Trouble with lodger

alona1

Hi,

To cut a long story short, I had a lodger who's been late at paying and behind the last few months due to a breakdown, however I think I've been pretty leinient with him. He's been having his rent paid by the council as he's unemployed. Last week, he gave me 2 days notice (agreement stated 2 weeks) and moved out and didnt collect his stuff till another 3 days later (after me nagging).

He still owes me about £400, I've rang the council and they dont seem to be that bothered and have said once we've paid him, we're not going to pay it out twice to you.

However I wrote to the council over 4 weeks ago to get the payments made directly to me to stop him falling behind and they only went to action it last week but by this time, my lodger had already rang up and changed his address.

Any ideas on what I can do?

princeofpounds

Sue your lodger in the small claims court. That's it, and I dn't suspect you will have much luck recovering money from someone with little assets and a transient address.

Jowo_2

Two choices -

1/put it down to experience and move on. There's no point in taking someone to court who doesn't have an income since if judgement is made against them, they are unable to pay and you will not be able to enforce it. Next time, get a larger deposit from your lodger or have a shorter notice period so you can get them out without incurring this level of arrears.

2/ Take the lodger to the small claims court (via the moneyclaim online site if in England/Wales) knowing that even if you don't get the money back, you will get a CCJ against their name which will flag them up as a credit risk. This may motivate them to pay up or it could protect a future landlord. You can pay a fee of around £40 to a tenant tracing company a month or two after they've left who may be able to detect where they've moved.


Local Authorities are only obliged to pay LHA directly to landlords once the claimant has reached 8 weeks of arrears unless they accept that the recipient is vulnerable in some way and cannot manage their financial affairs. If you think the LA was tardy and should have paid you it much sooner (because of the tenant's vulnerability, find out if you can complain to some kind of LA ombudsman (if it exists) or bring it to the attention of your local councillor and MP so they can see how LHA is turning off landlords from renting to claimants).

alona1

Thanks guys!

Well this morning I've rang the LA ombudsman and they've advised me to raise a formal complaint through the local authority which I have started this morning so I'm waiting for someone to come back to me. If not, I'll raise it with the Ombudsman.

Fingers crossed I'll at least get something back. No more lodgers now, you'd have thought that as the 'rent a room scheme' is backed by the government - they'd back it properly. I'll continue to struggle on my own....

Oldernotwiser

alona1 wrote: »

Fingers crossed I'll at least get something back. No more lodgers now, you'd have thought that as the 'rent a room scheme' is backed by the government - they'd back it properly. I'll continue to struggle on my own....

Unfortunately, this is why so many people won't take tenants on benefits.

Jowo_2

alona1 wrote: »

Fingers crossed I'll at least get something back. No more lodgers now, you'd have thought that as the 'rent a room scheme' is backed by the government - they'd back it properly. I'll continue to struggle on my own....

No,the government isn't responsible for managing your personally arranged contracts with other parties but good luck with your complaint.

There is a world of information on the web about how to select the best lodgers, manage the letting and so forth - a lot of problems can be avoided just by carefully choosing the right one through thorough screening. One theory is that you should only choose a sorted person - those in education, employment and training - and avoid having unemployed or vulnerable lodgers since being a landlord is not about being a branch of the social services.

Landlordzone has excellent information on this.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/lodgers_rent-a-room.htm
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/lodgers_questions_&_answers.htm

Jowo_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Unfortunately, this is why so many people won't take tenants on benefits.

Yes, though the obvious reaction of any LHA tenant is to say that there is a lot of discrimination by greedy landlords and that it is wrong to 'tar' claimants with the same brush, the fact remains it is the system itself that makes them unpopular and more likely to get into arrears, as the OP has discovered.

In this case, the lodger had a serious mental illness and I'm not sure that the average householder could cope with having a virtual stranger in their house with significant health problems - this is the role for families or the state.

alona1

This lodger was actually a friend of mine of over 10 years so I did trust him more than I probably should have done. So if a 'friend' can do this to me, I'm not taking on a complete stranger!

Jowo_2

Actually, another theory about having a lodger is to avoid friends and relatives, simply because landlord/lodger issues can ruin a long term relationship and because it leads to informality (i.e. not respecting the house rules and contract, not honouring the rights and responsibilities). Someone who is a great pal is not necessarily going to be a great housemate.

CrashUK

Jowo wrote: »

Two choices -

1/put it down to experience and move on. There's no point in taking someone to court who doesn't have an income since if judgement is made against them, they are unable to pay and you will not be able to enforce it. Next time, get a larger deposit from your lodger or have a shorter notice period so you can get them out without incurring this level of arrears.

I did not think lodgers any rights in your home. I know some who had a lodger that would not go. so she call police and they removed the lodger from her home.

theartfullodger

Sue the lodger in't small claims court, even if you never expect to get the money: Otherwise the story will get out that you are a soft touch who doesn't take action... guess what sort of lodgers you will get then??

Lodger (No, not that one..)