From This is Money:
Last week, Birmingham County Court allowed a couple from Shropshire to remain in their property even though the firm they had sold it to had stopped paying the mortgage.
Under sale-and-leaseback arrangements, borrowers sell their property to a third-party company. Under the contract, they are then allowed to stay in the property paying rent.
However, frequently after one year tenants have been thrown out of the home they used to own. The company that owns the property will then try to sell it.
Concern that this is unfair has led to the sector being regulated by the City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority.
The decision by the judge in Birmingham was that the Shropshire family could stay in their property for life by taking out a new mortgage and becoming the owners again, or by renting from the mortgage lender that had repossessed the home.
However, it does not set a precedent for how these cases can be handled, since this can be made only by the High Court.
Before…
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