 Blog PostsFriends         | Three cheers for Margaret Thatcher. (The Iron Lady)Some of you may remember our first and only Lady Prime Minister. She of Falklands war fame.She was a tough, no nonsense sort of lady who had as many enemies as admirers, a strict conservative. Apart from my admiration of the way she stood up to the Argentinians and would not back down, even though at the time even our American cousins were against her views, I never thought, all these years later she would still have power over my life. Back in time around 1986? she brought out new tenancy laws which incorporated something called 'Assured Tenancy'. This was a UK law until 1997 when it was amended. As you will all know from my earlier blog 'Breaking Bad' I had been informed of my eviction from this place I have called home by telephone a week or so before Christmas. I had a brief respite, as it had to be put in writing, before I could do anything about seeking alternative accommodation. The weeks passed slowly and turned into months and I dared hope a change of mind may have occurred? No such luck. On the 10th March I was hand delivered a notice of eviction from a team of solicitors engaged by my landlady's son. Gloom and despondency once again settled over me like a dark cloud. Heck I am too old and unwell to have to seek another place to live let alone pack up everything and shift it all. I knew I had to fight and laid battle plans accordingly (Maggie would have been proud lol). Although well able to fight any case in court I decided to at least ask the opinion of a solicitor as my only real defense was all based on verbal promises. It was then I heard about this 'Assured Tenancy' law. Basically any property rented prior to 1997 was subject to this law that said a tenant could never be evicted purely for the owner/landlord wanting to sell said property. Unless I failed to pay rent, brought the property into disrepute by criminal action, had police action taken against both me and the property etc I could stay forever. All I needed was proof of occupancy prior to 1997. Thankfully my local council confirmed my moving in as being the 1st January 1995 and are furnishing me with proof of that including proof of me being on the electoral role at that time at this address. There still may be a court case but my solicitor assures me we will win. I am safe and the law is behind me. I just wanted to thank all the wonderful friends who supported, prayed and gave words of encouragement during this phase of my life. I really do love and appreciate you all so very much. You can all look forward to more years of flower and project pictures in the future lol. Bless you all.....................................Alan xoxox.  mimibellega: I'd love to have been a fly on the wall so I could see the son's face when he got that news. Or perhaps not a fly..he could have a swatter lol..Good for you Al. I'm glad things have worked out for the best for you 9 years ago • Report 0  CatcherAl: Awwwwwwwwww thanks mimi xxx I may still have a court case to fight but at least the law is on my side for once lol. Love to you and the family xoxoxox   lazydays: Oh, what wonderful news!! I sure do hope it all works out in your favor!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend.  CatcherAl: Thanks so very much Lazy. I wish you a wonderful weekend also hun. Take good care, hugs n kisses xoxox alanatenfield: great news Al, just what you deserve after all the hard work you've put in, so its back to digging an planting  MontanaMatt: I sympathize with your plight Al......I really do. But in this country...that is what is called a "taking". In essense.....your presence is taking profit away from the current property owner. Profit they should be entitled too.....don't ya think? If they have a buyer in hand....willing to pay an exorbitant amount for the property....it should be their good fortune to capitalize on that. Isn't that how the free market works? A similar law on the books here would guarantee no rentals...ever again. Why would any property owner ever rent knowing that they forfeit the right to possibly ever sell their property? I know it's a different day and age......but any promises made to you by the original owner should have been put in writing.....eliminating any need for your current troubles. Although even if it was in writing...why should any future owner be held to the standards of a previous owner? Such an agreement would make it nearly possible to sell any property. Rightfully so. I understand that your situation is a bit different...with the current owners inheriting the property.....but it is still theirs now......and they should have some rights regarding disposal of it. Again...I very much sympathize with your plight....but in this country.....you would be packing.....no questions asked or answered. You obviously cared for the property as if it were your own...showing great care and concern for someone elses investment.....good on ya buddy....but there should be an important lesson here for ya. If it isn't written down...it didn't happen.  