Missed rent payments. I can't pay it.

[imogeneration]

Before this situation got to this point i posted in legal matters but didn't get a lot of traffic so shamelessly posting here. Sorry.

We rented a 2 bedroom house. Tenancy was up for renewal a last year. We renewed (with a rental increase) (blinded not knowing what was coming our way). 4 days after renewing our tenancy agreement we were told the house was going on the market. Obviously had we had known this was going to happen we wouldn't have renewed. In the mix of all of that, I was struck with a cancer diagnosis. Meaning out of work and no income. We told them after this, that we couldn't pay the rent due to the circumstances. I moved back to my parents annex. Because I was still under contract I am still liable for the rent. Because of how vulnerable my health is, I couldn't have viewings and people coming in and out as I had to, and still do, have to shield whilst having treatment. The landlord would not let us go. But we moved out. I know the advise is to stay until getting evicted but I tried to do the right thing and not hinder a sale as I doubt any non investors want to buy a house with sitting tenants. All viewings have been family viewings and AFAIK it's a family the house has now sold to.

We are now obviously months in arrears. The house is sold. The landlord has informed us he has claimed on his insurance to get the money back.

I'm just wondering what will happen next, what will the insurers do? I did speak to shelter and there are parts of the agreement that the landlord did not stick to which we were unaware of. I can't really say what they are as they're very specific and outing but the landlord did something outside the contracted agreement after he told us the house was going up for sale.

As you can imagine, it's an already stressful hard time. The cancer is here for the long run, but with the treatment and surgeries we are hoping for me to still have some time left. It's a cancer you sort of 'live with' as long as it stays stable after my initial treatment.

It's obvious that the landlord waited until renewing our tenancy before telling us so there's no gaps in the rent / sale. But due to it all happen in at once, we couldn't afford to stay. DX came days after the notice of selling the house. I needed to move back in with parents as I need help with DC at the moment after having treatment.

What happens now, will the insurer take me to court? Will they decline his claim for breaking the contract? Will I have to go to court?

Im expecting a battering for this. I know I've made some wrong decisions but I've had little to no choice. Not able to get social housing as DH earns too much. But without my wage, (main breadwinner) we simply could not do the rent. I tried and tried to come to a compromise but LL didn't want to know. Wanted the full rent (plus increase) and that was that. Didn't want to let us go. I just want to know what we'll expect in the next coming months now he has submitted a claim to the insurer. Deposit is in the correct scheme and the house was half managed by a letting agency.

Thank you.

They're a morally horrible landlord.

That sounds really difficult; I'm sorry that you have an illness and things have been stressful.

It might be best if you contact CAB?

Contact MacMillan, they may be able to give you advice

I think the landlord would need to take you to court and pursue a CCJ. However if they have not followed the eviction process to the letter then a judge may deny this.

I'm no expert though so I think CAB may be your best bet.

I bet a local newspaper would be interested... What an absolute twat.

The landlord has informed us he has claimed on his insurance to get the money back.

That should be an end to it then?

What a VILE landlord. He was calculated, lacking in understanding, and a bully.

I do normally feel sorry for LL's on here, but in this situation, I am with you fully.

Did you rent via an agent?

Did you get told of the new landlord?

Have you been served an eviction notice?

Unfortunately, as I have found out whilst renting landlords and managing agents are not reasonable or your friend no matter how good a tenant you are.

If he can claim on his insurance that should finish things. But as you signed a new tenancy he can come after you for the rent arrears. I would contact a solicitor (you can get half hour free) to ask where you stand in that he got you to sign a tenancy knowing full well he was going to sell so is this false pretences?

I am sorry you are in this position.

💐 sorry,no advice here but to say I hope you recover from the treatment and feel better inside very soon and the LL decides to write it off the back rent and you can move forward.good luck 🌈

Will the insurance company come after us for the money? That's what I'm worried about.

We didn't get excited, we have notice (which was denied) and moved out. We still laid 2 months rent via our notice.

The house has been sold and he's got his money. I'm just on tender hooks as to if the insurance company will now come after us.

I don't even know if his claim has been approved. I'm worried sick. This along with my cancer has made me so incredibly low.

Evicted not excited!

No. The landlord took out an insurance policy to pay for the rent. You were a non payer.

The landlord can only ask you for the money.

Who's living in the property now - do you know? Because a tenant that's moved out might be better than a tenant under a year contract.

Very false about the 30 min consult and very false about the new tenancy despite wanting to sell the property

Incorrect. Owning rent is different than not following the correct eviction process.

Will the insurance company come after us for the money? That's what I'm worried about.

If they do and you are liable then you can only pay what you can afford after you have done a budget. So if you can only afford to pay £5 a month until it is paid off then that's what you need to agree to pay.

However I would seek advice from a charity like Shelter to find out if you are likely to be liable to pay the insurance company. I would also post on the MSE forums as there tends to be people with specific knowledge who post on there.

It could be that if you can prove your situation they actually chase the landlord because his claim is fraudulent. However as you missed out details on here for good reason people can't tell you.

@imogeneration answer me this:

1. did you rent via landlord or agent?
2. have you paid a deposit and was it protected
3. has the house been sold?

I guess the insurance technically could try to recover the cost of the claim from you, but realistically the cost of a few months rent is probably not worth the legal expense they’d have to go to in order to do that. They’d probably just write it off. Do you, your partner or your parents have any kind of policy through work or home insurance that has a legal advice line? Could be worth speaking to them for general theoretical advice.

If the landlords rent claim is paid out - at least you’d be totally done with needing to deal with him, although I’m not sure how you’d find out that information, and if he’s a dickhead, he could well have the money from the insurance company already safely tucked away in his bank account, whilst still using it all as a stick to beat you with.

If you click on the bit that lets you read just the OPs posts, that might help a bit.

@gamerchick it can't be half managed, there is a contract and with who.

Also oP have you made a claim on your deposit?

It's half managed.
That's all that's on the contract.

The rent gets paid to the EA, I'm guessing they take their fees and send the rent to the LL.

I'm what I gathered the rent and deposit etc was done through the agent but any repairs etc were with the landlord. We had communications with them both.

We haven't tried to claim
Our deposit back yet as we're technically not at the end of the tenancy.

I'm just worried sick.

What date did you leave the house?
What date approximately was the house sold subject to contract?
What date were you supposed to pay rent until?

Reading between the lines, I am presuming the landlord gained access to the property for viewings whilst you were still legally tenants. Is this the case?

Legally, you didn’t have to allow any viewings at all. If the landlord allowed viewings whilst you were still legally tenants, this is also illegal unless you gave them permission. And I mean even during the period when you had moved out.

Idk if the insurance company will pursue you. But I’d try to put as many facts together as you can so that if something happens you have information. You basically had to leave the property as this was the only way you could survive as the landlord wasn’t willing to allow you quiet enjoyment of the property.

Cross post. You’re still tenants. You need to contact the CAB.

We were unintentional landlords for a couple of years while selling our property.

We had a tenant who didn't pay, trashed the place and left.

We managed to claim through "rent guarantee" policy. We were never asked for details of tenant. So from this experience I do not believe they do come after the tenant op.

Hope this helps somewhat op. I'm so sorry you have been treated this way at such a horrible time.

I'd try and find a way of challenging that he rented to you under false pretences in a bid to get your deposit back.

Doubt anything will Happen OP. The LL got what they wanted. I can't see why they would be interested.

For those of you saying the LL was awful, it's a business, not a housing charity!

Just forget about it. Obviously renting privately in the future will be practically impossible for you, but that's just a small price to pay for walking out on a contract.