I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

[CharlieLandlord]

Hi all,

I have used this site before and had extremely good advice to do with contact of my young son which really helped me & still is. Now I am back with a completely unrelated thing..

In early January, my Mum sadly passed away & left everything to my sister & myself.

For 24 years she had been co-habiting in the house she owned with her partner.
He didn't contribute to bills & she worked whilst he stayed at home and is a retired pensioner.

My sister & I live 100 miles from the house.

My Mum wanted her partner to remain in the house until able not to.

However....

I have, after some research, found that we are now his landlords and have all sorts of obligations which may run into thousands of pounds worth of bills every year.

We aim to see him next week to discuss this. We already know after looking at my Mum's finances that she was supporting him very much, gave him £4K just before she died and purchased a £13K car for him a year before she passed.

Niether me or my sister can afford to keep him.

What should we do?

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Charlie

[MissFM]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

Hello Charlie

Am so sorry you have lost your Mum.

To help us to help you, please could you say -

You presumably mean that your mother passed this Jan? ie very recently? In which case, you will not have gone through probate yet?

Are you and your sister the executors as well as the beneficiaries of your mother's will?

Does your mother specify in her will specific provision for her partner as you describe above?

[CharlieLandlord]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.

Ok, me & my sister are executors, but we will be passing this to a solicitor because we want to make it correct & neither of us have the time to do it properly.

So probate has not been through.

There was no provision in the will, just a verbal request.

[MissFM]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

Have a look at the "bereavement and end of life issues" resource on this site (listed at the bottom) particularly re probate and solicitors etc.. and http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...-£600m-RIP-off

[MissFM]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

Will give this some serious thought - and also have no doubt that a more knowledgeable and experienced Beagle will be along!

[MissFM]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...of-life-issues

[CharlieLandlord]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

Thanks everyone, will do some reading.

[Eloise01]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

Becoming a surprise landloard need not be scary or costly. The exact details of your mums estate and wishes are very relevant. But he is still a tenant and must pay rent to you if the property is yours. This isn't my area of law but I have a lot of sympathy having become an "accidental landlord" myself. So it's a learning curve! If you wish to be a "good landlord" almost every council in the country has a form of "accredited landlord scheme" which means that in return for meeting certain basic requirements of being a landlord, you get to join a local council "group". If you meet these standards, which are actually not that hard and shouldn't cost you much the you can get access to loads of free advice, the support of other landlords and so on. On top of this you shoukld have the right insurances for your being a landlord of a property. But frankly, unless the property is seriously unfit, you are looking at hundreds and not thousands, and ought to be able to cover in a few months rent - leaving you still a profit and some investment in property money.

Being a landlord is no different from being anything else in life. You can be a bad one. Or you can be a good one. And that is a choice that you make. Generally, only being a bad one is expensive! You may not think so, but it's when you land in court that costs money, and it is so easy not to!

My tenancy is weird (and my tenant is possibly weird too) so it doesn't compare to most situations. But the bills are pretty standard however weird anything else is. Essential safety checks are about £220 per year (that includes full servicing and repairs on the gas central heating); being a member of my local accreditation scheme with the council is free; insurances are about £300 all in. Above that I may have excesses if I claim on insurances - which I seldom have. Obviously costs vary according to what you need, the property, and where you live.

[MissFM]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

Reading between the lines (possibly too much, please correct) it seems that your main financial anxiety is that your mother apparently wished you to support her partner after her death and therefore you feel you can't ask him to pay a commercial rent on the property/ contribute financially in any significant way?

[Eloise01]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

Reading between the lines (possibly too much, please correct) it seems that your main financial anxiety is that your mother apparently wished you to support her partner after her death and therefore you feel you can't ask him to pay a commercial rent on the property/ contribute financially in any significant way?

Oh well if that is what the OP is concerned about, then I am afraid that with no disrespect to mum, we don't always get what we wish for. It is a reasonable and fair thing to ask that someone she cared for should be allowed to remain in their home until they can no longer do so, but it is not reasonable or fair for that to run to paying for them to do so. I don't think the OP should feel guilty for that. It is a simple fact of life that many people cannot afford to do that for their own parents. I presume that if he has a low income he will qualify for housing benefit?

[PlanB]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

Sadly you cannot claim Housing Benefit if your Landlord is a relative unless you can prove that a) the property has previously been let on a commercial basis, and b) the rent charged is the current market rent with no 'family' mates rates.

However the good news is I don't see how the local authority could argue that your late mother's partner (i.e. not your father) is a relative of yours unless there was some formal legal arrangement between them. I would like to think they would struggle with that argument at a HB Tribunal. Ask him to put in the application a.s.a.p so you've got a start date which can be used to back-date payment of any HB which he may become entitled to in the future after winning the inevitable round of reviews, appeal and tribunal

But I'm not sure exactly who would be deemed to be the "Landlord" (and owner of the property) at the moment since things are in a legal limbo until probate has been sorted :confused2:

He may be of an age when he feels too proud to claim benefits but if he is made to understand this is being done in order to respect your late mother's wishes then he may be persuaded. It may also be a good idea to tell him to check out his pension status because that may change following the death of his partner which will improve things for him. He should be entitled to single person exemption on his council tax if he isn't already on pension credit and not paying any.

I so sorry to hear about the death of your mother and I'm sure she would be proud of you for the efforts you're making to help her partner. Living together for 24 years is a triumph in itself. My thoughts are with you :hug:

[enquirer]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

Follow the advice given by PlanB.

[Eloise01]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

However the good news is I don't see how the local authority could argue that your late mother's partner (i.e. not your father) is a relative of yours unless there was some formal legal arrangement between them. I would like to think they would struggle with that argument at a HB Tribunal. Ask him to put in the application a.s.a.p so you've got a start date which can be used to back-date payment of any HB which he may become entitled to in the future after winning the inevitable round of reviews, appeal and tribunal

Yes that was what I thought - I knew relatives can't claim but he isn't a relative, so it should be ok albeit there may have to be a bit of persistence as you said.

[PlanB]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

He should also be entitled to HB if he is served with a 'notice to quit' the property by the Landlord (i.e you + sister) even if that person is a relative. He would need to have a tenancy agreement established with you first and have paid rent even if he has to borrow the money off you to do that. I'm afraid I did this with my daughter when I let her *rent* a flat from me when she lost her job. We went all the way to Tribunal which I admit was stressful, and then within days she moved out to live with her boyfriend so it was a complete waste of my time and effort :rant:

But this is early days for the poor man and he'll be dealing with his grief. It's possible that he may not even want to stay in the house with all its memories and would be happy to have it sold and move to somewhere nearer his friends and family. He may even be entitled to social housing especially if he is made *unintentionally homeless* if/when you ask him to leave in order to sell the house. He may even like that option

[Eloise01]

Re: I have become a surprise Landlord & it's a scarey place!

True. We are all assuming that what mum wanted is what he now wants too. Certainly worth exploring because nobody may be thinking of asking him that!