Housemate Problems?

Pee

You may find that couples will suit you better as a couple, less likely to want a party house. You do need to discuss the house rules before someone moves in. It seems to me she moved in, wanted something quite different from you and decided it was best for her to move out again. The weeks notice wouldn't have been a problem had the couple chosen your place. Morally i think you are wrong to hold back her deposit although legally it wouldn't be worth the hassle of going after you...

fede80_2

We did decide the house rules before she moved in and she agreed to them. I respect her decision but since she wasn't leaving on her own and she was contribuiting to the rent her decision must be comunicated to the other persons in order to find a replacement in a reasonable time since we do not own the place. Te couple had choosen our place but since we couldn't give them a date as she dind't know if she was to move next week or next month and obviously they decided to go for another place.

Gavin83

skintchick wrote: »

I agree. Wait till she's gone to tell her though!

Thats a bit dishonest, you need to make it clear before she goes as if it did go to court she'd have a stronger case.

What have you actually said to her regarding the notice? Have you accepted the week she's given or told her it's unacceptable? If your not happy with the notice period then you need to tell her quickly.

Did you tell her when she first moved in she wasn't allowed guests on a regular basis? I would presume moving into a flat that Im allowed guests as often as I wish unless told otherwise. Every night is a bit much but you really need to set the ground rules in place beforehand. Someone suggested that they wouldn't allow a boyfriend/girlfriend to stay which is fair enough as it's their house and their morals but you really need to establish this as soon as possible. If I was viewing a house with such rules I wouldn't live there and this needs to be determined as soon as possible to avoid future problems.

I think this shows up the importance of a formal contract when entering any kind of residential situation such as this and would urge you to complete this with the new lodgers. As well as notice periods, minimum stay and monthly rental you can include basic rules such as the number of guests allowed, if any.

Fede80

We said that in the case she wanted to move out or we requested her to we had to give each other a month notice. Yes we did set the house rules and we told her we didn't want people around all the time using facilities they weren't paying for, but we agreed on a limit of 2 times a week as we thought it was reasonable. She agreed on what we said telling us she wasn't that sort of person anyway. We also did tell her that the notice was unacceptable as we didn't even know she had started looking for a new room. I don't understand how she can have a stronger case since she started looking for places behind our back expecting us not to tell the few people we had viewing the flat in the last week when it was available as she hadn't made her decision yet. She just said she didn't have the intention of staying or paying for another full month and next week the full amount must be paid to the landlord and I'm sure he doesn't care about her decision. If there will be any problems, moneywise, it's my father who signed as garantor not hers.

skintchick

In which case just tell her she has to give a month's notice and if she isn;t going to pay the month then you will withold her deposit instead.

Why tiptoe round her? She is shafting you or trying to so just fight back!

Fede80

Yeah I agree....Thanks :-)

dieselhead

I think art of the issue seems to have arisen from the fact that the whole situation seems to have been handled poorly, which you do seem to agree with. I think you should let her go and put it down to experience. I would be especially concerend as it sounds like you are sub-letting and usually with rental properties, sub-letting is not allowed. Secondly all rental deposits now have to be held by a central body so that issues like this don't arise, now I am happy to be corrected but I believe that not doing this is in fact illegal. If this girl were to challenge you I believe this could cause you problems.

PasturesNew

dieselhead wrote: »

all rental deposits now have to be held by a central body so that issues like this don't arise, now I am happy to be corrected but I believe that not doing this is in fact illegal. If this girl were to challenge you I believe this could cause you problems.

That is for tenancies, this is a lodger situation as I understand it.

Fede80

We know it is not allowed but the landlord is informed about the fact that we are subletting it since the first flatmate we had who signed the contract with us had to leave the country straigth after for family problems. At that time we were about to move in and he decided to let us deal with the issue and this bring us to the present situation.

Fede80

Yes it as a lodger situation...