Tenant in a house being repossessed.

Firstly, your LL is not in breach of your contract by not passing the money you paid to his mortgagee. Your contract is with your LL, and his contract is with his mortgagee, there's no crossover with regards to the money changing hands.

Even if possession is granted on 14/2/12, that doesn't mean you have to leave the property on that date.  It would likely be a 14 day possession order, which would take you to 28th Feb, followed by at least seven days before the Notice of Eviction came through from the bailiffs - which takes you almost up to the time that your contract ends anyway.  If you want to stay until your contract ends - and pay your rent over to the mortgagee - then you should write to them and explain that you are the tenant of the property (include a copy of your tenancy agreement) and request that they allow you to stay in the property for a further period of time in accordance with the Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants) Act 2010.  They will undoubtedly agree - but if not, turn up to the court hearing on 14/2, with a copy of your letter to the mortgagee, and request the judge consider your request.  (You HAVE to make the request IN WRITING.)

Your deposit ought to have been protected using one of the government schemes - find out if it is protected; if it's not you have a potential claim, though it is one that can be defeated by the LL protecting the deposit once he receives the court claim form.  In any case, once your deposit is protected, you will undoubtedly get it back (which is the point).

Your alternative is to serve a month's notice that you wish to quit the tenancy (I presume since you state the tenancy ends on 15th March that your rent is monthly and payable on that date?) if so, ensure you serve your notice to the LL by 10th February - just to be on the safe side - and if you post it, do so by recorded delivery.  If your lease is up on 15th March though, you could just leave as the tenancy is over...staying over the end of the tenancy would take you into a periodic one though and you'd need to give a months notice as above.

You could of course take the risk and just move - but you risk losing your deposit and being sued by the LL for breach of contract.

Thank you so much for your prompt reply. You have given me some clarity on the issues concerning me. If I could ask the LL to release me from the tenancy early (say the 14/2) would an email suffice as proof to the estate agents to release my deposit (which is in a bond with estate agent & my name on it, not LL). this would be an ideal situation for me. I get to move, not lose the new deposit I have paid and receive my original deposit back. Failing this working I have no choice to stay until they let me go and hope there is a property to move to that I can afford. With regards to informing the court that I am a tenant and wish to be considered during the hearing, is it an N244 form that I need to complete? Many thanks again

The N244 form is the standard application, so yes. The thing is, you probably don't need to make an application, you should be able to turn up on the day with your letter addressed to 'the occupier/tenant' informing you of the hearing and let the usher know that you are there for the hearing.  In my experience District Judges will not prevent you from attending the hearing as it obviously affects you.

I think you should ask to be released from your contract and inform the LL that he must tell the agents to release your deposit. It should have been in a government protected scheme (you would have received notification from one of the three schemes if it had been protected); if it wasn't, then you have a claim against the LL/agent for the return of the deposit plus a penalty against them of three times that amount for not protecting it as they should.

The other bit of leverage that you have is that it is likely the mortgagee did not know the mortgagor (your LL) had rented the place out, in which case with evidence of your tenancy agreement provided to the mortgagee, they can legitimately charge the LL more interest on his mortgage - which means the LL may end up owing more to the mortgagee than he borrowed. 

Request, in writing, that they release you from your tenancy agreement and in return (if they do it by a certain date) tell them that you will not turn up to the possession hearing on 14th Feb.  Hopefully this will get you the outcome you want - your deposit back, released from contract and able to move into the new place.

Let us know how it goes.

I have been like a dog with a bone the last week or so and i am slowly getting some answers. The LL has now sent an email stating they will let me vacate the property having given a months notice which takes me to the 28th feb, with the option to leave before that date, but with conditions. These are that I pay 'utilities and costs' until the 28th and provide proof that the bills will remain my responsibility until that time. The utilities part is not an issue but when I asked for clairifcation on what 'costs' implied they then explained that this meant rent until the 28th.

I understand that they would expect me to pay the rent, but my problem now is this;
• I understand from them that they believe the repossession will not take place on the 14th feb. I would normally pay rent on the 15th of each month and so if they lose the house, will I still be expected to pay the rent? (even if I decide to move out on the 14th or 15th feb). I was thinking I could set a leaving date of 15th feb and hope that if they do not manage to stop the repossession at the hearing then the mortgage company would not set these expectations and let me leave asap with my deposit. Is this likely?

I have tried to ask the lenders to let me have an extension after the hearing if they gain possession but they still refuse to discuss any part of this with me due to data protection. Is my only option now to request the extension with the judge?

I am praying the landlord for the new property i have paid £150 deposit for is understanding and let's me move on the 28th feb (in the case that LL manages to keep the house) in which case I get deposit back. If not I'll have lost the £150 and will need the extension to find a new home.

Thank you in advance once again. I'll keep you posted on the progress of this mess!!

My initial post (2nd paragraph) explains what the time line would be following the hearing on the 14th.

If possession is granted that day (I strongly suggest you attend the hearing so you know what is going on), then my suggestion would be that you pay the rent over to the mortgagee, following the request made as per paragraph 2 of my original response.

If you pay the rent over to the mortgagee it would probably be pro-rated, so you would pay only for the time you were there. The LL seems to want you to pay until the end of the month irrespective of whether you are in the property or not. Get him to change the agreement to 'utilities and pro-rated rent for any period I remain in the property after 14th February'. 

I strongly suggest you go to the hearing on 14th.

Hi again

Thanks for all your advice. Thought I would give an update and ask
For some more ideas!

I took your advice and wrote to both the mortgage company and the court to request an extension of my stay after the hearing in case I had any problems with the new property. I heard back from neither despite trying to contact the court. I decided turning up to the courts would not be wise as I had already made my request in writing.

So hearing was today. I rang the courts this afternoon to find out what the outcome was to which I was told a possession order has been granted for the 10th April, allowing me a 56 day extension of my stay and named me personally. Does this mean I am still under contract with the LL's agents as possession has not physically taken place? What are my rights and do I need to give a notice period, or can I just leave knowing I will be able to get my deposit back (obviously once letting agent has checked all is ok?). I have found a place to go and now just want to get out but worried that if I do they will be able to withhold my deposit.

I have contacted the mortgage company who tell me thy still cannot talk to me under any circumstances as possession has not yet taken place.

Thanks again