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I just spoke to a Landlord who purchased a property at auction. Congratulations!
However, these congratulations have turned sour very quickly.
They purchased the property with a family member. The family member has all the relevant documents they think, but the family member is abroad.
They purchased a property with a Tenant. Easy invesment right? Wrong!
The Landlord and family member have not received a single payment in rent. Furthermore they have no evidence (unless the family member who's away has it) that they served the Tenant with notice of who the new Landlord is, otherwise known as a Section 47 & 48 notice. The implications of this is that per Beitov Properties Ltd v Elliston Martin [2012] UKUT 133 (LC), a rent demand served is not liable for payment until the Section 47 & 48 notice has been complied with.
Yet another issue is that the Landlord cannot locate any of the statutory required documents. For a recap these are:
Gas Safety Certificate
Electrical Installation Condition Report
Energy Performance Certificate
How to Rent Guide
The Landlord also doesn't have the Tenancy Agreement, so in theory they have no idea what the rent is supposed to be or their obligations under this agreement.
One good thing is they know where the deposit certificate is, because as we know if they didn't have this they would now be the proud owner of potential liability for three times the amount of their deposit. Speaking of which if they haven't transferred this into their name, the could run into potential issues trying to refund this if it is a custodial deposit.
Needless to say, the point of this particular blog post is this: If you are purchasing a tenanted auction property, don't just go over the standard auction legal pack, ensure the Seller/Vendor or their representative can provide you with the following documents for a smooth transition:
Gas Safety Certificate
Electrical Installation Condition Report
Energy Performance Certificate
How to Rent Guide
Tenancy Agreement
Deposit Certificate
Prescribed Information
Speaking of which, we should probably write a blog on what you need when you're renting, right? We'll think about it ;).
Our goal at Drummonds Property as legal specialists for our Landlord's, is to ensure that you're covered. That you have followed the law in the best possible way so that it'll help you when things sometimes go wrong. Therefore, we encourage you to check out our blog posts and call us when things get a little iffy.
