Help regarding being a victim of subletting

Help regarding being a victim of subletting

10:56 AM, 31st October 2013, About 11 years ago 13

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A well known national letting agency franchise office based in Ealing advertised flatshare, I viewed the property and agreed to pursue a tenancy. My agreement is for the duration of 3 months, all bills included.

The tenant I share the flat with (Mr G) was claiming to be a tenant at first with the agent supporting this but is now claiming to be the landlord and he has been subletting this property out for four years. We have written and audio proof of this. Help regarding being a victim of subletting

The agent (who has close relations to the tenant acting as landlord) has confessed that his ‘client’ is subletting.

The owner of the property currently resides in South Australia.

I have reason to believe Mr G is committing benefit fraud as a result of all he has divulged to me regarding his five bedroom villa in Iran and and in Inverness of which he put the ownership in his daughter’s name. He is in receipt of many state benefits including disability claiming he cannot work and earn.

Neither Mr G, acting as my landlord, nor the agent can provide me with a current valid gas safety certificate. I have seen a photocopy of one issued in 2010. Mr G is refusing to provide me with gas central heating, he cannot provide a valid reason of refusal. Two different employees from two different energy companies checked our gas facility two weeks ago and concluded that the cooker is unfit for use and needs replacing for safety reasons and there is an issue with the box that links to the boiler. Mr G is refusing to consider the law and the health and safety of others by not addressing these repairs.

I have documents that state that Mr G is the landlord, which prove he is subletting to me but I have not been provided with documentation to prove whether he may or may not have the actual landlord’s permission to sublet the property.

These are also the points I have raised with the property owners own letting agents, another very large national firm. They have been very sympathetic with my predicament, however, they do stress that the actual landlord “may seek legal action to remedy this situation” and that the actual landlord has no legal obligation to me. I completely understand this and assume this to mean I must leave the property ASAP, although, according to Shelter, my tenancy agreement with the illegal landlord, Mr G, still stands and I have until 3rd December to vacate the property. We are getting conflicting advice so don’t know which way to go next.

Could you please suggest anything?

Thank you so much for your assistance.

Best Wishes

Mrs Saadeh

 


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Comments

13:55 PM, 4th November 2013, About 11 years ago

There is another shocking story come out today.

An agent in North London rented a property from a lady and said that a corporate client was in the property.

The Landlord found out 3 years later that there was an HB tenant in there, and the lettings agent had been renting the property to him for £2,000 more per month and pocketing the difference!

It's vital to let through an accredited agent such as NALS or ARLA - both tenants and landlords can avoid these unscrupulous practices by doing so, and also have some form of redress through an Ombudsman Scheme if things go wrong.

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

14:04 PM, 4th November 2013, About 11 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Julie Ford" at "04/11/2013 - 12:29":

Hi Julie

As Mt G is not the property owner I think the AST is invalid.

Fortunetely, we have since learned that Mr G's agent did indeed protect the deposit in the custodial DPS scheme so at least that's some comfort for Mrs Sadeeh and this discussion is now purely academic.

However, on the basis that the tenancy issued by Mr G's agent is invalid, perversely so would be the requirement for him to protect the deposit. This is because lodgers deposits do not need to be protected by law. It's certainly an issue for lodgers to be careful of, especially when they are offered tenancy agreements. without checking who owns the property via HM Land registry I can't see how tenants would ever know the real position. It does make a very strong case for tenants only being safe if they use the services of letting agents which are covered by PI insurance and Client Money Protection though doesn't it?
.

9:42 AM, 18th March 2016, About 8 years ago

hi letting agent managing property for landlord
letting agent is subletting landlords property
in the event of a s21 or any notice who has to sign for eviction notices is it the landlord or the letting agency subletting the property
my pal has been renting for 3 years and now the letting agent has issued notice not the landlord
is this correct.

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