Tenant troubles

I am a private tenant who rents a three-bedroom house. I have received a visit from mortgage lenders asking me why I have not paid the mortgage for five months. The lenders didn't realise that I was a tenant and not the owner and told me that I face eviction, as the property will be repossessed and that I may be liable for any mortgage arrears.

I have a contract with my landlady that ran out months ago, but she said the contract was still legally binding. I have stopped paying my landlady the rent because I don't know whom to pay. She is ordering me to pay all rent due or she will take me to court for eviction, however the mortgage lenders are also requesting payment.

I am so worried I will have to go to court, as the lenders want the money too. They also said if the house is repossessed they will take me to court to get me out and I will have to pay the costs, yet I have done nothing wrong. Please help me if you can.

If you are renting privately and your landlord lives elsewhere you are likely to have an assured shorthold tenancy. The following advice is based upon this. If you think that you have a different type of agreement, seek further advice.

You are not responsible for making mortgage payments or for dealing with the arrears. Only the person who signed the mortgage agreement would be responsible for this. The rental agreement is between you and your landlord and does not include the mortgage lender.

Your landlord is correct in saying that you should continue paying her rent as you had agreed. If you don't pay your rent your landlord can take court action to evict you. If the landlord does take court action to evict you, you may be liable to pay the court costs. However, if you are on benefits you may be entitled to help with legal costs.

In most cases you will have to leave your home if the court decides the property should be repossessed. The possession order made in court is against the property and includes anyone living in it. Usually the mortgage lender will not have to go to court to get a separate order to evict you. This will mean that you might be evicted very quickly. As soon as you receive notice that there will be a possession hearing you'll need to start to look for somewhere else to live. In some cases you may be entitled to help from the council.

If the lender gets a possession order and you need some extra time to find somewhere else to live, you could offer to pay the mortgage lender for the use and occupancy of the property. This isn't the same as rent. The payment of rent might create a new tenancy and although you can ask to do this, the lender is under no obligation to accept an arrangement like this.

You may want to get further help with your situation. You can find details of local advice centres in the Shelter advice services directory.

Question answered by Shelter