Flatmate really screwed me over!!!

bpedley1986

Just some warnings for anyone considering flatsharing!

When my room-mate at the time told me he was moving last oct i thought nothing of it - he wanted to move in with his partner, fair enough!! one of my friends offered to move in instead and i was more than up for doing so, we got on already, he was in steady full time employment and already rented in the past. so off he went to the estate agents to commence the application process and presto! approved.

Then it all went sour...

March 11th i recieve a letter from the estate agent informing me the rent is £1420 in arrears. when i confronted my housemate he told me that he knows the situation already, it was because his job he started in oct had been messing his tax up and leaving him severely short each month. however he had kept in contact with the estate agent who said it was ok for him to pay more when he had the money. ALTHOUGH THIS HAD BEEN GOING ON FOR MONTHS THIS WAS THE FIRST I HEARD!!

the next day he sends me facebook message (?!) informing me he is moving out immediately as he cant afford to live here and will pay all the money he owes. even though his Assured shorthold tenancy doesnt expire until 14th june! the estate agent starts to dog me for the money as we're technically joint and several liable, even though i was completely unaware of the arrears and the estate agent was negligent in letting me know as well.

a week later i return to my flat which has been completely emptied by my ex flat mate, and left in a bad state. ive had to redecorate to make it look like its in a livable condition again. he's currently squatting at his partners residence, his phone is always off and the only way anyone can keep in touch is by the occasional facebook message (mature!!)

at the moment its april 22nd - i was supposed to have a court summons today for HIS unpaid council tax arrears - he's been blagging them payments to the tune of £232 as well, which im now paying off. this is after the debt collector called a few days ago to discuss the £370 electric arrears and a viable payment plan for that too. also there's a £100 water arrears, but i've not had too much trouble from that yet.

i keep in regular contact with the estate agent to see what contact he's been keeping with them - very little, and his guarantor is just as bad. if the rent gets any more in arrears then they'll sue not only him, but myself and all guarantors as well.

Another thing he did was apply for loans. he easily applied for over 20 different credit applications SOME IN FALSE NAMES during the short period he was here!

i'm not allowed to move a new flatmate in as he's not given in his notice and he's still in contract and the rents in arrrears. i'm not allowed to move out because the rents in arrears, i wouldnt be able to get a reference, and i'm pretty sure my credit is also shot to pieces as a result of his arrears.

I'm pretty much just waiting to be evicted onto the streets now - I'm 24 and been living independently for the past 5 and a half years. I've never missed a rent/bill payment, and have a career where i should be able to afford nice things and a decent social life. however I'm probably going to be stripped of all my possessions in order to pay off his debt!

my warning is if your ever going to share your living space with some one - make sure you trust them implicitly - a decent flatmate can play a vital part in your social life and strengthen a friendship,

a nightmare housemate will ruin you. and not think twice about it in the process.

Ben Pedley April 22nd 2010

ian.bathgate

i dont know the legalities but isnt his guarrantor responsible for the rent etc
isnt that what a guarrentor does?
im afraid you have learnt a harsh lesson in life

BritRael

Who did you pay your rent to each month?
It just seems strange that if (?) each of you were supposed to be paying seperately direct to the EA that they didn't ask at some stage where the rest of the rent was. At the end of the day, rent is one rent (although it might be paid by more than one person).

Emmzi

the EA is not negligent. You signed the contract and should hsve delayed to seek advice if you did not understand it. Harsh, but it may save you fruitless arguing with them.

Get in touch wit the guarantor.

Morganarla

And this is precisely why I will never, ever share a house with anyone other than DH again. Been screwed over too many times, but not this bad!

Best of luck OP.

bpedley1986

Emmzi wrote: »

the EA is not negligent. You signed the contract and should hsve delayed to seek advice if you did not understand it. Harsh, but it may save you fruitless arguing with them.

Get in touch wit the guarantor.

I didn't say that I didn't understand the tenancy agreement?? However 4 rental payments were missed on his behalf - as it was a joint tenancy agreement they failed to let me know! negligent or not - it's still unprofessional!! I've spoken to his guarantor also - they say they can't afford to help him out - i told them that they're legally abliged to as they're his signed guarantor to which they told me to 'go away'

robpitt

Regretably you are legally jointly liable for rent and right now *you* are the easy sitting target. One way to even things up is to serve notice now and leave; at least then you and him are on an equal footing and the EA / LA would be more likely to do the decent thing and go after your ex-mate (especially if he has a guarantor).

Re other utility bills, if they are in his name I'd be tempted to not pay them and instead setup new accounts or better yet quit the tenancy asap - it's the only way to make a clean break.

bpedley1986

robpitt wrote: »

Regretably you are legally jointly liable for rent and right now *you* are the easy sitting target. One way to even things up is to serve notice now and leave; at least then you and him are on an equal footing and the EA / LA would be more likely to do the decent thing and go after your ex-mate (especially if he has a guarantor).

Re other utility bills, if they are in his name I'd be tempted to not pay them and instead setup new accounts or better yet quit the tenancy asap - it's the only way to make a clean break.

Thats pretty much what i'm doing today! i've arranged for my work to front me the deposit cash so hopefully i can start to ball rolling later on today!

Emmzi

the EA could just as easily say you were negligent for not checking he was paying. Your anger at the EA is misdirected and will get you nowhere.

Annoying them may in fact stiffen thier resolve to pursue you aggressively for cash.

I'd start small claims action against former housemate, immediately.

tbs624

Whilst you have clearly had a rogue co-tenant in place you do have to accept some responsibility here. If you are signed up to a joint and several liability contract you need to keep an eye on things on a monthly basis. How was it possible for your co-tenant to run up unpaid bills to utility companies without you knowing? Do you never check bills or read meters? Were the bills only in his name with you paying him half of the money?

Although LAs tend to assume that joint Ts are each representing all parties if one calls to discuss tenancy issues the LA should have confirmed the rent payments record to you both, in writing, especially if the practice had been that you were each making separate payments to the LA. (Just as when giving Notice to joint Ts it is advised that you send all of them their own copy.) The usual practice with arrears is to issue a formal Rent Statement and give a firm date by which arrears should be cleared.You could argue that had they taken the time to let you know you could have acted sooner and prevented further rent debts accruing.

Get all your information together and get yourself some local legal advice - you can see someone at the local CAB or have a fixed fee interview with a local solicitor for a set cost.

When it has all been sorted out make sure that you contact Experian, CallCredit and Equifax and have a dissociation note put on your file so that you are no longer linked to this person.