe that it's his department which will make the ultimate decision to sell the property or not https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/george-stacey/31/771/764

The Mortgage Trust stopped lending on Scottish properties in 2009 so don't have the infrastructure in place to handle post-repo properties which are tenanted. In England they use the services of Redbrick Property Management to make their life easy and Tenants stay on for ages paying rent to the managing agent. Whether or not they'll agree to do business with your Agent is another matter. This is something you might need to ask him (i.e. your Agent). It might not be feasible under Scottish law since the property hasn't been taken into receivership as it would have been in England.

You need to ask Shelter whether the fact that your Landlord may have had permission to let makes the tenancy agreement binding. I honestly don't know the answer to that.

[PlanB]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

We refer to our earlier email and can now confirm that a decree was issued last week in favour of Mortgage Trust.
Lenders Solicitor have now confirmed that no action is likely to be taken for at least another 4 weeks at which time a Notice to Quit will be served.
This in effect means that the earliest that you will require to vacate the property will now be early August.

Big Boss, Letting Agent

The Agent is clearly in contact with the Solicitor. This may mean he has some influence on what happens next. You paid this month's rent to the Agent which may help the process.

I would be asking the Agent who he is passing the rent onto. Is it the Landlord (probably) or is it the Solicitor (possibly) or is it the Lender (very unlikely) or is it Nobody and his agency are keeping it in their bank account while they await instructions.

The Agent's client is the Landlord. They work for her. They have to do as she requests unless the law overrides that due to the Decree. Ask them to clarify where your rent is going in writing.

You've expressed an interest in buying the property. I recall I suggested you get a valuation on it. Have you done that yet? Obviously your Agent would be the most sensible person to ask. Why not tell him you're contemplating buying it if the price is right. He will of course get commission if the sale goes through so he might be motivated to make it happen. If you don't know what it is worth you can't decide whether you should/shouldn't buy it.

Meanwhile the issue of your financial investment on the refurbishment of the property needs to be addressed. I recall I asked you to find or get receipts for your outlay. Have you been able to do that yet? Once you know the sums involved you may be able to negotiate to have that amount offset against the rent for next month (or two) so at least you won't be out-of-pocket.

Look for any paperwork which supports the Agent's agreement that you would arrange and pay for the upgrading work in return for a long-term let. If you find yourself having to move then you may be able to make a complaint to The Property Ombudsman and try for compensation for the stress and inconvenience if you can demonstrate that he knew (or had an inkling) that you may not have been able to stay as long as he promised.

[milliesmadmoth]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

PlanB

Thanks for taking the time to investigate all this, I will digest it all first, get my mind straight them come back.

Ps I do have my receipts and will check back my emails, when I asked about changing the flooring they said I could but had to leave it down when leaving the property.

MMM xx

[milliesmadmoth]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

I would be asking the Agent who he is passing the rent onto. Is it the Landlord (probably) or is it the Solicitor (possibly) or is it the Lender (very unlikely) or is it Nobody and his agency are keeping it in their bank account while they await instructions.

The Agent's client is the Landlord. They work for her. They have to do as she requests unless the law overrides that due to the Decree. Ask them to clarify where your rent is going in writing.

Good Afternoon Big Boss,

The reason I write to yourself is I have paid my rent payment for April which I told Your office on Thursday 7th May I would be doing.

It is not that I do not want to be paying my rent as I have always done since I moved into the property however you can understand my concern, is it possible for me to pay my rent at the end of the month in which I have stayed, at no point do I want to have overpaid my rent as who will be liable to refund the overpayment when I need to move out.

Could I please ask who my rent payment is being sent to, it is the landlord, the solicitor or the lender.

I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

MilliesMadMother

[milliesmadmoth]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

Good Afternoon Big Boss,

The reason I write to yourself is I have paid my rent payment for April which I told Your office on Thursday 7th May I would be doing.

It is not that I do not want to be paying my rent as I have always done since I moved into the property however you can understand my concern, is it possible for me to pay my rent at the end of the month in which I have stayed, at no point do I want to have overpaid my rent as who will be liable to refund the overpayment when I need to move out.

Could I please ask who my rent payment is being sent to, it is the landlord, the solicitor or the lender.

I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

MilliesMadMother

MilliesMadMother

Thanks for your email.
Yes your April rent which was due on 31 March was as you know paid by you on Friday 08 May.
To put your mind at rest there should be no concerns of any kind. If in the event that you have overpaid rent, we The Letting Agent will reimburse you in full.
As things stand at present the very earliest that you will require to vacate will be around the end of July but I would expect this to be even later.
Consequently there is no reason why this months rent is not paid on time and indeed next months.

As a compromise therefore we can look your July payment in 7/8 weeks and review the payment date then.

Your question relating to who receives your payment!
As your landlord continues to be the legal owner and as nothing whatsoever has changed, all rental payments received will continue to be remitted to the owner as neither the solicitors or the lenders have title to the property. Please be assured that we have been `down this road` many many times before.

I trust that our detailed explanation, our guarantee to refund any over payment and our offer to review the payment date on 01 July will allay your concerns. Consequently we would appreciate if your arrears – which is your May payment and is already eleven days late could be settled by return in order to bring your account up to date.

We look forward to you being in touch in due course.

Mr Big Boss

[PlanB]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

I like this bit best:

As a compromise therefore we can look your July payment in 7/8 weeks and review the payment date then.

. . . our guarantee to refund any over payment and our offer to review the payment date on 01 July will allay your concerns.

[milliesmadmoth]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

Dear Big Boss

Thank you for your email, I can confirm I have paid the May payment tonight putting my account back in order.

I am hoping to visit family overseas in July for 3 weeks however due to the uncertainty of when I will need to move I am unsure about what to do. If the date for me leaving the property overlaps with me being overseas would this be able to be delayed until I return and able to remove my belongings from the property?

I look forward to hearing from you.

MilliesMadMother

[milliesmadmoth]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

Just to top all this someone ran into my car yesterday! Just what I needed something else to fix out.... Hairdresser didn't turn up last week so grey is defo becoming the new blonde lol

[PlanB]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

Just to top all this someone ran into my car yesterday! Just what I needed something else to fix out.... Hairdresser didn't turn up last week so grey is defo becoming the new blonde lol

Oh dear

Is it also half term in Scotland to add to your woes (childcare issues)?

Anyway it's not 'grey' hair it's platinum blonde. If it's good enough for Marilyn Monroe it's good enough for you

Plan B x

[milliesmadmoth]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

hi PlanB

Today I received my eviction notice 26th July. Happy Birthday MilliesMadMother!

I will scan it and send it to you tomorrow. There is a court document along with a letter from the Lenders Solicitor.

Wonder who I should pay my rent money to on 1st June now the goal post has moved again.

[PlanB]

Re: Landlord not paying mortgage on property I am renting

hi PlanB

Today I received my eviction notice 26th July. Happy Birthday MilliesMadMother!

I will scan it and send it to you tomorrow. There is a court document along with a letter from the Lenders Solicitor.

Wonder who I should pay my rent money to on 1st June now the goal post has moved again.

I'm sorry to hear this

I think the best thing to do is contact Shelter Scotland to see if the deadline can be extended since you will be abroad at the predicted eviction date.

I'll do my best to reply to your email (I'm away at the moment) but you really do need tip top advice from a housing lawyer such as Shelter. They are really good at this sort of thing.

Plan B xx