Flat mate taking the P...

Lish_2

Hiya
I wondered if anyone could offer me some advice?

Came home from holiday only to find my flate 'mate' has allowed friends of hers to stay in my room whilst I was away. I am absoloutely mortified and feel like my privacy has been completely and utterly violated. :mad:

This is following on from her locking my 'indoor' cat outside on the balcony (5 stories up in the middle of a busy shopping area) whilst I was out for the evening (obv I came home earlier than she expected and I caught her out) and has been using/abusing all of my posessions (staining my sofa and breaking glasses and ruining my £40 frying pan to mention a few!).

More worryingly she has now taken to bringing groups of people home 2-3 times a week at 4am and doing drugs in my flat (I havent caught them red handed but it doesnt take a genious to work out what people are doing in her bathroom when they come out sniffing like they have a bad cold).
She often passess out on her bed with all the lights on and doors open- including the front door to the apartment and is so out of it she doesnt hear her mates ringing the intercom for up to an hour at a time wanting to come in at 3-4am!!!

Since I came home, there is now also a major leak in my ensuite into my bedroom that was not there when I left to go on holiday- she has denied everything and has avoided me ever since yesterday....

We moved in together at the begining of March and all of the above has happened in this short space of time- please could anyone offer some helpful advice on what the hell to do?!?

I consider myself a reasonable human being and I really dont mind the odd thing happening from time to time as I'm not uptight but this is really getting me down and feel totally abused in my own home. I dread going home at night after work.....:(

The flat was unfurnished when we moved in and ALL of the furniture and utensils are mine apart from her bed which she brought with her.

ANY USEFUL ADVICE ON WHAT TO DO WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL, I AM AT MY WITTS' END. (my contract is up at 6 months and I obviously will be legging it out of there, but in the meantime?...)

Thanks, from a very desperate MSE member!

BitterAndTwisted

When you say "my contract" does that mean you have signed one but not the flatmate or have you both signed?

You have my sympathy about rude, inconsiderate flatmates who take the pee as I've had my share of them in the past as well but I'd be most furious about little kitten-cat

Fire_Fox

Hi hon, sorry to read this has escalated. Did you ever address the cat issue with her? Report the leak to the letting agents in writing.

There are door locks specially designed for students that do not damage the door - get one immediately and use it every time you are out. You do not want people doing drugs or hiding drugs in your bedroom or bathroom. You may choose to lock your cat into your room too.
http://www.festival.bournemouth.ac.uk/pdf/unilock.pdf
http://www.howsarlock.com/
http://www.lifelock.co.uk/
http://www.dooranchor.com/

Next time there are people doing drugs in the flat, tell them calmly to their faces that they either leave or explain their actions to the police. Possession of a Class A is an offence and they will well know it. Can you unplug or disable the intercom? If not answer it and tell them you will call the police if they do not stop ringing the doorbell. You must however follow through, once the police have been over once these people will not want to risk it again and will probably go elsewhere.

As I may have said to you previously it is possible to terminate a fixed term contract early, tho you would be liable for the rent until a new tenant is found and possibly advertising costs. The landlord may be more amenable to you going early if you report your concerns about illicit drug use, but obviously it would be better if the police had alreeady addressed this.

Lish_2

Thanks for the support, yes I have approached her about the cat and she said that it was for '10 mins' and that she wanted to have her dinner on the sofa rather than the dinner table and he was pestering her. Funny enough she had eaten her dinner 2 hours before (just before I left to go out) so thats a load of rubbish! I cant believe anything that comes out of her mouth.
As for the drugs thing, I shall certainly be reporting it to the police next time. The letting agent is on the case to get a maintenance man in soon so all I can do is wait.

What else can I do to make home life a bit more bearable? I am staying at work til late and then heading to the gym just to try keep out of her way!

Thanks for the lock suggestions Fire Fox, I never knew they existed! Hoping to get one of those this week :-)

M.Holloway

Keep a log of everything that happens, and if possible take photographic evidence.

This would be to back up a potential future case against her.

It sounds like you have two options. Make her leave, or leave.

1) Make her leave.

-Be resonable, talk it over "It aint working out" Help her find a new place and someone to take her room off her
- Talk to the council and see if they can help
- Report her to the police, and have her evicted for breaching the terms of YOUR lease. Infact would be a good idea to have a long hard look at your lease to see what you've signed.

2) Leave.
- Find someone to take over from paying rent, talk to LL and EA and have a new contract signed up.
- Just leave, don't tell anyone. If there is no address for you you can't be sued or anything.. (don't do this, it's a naughty thing to do.)

