David Lock

My daughter rents a flat in London with 2 other girls. She's been there a while and it is actually a house owned by an oldish couple and is split into two flats. It is rented on a part furnished basis and the couple's son acts as the "Landlord" and rent goes to him. He is just OK and pretty unreliable and never answers his phone.

This afternoon someone hand delivered 2 letters, handwritten on envelope and marked urgent in red. It was addressed to the old couple who never usually receive letters at the house.

My daughter is worried that this is some kind of bad news, possibly financially linked, and could even be notice that the bailiffs are coming round.

She has sent a text to Landlord and waiting for response.

Now forewarned is forearmed so say there is a knock on the door and a couple of heavies (this is Tooting btw) want to come in what rights do the tenants - my daughter and flatmates - have.

Can they refuse to let bailiffs in? Can they enter if no one is in?

Would it made a scrap of difference if the girls tried to explain that it was nothing to do with them?

What could bailiffs actually remove? I assume stuff owned by Landlord and not the tenants but would they bother about this or just take what they fancy?

I'll do a bit of Googling but if anyone has any advice please feel free.

Please no links to angry Pit Bulls or flame throwers

Cheers, David

my06 ppp silver

iTrader: (2)

i am sure that unless the letter has a stamp on it (queens head etc, official royal mail) then it is not against the law to open the letter. if it were me i would ring the sons mobile explaining the "urgent" message, explaining your concerns and that if no reply is made by say midnight then you will open the letter in their intrests and on their behalf. my missus is a landlady and she says that the law protects tenants so if they can prove that there rent is up to date they cannot be evicted. as for their possessions they should try to obtain proof of what is theirs, reciepts etc. even better if within their tenancy agreement there is a breakdown/list of the actual furnishings supplied within the property. if it is a case of bailiffs then they dont have to let them in without a police presence, if it is heavies though then they can always phone the police the moment anyone arrives and tries to gain entry. best of luck, hope its not all that anyhow. it could be an old friend passing away or something, fingers xd for you mate.

David Lock

Thanks a lot for that. Very helpful. Google tells me that bailiffs cannot take tenants' goods, which is what I thought, but neither can they remove goods that are rented so I think the girls are pretty safe legally. I read though that a bailiff is allowed to climb through an open window which seems tantamount to breaking in

Good point about opening the letters if no response from Landlord.

I am 90% sure this is all a storm in a tea cup but it is odd nonetheless.

Cheers, David

Mus

iTrader: (2)

be carefull too often i hear of landlords collecting tenants rents not paying the mortgage and then pissing off with the money. either way as long as they keep a copy of the contract or even better send a copy of the tenancy agreement to the bailiff that should sort things out. to be honest always best to get away from landlords like that.

depending where they are in london go on to our website and have a browse www.ellisandco.co.uk we have a few branches thats why its best to deal with an agent sometimes.

David Lock

Thanks Mus,

Flat was found through an agency and I think all is above board and I suspect that there isn't a mortgage on the house although I guess it could have been collateral for a loan. Tooting area.

There is another odd thing which I haven't mentioned and that is that the girls rent the ground floor. The first floor flat is completely empty with windows half boarded. We don't know why this isn't rented as well.

david

scunnered

iTrader: (1)

If it were me, I'd open one of the letters to put my mind at rest. It might just be some advertising thing from the local takeaway. I had something similar a few months ago.
Did these two letters have to be signed for?

If bailiff's or debt collectors are involved, make sure your daughter knows about Section 40 of the administration of Justice act.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Estate agents are forever dropping round letters unstamped "Urgent FAO The Owner" in a bid to get them to sell/rent their property - at least in Bow they do...

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

www.landlordzone.com

Ask on there. Worth looking to make sure everything is above board (protected deposit etc)

5t.

David Lock

Thanks guys,

I am waiting to hear from my daughter if she has had a response from Landlord. In the meantime I will check out link above and have a look through Section 40. As said above it might be nothing but letters did look a bit "legal" and my daughter peered through the corner of the letter and it wasn't a take-away menu. A signature was not required, they were just pushed through letterbox. I think she would be reluctant to open one as Landlord is not the type to mess with

My sister sent me a mail as she knows about these things and she was a one-time housing advice officer with Manchester Council and gave me a couple of just-in-case contact points. My sister thinks there is a good chance that property has been used as collateral for a loan but the fact that it was rented was not declared. In fact my sister had herself rented a property that was repossessed from under her nose and she needed to get some court order to delay things.

The real problem/nuisance here is that my girl is in the final year of an intensive study course and works as well in the evenings and just doesn't need this added stress!

Onwards and upwards.....

David

Pjamie

They can only do that if they are court appointed and are collecting following permission from a magistrate or if they are collecting for HMRC.

If they are just chasing a debt for a company with no court backing they have NO rights of any type of entry - not even through an open window. They can't push past you, put a foot in the door to stop you closing it, or any other action.

They might walk in and rely upon your ignorance about their powers (they rely upon ignorance, fear, and intimidation), but unless they have some legal documentation from a Magistrate or from HMRC then the best action is to tell them to get lost, don't give them any information (it's none of their business and if they are not sure the person they are talking to is the debtor then they shouldn't be there at all - breach of OFT Guidelines). If they won't leave call the police, make an official complaint to the company involved and make a complaint to Trading Standards and the OFT - they will take it seriously.

David Lock

Thanks Pj,

I have sent that info to my girl. d

Leslie

It would only be breaking in if they smashed the window which was locked.

I would not let the bailiffs in if they arrive and tell them that they have to deal with the owner or his repesentative. I can't believe that they would have the right to remove a tenant's property or that they would have right of entry in this case. Just tell them that they have no business with the tenant.

Les

Tidgy

dont panic, First off, refuse entry to any balifs etc, they can't force there way in without a court order, which on a rent house they will never get especialy since the tenants name is different to the adressy.

she has no liability for any debt from a previous tenant or landlord no mater what they may try to claim.

If no return address then she has two options,

1 open and see if there's contact details in the letter
2 chuck it in the bin

we had similar issue with previous tenant to where we are, returned to sender at first, then when the letters kept coming rang the company up and infomred them. If they carry on sending letters to that address they are at that point breaking the law.

It's worrying to get such letters, but there is nothing they can do at all except send more letters.

there are legal steps you can take after that, but i doubt it will come to that.

ahar

iTrader: (3)

Reminds me a bit of my old student house!

We used to receive all sorts for people who had used the place as a false address, including court summons and on one memorable occasion the police turning up to arrest someone at 6am (riot van, the works!).

Don't destroy the letter, but there is no issue with opening it if it is delivered to your place (checked this with a solicitor at the time) even if it is a court summons or something else official. As others have said, don't let anyone in, and if it looks like bayliffs then dont open the door. If anything starts to get funny call the cops immediately and tell them people have broken in - they will stop the bayliffs doing anything funny.