The last six months…

They’ve been interesting, haven’t they?

Thankfully, I wasn’t furloughed, unlike many of my colleagues, and work for me has stayed pretty buoyant throughout (apparently commercial deals are still being done, generating a need for contract negotiation and drafting — and us commercial contracts lawyers haven’t been (totally) replaced by AI just yet).

2020 was meant to be the year we finally moved house. We thought COVID had put paid to that, but when the property sector reopened with gusto in the early summer, we decided to give it a go. We’re glad we did: our house is sold (STC) and our offer to purchase has been accepted. We’re hoping to move pre-Christmas… provided the moving gods are still smiling on us.

So the summer was largely a blur of estate agent viewings and that sort of stuff. All pretty tedious — and it wasn’t helped by two of our neighbours also listing their houses within a fortnight of us going on the market. Bastards.

I worked from home even before COVID hit — save for two or three trips to the office per month — so there wasn’t a great deal of adjustment needed for me on that front. The daily firm-wide webcam calls have been a bit of a drag, but it’s been a small price to pay in exchange for avoiding all commuting.

I’ve also had no issues adjusting to wearing a face mask — provided I use my ‘ear saver’ (a rubber strap with notches onto which the mask’s ear loops can grip*). Fun fact: I’ve sensitive ears and I don’t like things pulling on them. One of my hobbies (nothing kinky) requires me to wear a respirator for lengthy periods of time, so popping on a surgical mask whenever I womble around Sainsbury’s isn’t much hardship.

* For the benefit of the uninitiated, this is the type of thing I'm talking about:

I suspect the next few weeks and months will be a continuing ball ache of conveyancing nonsense, mortgage applications and quotes for removals. Actually, we’re quite a way down some of those roads already — and I even had to dust off (electronically) my property law and practice materials from the LPC to remind myself of certain points in the conveyancing process. 

The law firm we’ve instructed in connection with our sale and purchase are all right, but that’s about as much as I can say for them. I’m sure my numerous emails, letters and phone calls to them have been getting on their ‘thruppney bits’ (to quote Sharon and Tracy from Birds of a Feather that my wife and I are currently re-watching, episode by episode**). Having a client who’s both a lawyer and a bit of a control freak must be a bit trying. Still, I have to bear it as part of my day job, so why shouldn’t they?

** That’s the original nine series that ran from 1989 to 1998 on the BBC, not the subsequent ‘comeback’ drivel that aired on ITV more recently.

Conveyancing 101 – What Your Conveyancer Does and How to Choose One

Guest Post

For the uninitiated, conveyancing is the legal process that deals with the transference of property from one person to the other. With house-buying being one of the most stressful things a person can go through, choosing the right conveyancer is vital for your peace of mind and your wallet.

You can choose a Solicitor as all are qualified to carry out the conveyancing work, but being able to do something and being good at doing something are two different things. Taking on a specialist who is able to carry out the work quickly and expertly such as Quick Move Conveyancing can take a lot of the stress out of the process as they will usually deal with your mortgage provider directly and manage things such as informing the land registry of the completion of your sale.

Regardless of whether you choose a specialist or rely on your Solicitor, there are several key tasks that your conveyancer is going to perform:

• They will check that there are no outstanding liabilities on the property you are purchasing; this includes checking with utility companies, sewerage proximity, archaic church repair charges and other potential costs.
• They will review and check all the contracts pertaining to the purchasing of the property.
• They will take care of the payment of fees such as stamp duty and estate agents costs, which will be factored into their fee at the end of the process.

When choosing a conveyancer, cost will be an important factor. However, as with so many things cheaper does not necessarily mean better. A specialist will have experience with all the regular channels, as well as contacts and procedures that are likely to be slower for a non-specialist.

You can ask your mortgage provider for a list of approved conveyancers, which is a good starting point, but be sure to compare not only costs but experience and testimonials. Many online conveyancers have the added benefit of being able to track their progress online, resolving one of the most problematic issues in house buying: communication of progress with the other party.

Do make sure that your conveyancer is regulated and insured; there are two regulating bodies. The Solicitors Regulation Authority regulates conveyancing solicitors and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers regulates licensed conveyancers in England and Wales. Do not take the word of the company you choose to use that they are registered; both of these bodies have lists of the people they license so check out the credentials of the company with the regulating body itself.

Finally, make sure you know what you are paying for. Make sure your conveyancer is fully comprehensive and make sure you get it in writing exactly what is covered, and what the abort fees are. Make sure you know exactly what costs you are liable for before you sign anything.