G_M

You have not really explained the contract situation as requested by Firefox. Do you have seperate contracts or a 'joint and several' AST which you both signed?

If the latter, it will be hard to make her leave, and if you did the contract almost certainly prohibits sub-letting - you could not 'replace' her yourself - you'd need the LL (agent) to agree to early lease termination and a new lease with new tenants (you and X).

If the former, the LL could evict her without affecting your contract. But it would take time and be difficult. Proof of breach of lease would be needed, a court hearing, etc. Of course a simultaneous police prosecution would help the civil hearing!

Meanwhile, you'd be still living with her - not pleasant!

My approach would be
a) you might be able to get the LL (or agent) if sympathetic to let you leave early and agree (in writing!!!!!) not to pursue you for rent for the remainder of the fixed term, but to chase the flatmate for the full amount - which she'll doubtless be hard-pressed to pay

b)to manage the situation as best you can till the 6 months is up, then move. Communicate firmly but friendly with her re cats, drugs, use of room, house-rules etc.

I take it you did not know her before moving in??

Lish_2

Thanks M.Holloway for the tips, I really want her to leave but at the end of the day- I really dont think she will. We have both signed the same tenancy agreement and it is a 12 month fixed with a break-clause in it at 6 months when either or both of us can get out at that one time only and we both have guarantors too so no getting away with doing a runner either! Plus like you said it is nuaghty and to get another place, you need references from previous landlords. Its just more hassle than its worth to leave early.

What have other people done in similar situations? I really hate feeling like a total walkover...

Lish_2

Hi GM,
No i did not know her before moving in, the LA didnt have any more 1 beds in the complex I was looking to move to and she recommended us to each other so we could share a 2 bed as this is all that was left (they are brand new on the market and quite sought-after apartments so it all moved rather quickly.

I didnt expect complete marital bliss with any flat mate (this is my first time) as I have lived with boyfriends before or on my own before, plus I am the eldest of 5 children so know how to share and dont consider myself hard work to live with. -Quite the opposite, I am really considerate and have no qualms about clearing up after her occasionally, keeping the place clean and cooking for us both from time to time but it seems like I have made a rod for my own back as she has never once reciprocated. She has never once hoovered, taken the rubbish out, cleaned the oven, put the duster around or shown any sort of consideration for anyone else since she's been there.
I am not expecting much and I can kind of learn to accept it and stop doing anything for her in the future but I just cannot live in a hovel, if the bin needs emptying and it is full to the brim with her stuff I cant just walk past it and ignore it- I have to empty it! Then she never does it. I just cant win!

I feel I will have to bite the bullett and approach her tonight but I dont know how to broach these things- especially the drugs thing as I have no 100% proof of it (and she knows it). What do you all suggest?

RAS

You need some house rules but the starting point is:

1. No drugs or you call the police. make her aware that her actions mean that you could both be prosecuted for allowing premises to be used and her friends can go elsewhere
2. Do friends coming round at 3-4 am. Do answer the intercom yourself and tell them to get lost.
3. If she passes out and leaves the door open or anything else, drag her out of bed and give make sort it out.
4. make it absolutely plain that using your room is totally unaceptable and demand enoug money to at least replace the bedding. Give the old stuff yo her.

Do you have any friends who might want to move in, in her stead?

Lish_2

No I dont unfortunately have anyone who could replace her but having checked the TA I cant replace them- the LA has to and an ammendment to the TA costs £175!
The bedding replacement is a good idea, I certainly shall be giving that a shot.

Does anyone know if the LA or LL have any liability when it comes to tenants using drugs on the premises?...

Fire_Fox

Lish wrote: »

What else can I do to make home life a bit more bearable? I am staying at work til late and then heading to the gym just to try keep out of her way!

Thanks for the lock suggestions Fire Fox, I never knew they existed! Hoping to get one of those this week :-)

I honestly don't think there is anything you can do except protect yourself, your property and your lovely kitty! I have a fair bit of experience being around people that take drugs ... Cocaine steals empathy and conscience, coke-heads are selfish and often arrogant, lie through their back teeth and will walk over anyone to get what they want. Look at the friends' eyes next time, great big pupils mean they have definitely been taking stuff they shouldn't. There are other drugs that are snorted but my money is on coke.

As far as the landlord is concerned, you will have signed a tenancy agreement not to do anything illegal or immoral on the premises (standard clause). They cannot evict you without proof, but they probably won't be happy. Chances are calling the police over once will scare the friends and they will not come round again - we would never have gone somewhere that risky. Don't just threaten, actually do it and be sure to give your own name as you do not want to be implicated. Hence locking your room in case you are searched, it is quite possible she is a small time dealer if people are coming over in the middle of the night.