Conned! Am i totally screwed??

shelleywa

It's an essay, but please read if you have time - I really need some advice on this. Many thanks for all suggestions!

I have a really serious situation come up and have my old Landlord chasing me, so I really need some advice.

Baically, I needed somewhere to live 8 months ago and bumped into an old colleague I hadn't seen for around 8 years. By coincidence he was also looking for somewhere to live, so we decided to get a place together. Granted I didn't really know him, but i trusted him more than a complete stranger advertising in the paper.

Anyway, after a month or so, things started happening, things didn't add up - he said he worked but never actually WENT to work - said he was signed off because he had prostate cancer (I still don't know if that's true). Anyway, lots of things happened regarding money and the long and short of it is - he is a crook. He stole £400 off my credit card, £300 of which I eventually got back, but that's not the point. He took my bf's laptop 4 months ago - he said he worked at PC world and could get it fixed. We haven't seen it since, despite chasing him on a daily basis.

So needless to say, I moved out as soon as the 6 month's tenancy was up. Now 2 months later, I get a phone call from my old Landlord saying he's never received any money for rent from either of us for the whole time we were there (the arrangement was a Direct Debit set up from my flatmate's account and I paid him my half, as a money transfer or cash, every month. As far as i was aware it was all being paid). So my old Landlord spoke to his family, who are saying they haven't seen him for months (a fact I know is a lie) and when he phoned his workplace, he was apparently sacked 3 months ago. He now says that because both our names are on the tenancy agreement, we are joint liable and he also says if my Flatmate disappears, I will be liable for the whole lot, mine AND his.

The reason I carried on paying my flatmate my half of the rent after I stopped trusting him is because I didn't for one minute think it would take a Landlord 8 months to check if anything had been going into his account! I'm really angry about that, actually - if he'd have picked up on it after the first 2-3 months, we wouldn't be in this mess.

So I guess the question is 'how can i make the best of this bad situation?' How does the court approach a situation like this? Will the fact that it took him 8 months to pick up on this work in my favour? After I have paid my rent, bills, loans and credit cards for the month, I have around £180 left to buy essentials (food/clothes etc.). I can't get any credit, as i have a poor credit rating. The bottom line is, I don't HAVE any money to pay my old Landlord. I don't have anything I can sell. What would a court do in this situation? I was considered declaring myself bankrupt, but even if I have to pay the full £3600, I wont even be in enough debt to do that. I will of course try to claim the money back off my old flatmate but for now I want to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

Hope someone can help me out of this hell-hole - where do I stand legally?? Any advice will be greatfully received.

Thanks,

Red

Hippychick

Not really sure if I can help with the situation with the landlord but I would call the police, he stole from you and should be taken to account for that.

Good luck.

Gorgeous_George

The courts cannot make you pay what you do not have.

You are liable for the whole amount and you should try to strike a deal with the LL to avoid a court hearing. You could play on the LL's tardiness but the fact remains that he has not been paid for a service that he has provided. Courts look at things in black and white.

Karma is a good thing. This crook will suffer.

GG

phoebe03cat

Well I would make sure there was a crime number to accompany him and his Karma around and report th thefts to the police. Then you can at least suibstantiate what you are saying.

Debt_Free_Chick

shelleywa wrote: »

So I guess the question is 'how can i make the best of this bad situation?' How does the court approach a situation like this? Will the fact that it took him 8 months to pick up on this work in my favour?

Hope someone can help me out of this hell-hole - where do I stand legally?? Any advice will be greatfully received.

Legally, there are two separate situations here.

Firstly - your relationship with the LL. This is "contractual" as evidenced by the tenancy agreement. It seems highly likely that the LL will win in Court and that you will get a judgment against you for all the rent owed.

Secondly, there is your relationship with the former tenant. The fact that he stole money from you is a matter between you and him .... and the Police, should you choose to involve them. It doesn't directly affect the LL's entitlement to his rent.

It's difficult to envisage how the Court might view all of this, but I suspect that they'll see two separate situations.

Have you told the LL this sorry tale?

Did the other tenant stay after you left? Does the LL have an address for the other tenant and is the LL pursuing him for the rent too?

poppysarah

Can you prove you paid the money into his account?

olly300

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

The courts cannot make you pay what you do not have.

You are liable for the whole amount and you should try to strike a deal with the LL to avoid a court hearing. You could play on the LL's tardiness but the fact remains that he has not been paid for a service that he has provided. Courts look at things in black and white.

Karma is a good thing. This crook will suffer.

GG

Courts look at things in black and white but use their common sense when applying the law.

Instead of getting advice from people here I would make the effort to go to a legal centre or a CAB and talk to a legal adviser. Alternatively if you are a union member they offer free legal advice. (At the moment due to the amount of debt people are in you are going to have to make a lot of effort as advice services are over stretched.)

They would tell you how you can go about arranging an agreement with the landlord so if the landlord decided to take you to court then the landlord wouldn't be able to get a higher monthly payment out of you then you could afford.

If the landlord is not happy with the amount you agree to pay monthly then they can try and get a court to impose a higher monthly payment on you. However if you have already made reasonable to steps to pay as much as you can afford then your agreement will stand. So it's in your own interests to do this.

I would also advise you to stop communicating with your landlord verbally. Do everything in writing so if you end up in court for any reason then you have records of what was said and agreed making your life less stressful.

shelleywa

Wow, thanks for all your quick responses!

Yes, he is still living at the property, the LL has ordered him to leave and has ordered a court summons against him too. He has admitted to the LL that he was supposed to pay my rent AND his rent to the LL every month, and that I was paying him my half by cash or bank transfer. If the LL gets him to court and he openly admits it there too, is it likely he'll be ordered to pay the full amount?

It's good that they can't force me to pay what I don't have, I had all sorts of horrid scenarios going through my mind. The LL and I have been in constant contact ever since this situation first became apparent (don't want to get on his bad side as well!). He's grateful that I'm being cooperative and believes I'm telling the truth but is not very sympathetic to my situation. I get the distinct impression that if I called him and told him I don't have any money to pay him, he'd still drag me through the courts. And if I could get him to agree to settle out of court, there'd still be the dispute of how much I should pay. I think I'd rather go to court and hope my flatmate admits full liability.

So I'm thinking maybe the best course of action is to call the CLA and get some idea of the best course of action. Then concentrate on getting my money back. Maybe it's best to wait until after the court hearing to see how much my flatmate is ordered to pay, then go to the police about him according to the result. Does anyone have any idea of a better course of action?

poppysarah

If you can prove you've paid the rent into his account then it almost becomes only his problem.

shelleywa

I have proof of 2 separate months of bank transfers to his account for half the rent, clearly stated as 'rent'. But the other 4 months I gave him as cash. :-(

kelloggs36

Poppy that isn't true unfortunately because the debt is owed to the landlord not the other tenant. Whilst the other tenant has had the money, the landlord hasn't received anything from either tenant, meaning that both tenants are liable for the original amount owed. If the other tenant admits in court that he has had the money then the judge MAY impose any conditions on him but that is no way guaranteed because the contract states that the money is owed to the landlord. The Op will definately next time pay the landlord direct HIS share and have his own rental agreement drawn up meaning he won't be liable for anybody else's debts should he find himself in similar circumstances.

I was in a similar situation years ago when my ex and I were renting out our house. We were already divorced and with other partners then. I stupidly trusted him as he agreed to pay the mortgage company direct all the rent that was received from the tenant. He didn't but admitted that he had kept the money from the tenant. I was still liable to pay back the mortgage company even though he admitted that he had taken the money and spent it!!!!!