Found out landlord is probably doing some kind of fraud?

[LolaMacbeth]

Right, I want to be very quick on details. Sorry posting it here but wanted atleast someone to reply.

I've rented for 2 years now Assured shorthold agreement, periodic.

The landlord always receives letters in her name on my adress. I found it weird so started to send them back.

After a while she contacts me saying for me to not send them back, to just let them be sent to my adress no explanation as to why.

Fast foward some disputes we've had with repairs and other things. I now finally found out that these letters are from the lender, of her mortgage. The one she has on this property.

I didn't open them but I started to get curious and put a light against one them. It even reads the exact amount that she pays for mortgage and on going rates.

I went to the registry and it says this property is a freehold too.

Why would she receive such important letters in this adress? Why not hers? Why insist in these being sent here, she doesn't live here.

Should I try and clarify it?
Should I speak of this to the solicitor ( going for unlawful raise of rent refusal to repairs of structure of the property and other things)

She likely doesn’t have a BTL mortgage. Whilst she is in breach of her contract with the bank it doesn’t really affect you. If they find out they will force her into a different product. It’s highly unlikely this would impact you at all. You could return the letters if you like, or not.

She is already under investigation by the local council for not possessing a license. And because the repairs haven't been done and they are substantial an EHO as inspected the house. However I do not know if she received an notices for repair yet.

I'm getting legal aid because it's just too much stuff to deal with.

I wouldn’t waste your money going to a solicitor as quite simply you are letting from someone who has no licence to do so. Better keeping your money for a legitimate rental.

She probably had a residential mortgage with no consent to let.

this is another case of do you want to be right or do you want to get what you want.

-> if you want to continuing living there at the same rent rate… Sit down, be quiet, do nothing.

-> if you are happy to move or pay more rent

you have 2 options

1. if you want to “do the right thing” 🙄 or “punish” her (for what I’m not sure maybe she’s a horrendous landlord) then go wild and inform for mortgage lender. Her mortgage will increase and I imagine so to will the rent OR she won’t be grant consent to let and you’ll be evicted. If you are moving out anyway maybe you don’t care though
2. Use it to negotiate. This is essentially a polite threat. Which is to advise her you know she has a residential mortgage and understand why. You are happy to redirect mail and keep everything as is but you would like a small reduction in monthly rent to compensate for the inconvenience of redirecting her mail (£30/50pm or similar). Again you should only do this if you are prepared for it to go badly wrong and the end result is you move out.

I dunno, I'd say someone's home is a pretty big thing to worry about. Especially as there are cases where the landlord defaults on the mortgage and the tenants don't find out until the bailiffs turn up at the door, as in my friend's building.

I would be looking to move given what you've said, and if the deposit isn't in the DPS you can take the landlady to court for IIRC up to 3x the amount.

Once you've found somewhere else, you can if you see fit simply mark post as "return to sender".

@LolaMacbeth

1. Is your deposit protected?
2. Have you had a yearly gas safety check done?

Sounds like the LL is renting out the property on a residential mortgage rather than a BTL one. It's not dodgy for you. But... if they've been really slack at repairs, then you could always open one of the letters, phone the lender and ask for an address to send them to as the property is rented so the owner doesn't live there. It is NOT illegal to open someone else's mail, as long as you don't use the information fraudulently. This might p*ss the LL off some more though!

Personally I'd start looking for something else.

Sounds like she has a residential mortgage when she needs a buy to let mortgage...
harsh, but you could contact the lender (should have a return postal address on the back of the envelope without having to open any letters). She'll likely get into trouble though..

I don’t know why you don’t put your money, time and effort into finding somewhere better to live instead of your revenge mission on this landlord.

I honestly do not even know what you mean by licence, I have never heard of such a thing. If she is renting on a residential mortgage then that is for her mortgage company to worry about. It isn’t illegal, when I moved overseas my mortgage company said I could rent out on the same mortgage and I did so fr years, it did not impact my tenants in any way and neither was it any of their business. It also didn’t mean I didn’t pay taxes, a leap I have seen other posters jump to. 🙄

Right, you've obviously got very angry feelings against landlord because you feel powerless and that she's putting your dd's health at risk. Perfectly reasonable.

That kind of grudge can make you just want to get at a person, but you need to remain alert to what's in your best interests.

She's doing dodgy stuff. Either because of btl mortgage or maybe capital gains (house needs to be registered as your primary address for six months prior to sale to dodge it). Or maybe she's just chaotic and incompetent and doesn't know what she's doing.

You need to focus on repairs - speak to shelter. And finding somewhere else as this could all come crashing down and leave you needing to find somewhere at short notice.

The previous owner of our house was a dodgy fucker, tons of post used to come for him and yes, after several years of returning it I used to read it through a lamp or just open it. Some was from the land registry about other places he owned, you'd think they'd know he didn't own our house any more! It doesn't sound like much to deal with post but after actual years it gets very old. Plus the bailiff thing. We had bailiffs turn up because he had an unpaid speeding ticket registered at our address.