Tenancy Law – “Providing a False Statement Knowingly”

Guest PostLegal 4 Landlords
www.legal4landlords.com
23/07/2013

Introduced by the Housing Act 1996 was an additional ground for eviction, which aimed to deal with a growing number of fraudulent tenancies. The new ground for eviction (Ground 17) was aptly names “Providing a False Statement Knowingly”.

The additional ground is however only a discretionary ground, which makes a total of 9 discretionary eviction grounds, and 8 mandatory eviction grounds – 17 grounds altogether (click here for a full list of mandatory and discretionary grounds for eviction).

Specifically Ground 17 is for when a tenant (or a person acting for the tenant) is deliberately dishonest in order to obtain a tenancy, which they would not have otherwise been able to secure. Letting agents and landlords where frequently frustrated by a relatively small number of potential tenants who provided both misleading and deliberately deceptive information, which did not always come to light until after the tenancy has started, at which point they previously had little recourse. With the introduction of Ground 17, landlords at least have the option to take action against tenants who has made fraudulent claims.

Tenant References and Tenant Application Forms
The majority of letting agents, and most landlords take proactive measures to “vet” their tenants prior to signing a tenancy agreement. The most common part of the vetting process is a tenant reference. This reference (which is usually completed by a third party tenant referencing company such as Legal 4 Landlords) will ask the potential tenant various questions about their financial situation, employment, lifestyle and previous address history. The results will then be fed back to the landlord or letting agent together with a recommendation, usually either Accept of Decline (some maybe returned as accept only with guarantor).

A small number of tenants who have been declined tenancies in the past due to their tenant reference may decide to provide false information in order to ensure an “accept” is received.

Most Common Types of Fraudulent Information
Research completed by Legal 4 Landlords has highlighted three main areas which are most susceptible to fraudulent statements:-

1. Tenant(s) states they are single when they are not
This can be because they know their partner would not pass a tenant reference or a credit search, and therefore conceal their relationship in order to avoid the tenancy application being rejected. Another common reason for the applicant claiming to be single when they are not is in order to qualify for housing benefit or tax credits as a single person / parent.

2. Tenant(s) states they are employed when they are not
This could simply be an unemployed tenant trying to obtain a tenancy which specified professional tenants only (no DSS). Some may go to great lengths to confirm employment, including fraudulent pay slips or by providing false employment reference. (useful tip: always confirm employment references using a landline phone number which can be found on the company’s website, and then ask to be transferred to the person who provided the reference)

3. Tenant(s) claim they have lived with parents for the last 3 years
This is generally to avoid bad debt detection, or to avoid providing their previous landlord details.

How to Use Ground 17 for Eviction Proceedings
Ground 17 is a discretionary ground, and so the court will take a subjective view on the particular details surrounding the claim and whether it is reasonable to grant an order for possession (evict the tenant) when considering the requirements of the Ground 17:-

“Recovery of possession where grant induced by false statement”

The tenant is the person, or one of the persons, to whom the tenancy was granted and the landlord was induced to grant the tenancy by a false statement made knowingly or recklessly by—

(a) the tenant, or
(b) a person acting at the tenant’s instigation.”

Click here to view Ground 17 details on legislation.gov.uk

This ground has two significant components which the landlord would need to prove:

(a) they were induced to grant the tenancy by a false statement, and
(b) the false statement was made knowingly or recklessly.

NOTE: the false information does not need to come directly from the tenant, but can be from a third party in which the tenant has influenced, for example a false employment reference.

What the Court will Consider

• Did the tenant deliberately provide misleading, false or withhold information on their tenant application or tenant reference forms?
  
• Does the landlord have evidence of the deception, for example a copy of the tenancy application or tenant reference form completed and signed by the tenant?
  
• What was the nature and extent of the false statement? Eg. was it a slight exaggeration of earnings, or did they completely falsify their employment situation?
  
• When did the landlord find out about the false information, and how quickly did they seek legal remedy?

Most often the landlord will not find out about the false information until a property inspection is carried out, or if problems with rental payments arise.

Identity Theft
In additional to any fraudulent information provided by the tenant, it is also worth considering the possibility of identity theft. Landlord and letting agents can reduce their risk by confirming the potential tenants identify with a trusted form of photo ID, for example a passport or photo card driving license.

Mortgage Appointments

My girlfriend and I have a couple more mortgage consultations scheduled for the next two weeks. We’ve already had one with a well-known building society in the high street (and one that amazingly hasn’t been subsumed into Santander ). Happily, they’ve agreed to offer us more than we’ll need for a nice two bedroom semi in one of the areas we’re considering.

I’m actually quite excited about the prospect of finally moving on from renting and my GF is certainly as keen as mustard.

That said, the prospect of dealing with estate agents again fills me with abject horror.

I guess I should also swot up on the conveyancing process and am already dusting down my property law materials.