BugHug: Congratulations Al! I think this is the perfect example of what that law was written for. Matt, I'm not sure if you read Al's previous blog about the circumstances behind this attempted eviction, but nobody's "profit" is being taken away in this case. The son of the landlord is trying to sell off his mother's property, I'm assuming as her power of attorney, before she's even dead in the ground. He sounds like a greedy bastard who wants to make a quick buck at the expense of the promise his parents made to Al, and also to Al himself who has made this place his home in every way save actually possessing the title. This is not a case of anyone being put into financial hardship by being forced to keep a tenant. It is too bad there was no proviso in writing somewhere that could have prevented the trip to see a lawyer, but alls well that ends well. I am so pleased for you Al that you can now carry on living out your years in your home without worry of being punted out into the street by some greedy little worm. crimsonandclover: i know you are relieved catch thats fab news  i also agree with matty, so much common sense matty you always make me smile, i think thats why they amended the bill i would believe this isnt the only case where something has changed. in nz we had alot of public housing and private rentals, many of the government properties were sold under the national government still more to come, leaving the onus on the private landlords to fill the gap for housing. we have a tenancy tribunal in place now where all bonds are lodged and all tenants and landlords have very similar contracts which are guided by the tribunal. no laws allow for any lifetime rentals that i could see, they did originally have these in government housing. it is a very important lesson in having contracts and keeping records however tiresome they are and sometimes scary if you dont understand them. a good reminder for everyone to look into their own situations if they are renting. crimsonandclover in reply to BugHug: hi bug lets take catch out of the equation we love him too much so he muddles the reality in this situation, smiles at catch. whether living or not, the person who has power of attorney can sell all or any assets they like for whatever reason or no reason. here again a reminder for us all about selecting an appropriate POA and having a will made, also brings up the issue of family trusts, this has probably been the case here so she will not have to pay for a rest home. people make short cuts in their contracts, try to be tricky to "save money" and to "save from paying rest homes etc", spend your money on the things you love, make plans for your retirement and never ever have a family member as a financial POA, sure have them as heath and wellbeing POA but get an outsider to do the finances and get it all sorted prior to old age. they say, money is the root of all evil and in reality if this guy wants to sell the home for a boozy trip to the islands or pay a medical bill for chemo we dont know. i blame the home owner in part, even with the good intentions look at the worry she has caused by not putting things in writing. lets just hope the judge keeps to the law and catch is also compensated for his out of pocket expenses for this shambles. one last thought, if he wants money now he will be advised to get a new valuation done on the home, the equity in it he can borrow against and that there is a win win. BugHug: Agreeing with you 100% Crimson. I can definitely see both sides of the equation, but because this IS about Al, I am definitely seeing this from an emotional point of view. If I were a property owner who rented out my property, I would want lease agreements in place for sure. Life can change very quickly and a permanent tenancy would put a major jam in how I would want to handle my own real estate investments.  sumkindowndrfl: I am more than thrilled to hear this news!!! Never underestimate the power of prayer...so very happy for you!   I knew I liked Margaret for a reason! CatcherAl: Yeh I see your point there Matt. I however have always been a man of my word and once I give it then no manner of time, hell or high water will make me renege on it. Maybe I'm daft like that but a promise is a promise and after over 20 years of that promise being repeated I sorta believed. CatcherAl: Gosh Crim, You constantly amaze me with your 'smarts'. You are always the voice of reason in the maelstrom of life. You are soft, gentle, caring, loving, yet have the uncanny ability to see through things and put everything into perspective. You should be Prime Minister of New Zealand or even World Premier. Bless you girl xxx CatcherAl: Awwwwwwww Summy, thanks so much hun. Maggie sure was a force to be reckoned with, good or bad, she had the guts to go with what she believed. I however never thought she would affect my life in such a dramatic way. Thanks once again Sum xoxox  stepat82: we loved her so much in Ireland on a sidenote wonderwoman lololololololol yes maggie was one of the greates US presidents ever lol
 WonderWoman1 in reply to CatcherAl: Im Margaret Thatcher aka WW1..of America...Im a fan of that iron woman |