Do you have a letting agent? If so escalate safety stuff via them? Gas safety cert is annual requirement. Repairs also.

re the post suggest that your LL sets up mail redirection in her name. Sometimes a landlord will get mail to an address, I wouldn’t be happy if you returned it to sender.

where in uk are you? Not heard of licenses to rent?

@LolaMacbeth so the answer is you need to move and you need to have it ready for when you confront your landlord if that’s your plan.

if you alert her to the fact that you suspect she’s not correctly declared she’s letting the property to her lenders etc. she’s not going to let you remain in the property at any cost. There’s no bargaining power here if that’s what you were thinking. She’s a bad landlord who will need you out if you know what’s going on.

serioudky just leave. Then you can report her to her mortgage company if you want.

So you said it yourself, the probable outcome of the lender finding out about the tenancy is your eviction. And that’s the only way she can legally evict you. Is that your goal in order to get council housing? Because if not, there’s no benefit in you telling the lender. It would only lead to a rent increase due to higher mortgage costs or an eviction.

Just contact shelter to help you deal with the maintenance issues and try to find another property in the meantime. As you’ve said, she can’t evict you. Don’t agree to another rent increase and just move as soon as you find a suitable property.

Move out ? I'd be putting my child's health and welfare above pettyness

Tbh I’d be contacting your local council to find out if she was a registered landlord, if not I’d be reporting her to all relevant bodies while you found yourself somewhere else to live.

Don't talk bollocks. The op is entitled to return to sender as not at this address.
She is also allowed to open post that comes to her address as long as she isn't doing it for fraudulent purposes

I'd just keep putting her mail back in the post with "no longer resident at this address" written on it". That is the simple truth.

She can't have it both ways. You are paying for exlcusive occupation of this property - for the duration of your contract this is your home. She needs to sort out a post redirect - not treat you as her post admin person.

Just tread a bit carefully. You say you need additional time but you're unlikely to get that in abundance if it does turn out she's not meant to be renting. Going after her through the council for disrepair is probably also going to lead to problems because someone who rents illegally will have no problems evicting illegally. What you really should be doing is speaking to Shelter as a matter of urgency and telling them everything.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/donate?reserved_appeal_code=20220401-IG-30&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwP6sBhDAARIsAPfK_waumMJwOoh7j0wph2_tuno6elRuyVnPThpTgfHMpaY-l4JYjwopa6YaAq_nEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

If she doesn't have a required license, the good news is you may be able to claim a refund of any rent you've paid her.

To prove she lives there so she can avoid CGT if she sells.
Because she has a residential mortgage not a BTL mortgage.

Wrong! It is definitely OP's business. I was in this situation as a student. What happened was that bailiffs arrived to evict me with no notice. They took pity and gave me a week's grace but made it clear that I had no legal right to be in the property. Luckily I found somewhere else quickly but that would not be the case nowadays.

If it’s like my residential mortgage, I did live in the property initially, then rented it out, but when the CTL expired the mortgage company refused to renew it and refused to let me have a BTL mortgage. They then whacked my mortgage rate up and stuck an extra penalty percentage on it for not having CTL! So I ended up paying £1300 a month mortgage on a one bed property renting for £800… and no I can’t remortgage the dratted place or sell it as it has cladding issues that no one wants to pay to sort out. Hence having to rent it out in the first place.

For the people that asked about the license. This was implemented in England not long ago I think. But certain areas of a county for instance will have designated areas that a selective license will come into force to tackle certain issues.

Unfortunately where I live falls into that designated area and all landlords need to apply for a license to continue to rent. And with this comes inspections from the council to properly check if everything is in order and in compliance with the law.

I only knew about this information last year, I actually informed the landlord about it, even tho local councils say tenants have no responsibility on informing the landlord about it its them that need to be on pair with local news and the council contacts landlords as well, but apparently the information they had on her was outdated thats why she never recieved anything either way (so some meddling with adresses for sure with the council too) but she never applied for it therefore renting now illegally.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/selective-licensing-in-the-private-rented-sector-a-guide-for-local-authorities/selective-licensing-in-the-private-rented-sector-a-guide-for-local-authorities

She's probably not declaring or paying tax on the rental income and doesn't have permission to let according to her mortgage contract. Has she put your deposit in a deposit protection scheme? You could report her anonymously to HMRC and mortgage company if she chucks you out or doesn't do repairs. Rogue landlords are awful people.

It sounds like she is renting without permission of her lender.

If you rent your property you usually have to pay a higher interest rate. Hence, her avoiding this - but it's fraud.

If this were brought to light, it would be a form of justice but the outcome would probably be that either you have to leave the property, not on your own terms, or your rent goes up to cover her new, higher rates.

Neither of those are desirable outcomes.

The only thing I would focus my energy on in your position is finding a new rental that is properly let and managed. Good luck!