was elderly relative evicted unlawfully? lost house and all contents

[mechanicalpencil]

An elderly relative who owned her own home and was still paying off her mortgage was evicted last year, making her homeless. She was placed in temporary sheltered accommodation and has since been moved to a small property.

Her house, including all her belongings, furniture, personal effects was put on the market and she was told to sign a form to say that it would now belong to the council. It appears to have been sold on right move. I think she was offered the chance to go back and retrieve anything just after she was evicted but she was in shock and could't face it, probably hoping that the problem would get solved and she could go back.

I am the only person she is in contact with but she won't tell me her address so I can;t go and visit her.

Her mental health wasn't great to begin with but it has deteriorated rapidly and she seems to be depressed and perhaps suffering from PTSD. She is terrified of opening the door, answering the phone, going out. She is having nightmares and panic attacks. She has various health issues which are not getting seen to as she has lost trust in people.

This is all I know.

I feel heartbroken for her. This is a woman who has lost her house and entire life belongings and has nothing left but the clothes she was wearing. I realise that there must have been financial problems but still, I can't get over the fact that her whole life's memories have gone and she has lost her house.

I don't know how I can help her but does this sound lawful? If anyone has any advice, I'd be very grateful.

Thank you for reading.

The new owners will very likely have bought it through an auction and won’t have any information. It might be worth a call but I wouldn’t hold out too much hope.

Wouldn't the contracts have the sellers details on though? At least they may be able to tell OP if it was Lloyds Bank or Mr J Bloggs that's sold it?

The sellers will be whoever possessed the house and the contracts are usually held by the Solicitors. As the OP does not have POA I’m not sure anyone is going to be giving her this information or what good it would do.

She may have been able to apply for a warrant of restitution after the eviction to get her home back but the window for that opportunity is long past as it is now owned by someone else.

To be honest, if she was my relative, I’d be focused on trying to find her rather than her house, calling councils, doing searches etc, even if I could just find out she’s safe, and housed appropriately and has carers in. I think that’s key

Yes I’d be looking at a tracing agent too.

@CluelessAboutBiology Yes, I am 100% sure it is my relative.

@ExplodingSmittens I think she did have a SW, there was a woman who helped her from day 1 of the eviction/repossession through to sheltered accommodation and finally her own property.

@Venusunbroken
I would say yes, between 2-6 months.. so yes, the land registry may not have updated yet.

I have tried to find the property's sale details but it seems to have vanished, can't find anything at all about it now and no recent sale is showing up anywhere. The only thing I can find is a listing on righmove that says "this property was for sale between x month 2025 and x month 2026", nothing about it having been sold.

I was following the property until it got through to "SOLD STC" and then it vanished, so perhaps it takes a while for these things to be updated?

@StupidCupid50 I live at the opposite end of the country, otherwise yes, that's what I would be doing.

You could always ring the agent and express interest.

Thank you@LIZS I plan to do this on Monday.

It’s good that she has a SW. hopefully they’re keeping an eye on here now