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Comments
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deannatrois wrote: »You seem to be making some assumptions that are making life difficult for you.
1) Have you asked work for a couple of days holiday (explain the situation) the worst they can say is no? Hopefully they won't. Holiday is everyone's entitlement but a company can say no when you need it.
2) You assumed wholesale that because you are a man and she is a women with children you should be the one moving out. As has been pointed out, she is not on the tenancy agreement, has little hope of being able to take it over or changed to her name so you are simply leaving yourself wide open to 9 months of rent and god knows what other costs. She had no right to change the locks, it isn't her house.
a) Prepare to prevent problems when you change the locks. Get the LA or LL to send you a copy of the tenancy agreement so there is no question as to who rents the house and that your ex's name isn't on the TA. Also get copies of utility bills in your name. If you can't remember account numbers, phone the utility companies and ask for help locating your account. Don't over explain, just say you need to track down your bills having lost them.
b) Go to the house, change the locks, with police in attendance to prevent a breach of the peace if necessary.
c) Give her train fare to Leeds. And an hour to pack up. No advance notice. if you have receipts online to prove you paid for the furniture that will save any disputes over furniture. But sort out if you can storage with a friend for stuff she can't take with her. It is a tough response to a very tough situation, but she isn't doing the right thing. You have to.
d) DO NOT be persuaded to give her more time. She is not a tenant, she is not a lodger. You know already she will just change the locks again and you can't be in the house alone together because there is a risk of her claiming harrassment etc. You do NOT have to give her more time and she has already demonstrated how she is going to play the situation.
And I am a women with children (older now). But what she has done isn't legally or morally correct. Moving from Leeds to Wales on a whim (which is basically what she's done) isn't clever either. Her home council will at least provide her with emergency accommodation (which admittedly isn't very pleasant normally) while they investigate her circumstances. It will give her a bit of breathing space to find something else. Give her a letter to explain the circumstances and your contact details so they can contact you to confirm what has happened. That is ALL you need to do. In fact its more than you NEED to do. Its what would happen if she was a tenant and being legally evicted. She'd be given an hour to pack and leave. Take some strong black bin bags with you, offer her a taxi to the train station. Anything to get her back home.
Thank you very much. That's good advice about how to actually go about things.
The whole thought of going through with this and locking her and the little ones out of the house really makes me feel nervous and sick. My instinct tells me it can't be the right thing to do, but having read all these posts, my brain tells me it is what needs to be done. I guess unless your in this situation it doesn't seem real.0 -
steampowered wrote: »See http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2012/02/29/what-happens-if-the-tenant-gives-notice-but-then-doesnt-leave/
This suggests that the tenancy will have come to an end, even though the guest is still in the property. - fair enough, you are right the tenancy will have technically ended but the OP still has to give vacant possession (and so is liable for LL's damages until they do so)
Would it not be the case that, once the tenancy comes to an end, the Op is no longer liable for rent? At which point the girlfriend will be a trespasser/excluded occupier? - the situation is the same whether the tenant or his guest is in occupation.
The LL can evict on the basis of tenancy terminated, but the OP is still liable for the cost of this, and rent until they do so.
No doubt the Op may have breached some clauses of the tenancy agreement if he fails to return the property with vacant possession at the end of the lease, but could be an option worth considering if the girlfriend refuses to leave (as it is clearly not feasible for the Op to keep paying the rent indefinitely)?- feasible or not, that's what OP would be signing up to by taking on a tenancy and letting someone else live there without parameter.
I am not sure the Op could apply to court to have the girlfriend evicted from the property in any event - wouldn't the landlord have to do it, if it came to that? - As long as he doesn't say / do anything to suggest gf is OP's subtenant,
OP has a tenancy at the property, and the only one with a right to occupation so he doesn't need to evict an excluded occupier (gf) through court. He can enter (break in and make good if needed)
and change the locks, call the police to prevent a breach of peace if she tries to reenter.
I'm not sure it is correct that the tenant is liable for double rent if the girlfriend refuses to leave in this scenario - the girlfriend is not the tenant (see http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2009/12/01/ancient-law-may-help-landlords/). Who remains in the property is irrelevant, the double rent applies if the tenant (OP) "fails to deliver possession". How does the LL have possession if gf is still there? The gf isn't a tenant, the Act can only apply to the tenant, OP.
Worth the Op getting some proper legal advice if the girlfriend refuses to leave.
Yes, technically OP serving notice may end the tenancy, but they still have not vacated the property (as the gf is his guest and as such his responsibility as far as the LL is concerned).
-> This would breach the tenancy agreement (to vacate by the end of the tenancy)
-> So OP will be liable for double rent under (Distress for Rent Act) and/or LL's expenses due to the breach.
http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2009/12/01/ancient-law-may-help-landlords/0 -
This thread is superb.
I'll come back in a week and I guarantee either
1) we won't have heard from the OP again
2) he still won't have followed through with the advice given.
I'd have booted the front door down by now and lobbed all her stuff in to the road as she had no right to be there.0 -
Bear in mind there are 2 aspects to this
1) financial. Getting your (meagre?) wages docked for months/years to come
2) reputational. This will follow you around. Want a credit card? A new tenancy? A loan?......
Yes, I can see your point, thanks.
At the moment, I have no desire for credit cards or new tenancy etc. If I work for my family, I can be paid minimum wage officially, with cash top ups.
But the problem is predicting the future.0 -
This thread is superb.
I'll come back in a week and I guarantee either
1) we won't have heard from the OP again
2) he still won't have followed through with the advice given.
I'd have booted the front door down by now and lobbed all her stuff in to the road as she had no right to be there.
I don't know where you live, but in this country I think the police would take a dim view of a man kicking down a woman's door. I don't think the police would be interested in a tenancy agreement or any other bit of paper. They'd probably just tazer you and put you in the cells.0 -
Paul_Jones_1984 wrote: »Yes, I can see your point, thanks.
At the moment, I have no desire for credit cards or new tenancy etc. If I work for my family, I can be paid minimum wage officially, with cash top ups.
But the problem is predicting the future.
That would be tax evasion which is a crime.0 -
Paul_Jones_1984 wrote: »I don't know where you live, but in this country I think the police would take a dim view of a man kicking down a woman's door. I don't think the police would be interested in a tenancy agreement or any other bit of paper. They'd probably just tazer you and put you in the cells.
Not agreeing it's the right course of action, but in this instance it would be man kicking down his own door.....not the woman's, far easier to get a locksmith to do it properly, above board with as little damage as possible and secured again once your inside though0 -
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My guess is he still loves her and believes by letting her stay there is hope of a reconciliation. In the meantime she will string him along so he continues to pay for everything. Unbeknownst to the OP, either one of the baby daddies or a new boyfriend moves into the house during this "reconciliation". They end up trashing the place leaving a financial mess for the OP.This thread is superb.
I'll come back in a week and I guarantee either
1) we won't have heard from the OP again
2) he still won't have followed through with the advice given.
I'd have booted the front door down by now and lobbed all her stuff in to the road as she had no right to be there.
Eventually OP get's smart and finds a normal GF. They want to move in together only to find out OP has a CCJ and it creates a mess.
It happens all the time on Judge Judy.0 -
Well thanks for all the advice.
It's actually convinced me away from my gut instinct, towards the better option financially.
Main issue now is thinking of a way to arrange a meeting with ex GF, so she is away from the house.
If the locksmith needs me there (to prove its my house), then GF will need to be convinced to meet with someone else.
I'll give this some thought. Maybe I'll say I've arranged a meeting at the local council offices, to discuss LHA. By the time she's figured out it's a setup, I'm in the house...0
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