House mate from hell!

fridgehead

Hello, just wondering if anyone has any advice for us.
About 2 weeks ago we had someone move in,(and the estate agent didnt even tell us he just let himself in) and ever since then he has been a nightmare.

He left the gas on unlite for 3hrs and then claimed it wasn't him, even though we know it wasnt us as we werent even up then our nighbours phoned us and told us about the gas smell.
He wont pay any bills either, he keeps saying he will pay the next day etc..
He keeps using all off our things even after many times telling him not to.
He made phone calls on my phone, and thinks it ok to even after we told him not to (we had to move it upstairs and put it in our room).
He kept trying to access adult channels on the tv so we had to block it then he carried on so we had to move my tv into our room.
He's ment to be doing a work placement year abroad but for some reason didnt, and now sits in the house all day claiming benifits.
He only has two set of clothes and washes them every day on full load and weve even told himto use 1/2 load but doesn't and he broke the washing machine the yest as well.
He kept using our towels to dry on, and then leave them on the floor, weve had to move them now.
He spilt a whole bucket of water in the kitchen onto the carpet then denied it was him, we only found out when we got back later that evening when the floor was soaking wet.
He tried to start a fire in a non working fireplace, but lucky the estate agent told him not to after we went to complain because he didnt believe us it was a closed fireplace.

And... the last one which has pushed me over the edge today is he tried to bleed the radiator with a hammer and pulled of the radiator in his room, and broke the heating but he still hasnt told us about this we only noticed when we went down stairs and the boiler lights are going mad, so hes been trying for the last 4hrs to fix the radiator even though the estate agent has sent someone out to fix it.

The estate agent wont do anything about him as weve been down 7 times in 2 weeks about him, but untill he does something major they wont do anything.

Now weve still got 8 months on our contract left, trying to do our disitations but finding it very hard not to be stressed.

Few finnally got that of my chest lol, Has anyone got any ideas what we can do?


Thanks in advance Fridgehead

SuzySu

Change the locks??

Mutton_Geoff

ever since then he has been a knightmare

A shining example I hope!

Put everything in writing to the agent and ask them to inform the landlord.

fridgehead

lol, sorry was in a rush ive changed it now, we cant change the lock even though we would like to, weve already done a letter before about a unearthed plug in the kitchen and that never got fixed and that was over a year ago, saying ive just got back from there and there ment to be coming out today to fix the heating and plug. But apart from just clearing everything which i own into my room we have no idea what to do.

Incisor

Check out the legal position. Time for a full and frank discussion with the agent and please do make sure that you don't have open ended 'joint and several' liability with whoever the Agent sends.

You have a fairly long list of complaints. Do think them through and classify them as

• those which are complaints against the way this individual treats you and your stuff
• those which are complaints against the way this individual treats your landlord's stuff

On the first lot, you can try to deal with the individual on the second you need to dissociate yourself from liability. If you fail to rein in this individual after a demonstrable basic level of effort, of course it then becomes a complaint against the Landlord.

Some questions for you to give answers to which may help the experts here give more tailored advice: Do you have the address of your Landlord? Is he aware the the agent is imposing unacceptable tenants on you? What type of tenancy do you have - AST or what? Is the house a House with Multiple Occupation? Are your deposits in a recognised deposit scheme?

fridgehead

the address of the landlord is on our contract, but our contract says that we are not allowed to contact them ourselves. it is a house of multiple occupancy. its a short-hold property. our deposits are in a recognised deposit scheme, although its slightly irritating that he's payed less of a deposit than we had to.

liz545

Regardless of what the contract says, you have every right to inform the Landlord of how this tenant is treating his property. As Incisor says, break down your list into complaints about how he treats your property, and complaints about how he treats the house/landlord's property. If you're not on a joint contract with this individual, I would be inclined to write to the landlord (and send a copy to the agent) explaining what he has done to damage the house and furniture, as this is what the landlord cares about. Explain that you've tried to reason with him, and with the agents, but unless they can ensure he will not behave in a dangerous and reckless manner, you will be forced to give in your notice. He left the gas on, which could have killed you, and now he's pulled a radiator off the wall - those are both serious problems and the landlord should be prepared to evict him for that. If he isn't, you should start looking for somewhere else to live, life's too short to put up with this kind of behaviour!

lonestar1

Leaving unlit gas running !!!!!! Im afraid with a nutte rlike that i would be moving out NOW and sorting the legal stuff out later May also be worth talking to agent as I doubt the building insurance would cover an explosion caused by gas being left on. This is not a mis match on tennant personalities this guy is dangerous. Your life is worth more than 8 months rent

ilovecheese

Not anything to add advice wise, but you have my sympathy!! What a nightmare! Hope you get sorted out soon. Good luck!

RAS

hi

I am assuming that you are all students?

Can you get hold of your Student Union Welfare or Housing Officer and talk them through the issues. They may well be able to deal with your lanslord, and if the student is at the same university, the student as well.

MoneySavingSpender

Write to the EA quoting the relavent law that were in breach of that if they do it again you'll be calling the Police for breaking and entering.

I don't quite understand how the EA got another housemate there without seeking your advice or permission. Look closely at your agreement, does it say that is allowed? It will depend on the type of agreement you have which you haven't specified.

Word of warning:

DO NOT lock him out, that is illegal if he is settled in there

DO NOT steal or seek retribution upon him he can just call the Police on you.


However, I'd be tempted to go to the Police station and give a statemeent, with accurate dates and times mostly what looks like criminal and negligent damage, it'll up to the Police whether to push further and press charges or not, get a crime number and report and show it to him providing copies to the EA and the Landlord and the other housemates, infact you could all go down there and make seperate statements against this person.

But I cannot emphasise enough, do not treat him the way you have been treated or he could do the same thing.