Crazy ex flatmate won't leave me alone!

Killstrelok

Hello all.

I'll give you a bit of background first. Just before new years I broke up with my girlfriend who I'd been living with. She stopped paying rent and I was struggling with the bills. My friend at the time suggested that I get a flat with him in a new town so naturally I agreed as this seemed like a good idea. To begin with, life was good. I'd made a fresh start in a new town. We moved in with a girl from the same company that he worked for, and all signed a 6 month tenancy agreement.

After about 2 months, the girl got fired and left. We brought in a new tenant from the same company. Things were alright for about 2 more months, until my mate got the sack aswell. That's when things turned sour. We all sat down to have a discussion about what was happening next. Basically, both my mate and the other guy wanted to move out and leave me behind. They were willing to 'help' find a new tenant to replace themselves but basically said that if they were unable to do so within a month that they'd leave all the responsibility with me. Knowing that if they both moved out I'd be responsible for the entirety of the rent, I couldn't believe that they were prepared to stitch me up like that. So I wrote him off as a friend and told him that I was leaving first, regardless of what happens.

We all agreed to sign a written notice and allow viewings. I went on a website for rooms to let and found a nice one very close to my work. I managed to stay good to my word and move out before either of them did. My room was left empty apart from a bin bag. I was so glad to get out of there and have no more to do with any of it.

Except that has not been the end of it. My 'friend' has been sending me texts ever since having a go at me for the 'state' of my room and how he had to clean it, and how they're docking some of his deposit. Having seen the room when I left the cleaning was maybe a five minute job at most if it even needed it at all. It was cleaned a few days before I left. But at any rate, I decided not to text back.

Now today on my phone I discover two more messages from him, one stating that he needs me to sign a letter saying that the whole deposit belongs to him. The second text says that if he doesn't hear from me before 12 mid day tomorrow he will go to the police.

So what I'd like to know is, have I actually broken any laws or is he attempting to use leverage to get what he wants? I never paid any deposit into the property and I never signed anything to say that I did. He paid my deposit and his, and the girl who left paid the other part, which he bought out, so surely he doesn't need me to sign any kind of release? I know I never did with any of my previous lets.

G_M

You have said nothing about your tenancy agreement except

all signed a 6 month tenancy agreement.

When did this 6 months start? Has it ended? What happened then?
Who lives there now? same people as named on the tenancy agreement, or have they changed? Does the landlord know/approve if changed?
Are you in Eng/Wales or Scotland?
Are you all on the same tenancy agreement or do you have seperate ones?
How much deposit was paid? Who by? Is it registered in a deposit scheme? Which one? Who is named as the 'lead tenant'? If the tenants have changed form the names on the tenancy agreement, what happened to the deposits of departing tenants? And new tenants?
Is the rent up to date or in arrears?

What do you actually want to happen?

Killstrelok

G_M wrote: »

You have said nothing about your tenancy agreement except When did this 6 months start? Has it ended? What happened then?
Who lives there now? same people as named on the tenancy agreement, or have they changed? Does the landlord know/approve if changed?
Are you in Eng/Wales or Scotland?
Are you all on the same tenancy agreement or do you have seperate ones?
How much deposit was paid? Who by? Is it registered in a deposit scheme? Which one? Who is named as the 'lead tenant'? If the tenants have changed form the names on the tenancy agreement, what happened to the deposits of departing tenants? And new tenants?
Is the rent up to date or in arrears?

What do you actually want to happen?

Well basically all three of us had our names on the 6 month tenancy agreement. So no they weren't seperate agreements. The deposit was put into a protection agency fund thing as usual. This was all done through an estate agent. We handed in our notice which they accepted, at the time there was another 2 months of the tenancy left. I have no idea who lives there now but I'm assuming that they're at the deposit release stage if he's messaging me complaining about deposit being docked.

Ive already stated in my original post that the entirety of the deposit belongs to the ex flatmate who is texting me. I also already stated that when the departing tenant left my 'friend' bought out their share of the deposit. And I assume that it's implied that the contract has ended, if notice has been served and accepted by the landlord?! Please re-read my original post.

I was initially named as the lead tenant but then I asked them to change it as I wasn't the one who dealt with things. Whether the estate agent actually did change it or not I don't know. This is in England.

And to answer your question, what I want to happen is for this guy to go away and stop texting me. I'm not sure what his reasons are for threatening to go to the police but I'm pretty sure that I've not done anything illegal, so I can only assume that he's off his friggen nut!

chris_m

Killstrelok wrote: »

Ive already stated in my original post that the entirety of the deposit belongs to the ex flatmate who is texting me.

You've stated that on here, but have you told the deposit protection scheme people that? It could simply be that they don't realise that he should be getting the whole of the deposit (less deductions) so will not release it to him because they think some of it is yours, in which case they do need something from you confirming that. If some of the deposit were yours and they released it all to him they would be in the wrong. Therefore, I do think you should reply and agree to sign the letter.

It sounds to me like your choice not to reply to earlier texts has wound him up but, even so, he's going about getting resolution the wrong way - maybe the character limit on text messages is restricting his ability to communicate clearly, explaining the reasons - compounded by frustration at your previous lack of replies? His threat to go to the police is daft, they'll probably just tell him to go away.

IMO, the simplest thing is to reply and arrange a place/time to meet (in a public place if you prefer) so you can sign what he needs and put an end to it..

VfM4meplse

I feel for you but the sooner you meet your ex-roomate, the better. If your name is in the tenancy agreement maybe you should have this meeting in the presence of the LL so there are no misunderstandings.

Holls1981

Why don't you just sign the letter then as this seems to be all he wants and will also get him off your back?

As PP states, meet 'friend' in a cafe or similar public place and just sign it. All the guy wants is his deposit back which is fair enough and as earlier posts say, you will need to agree in writing that the whole amount should go to him.

nobblyned

Why is he crazy exactly?

You say that all the deposit belongs to him, so why the issue with putting that in writing? He probably needs that to get it back.

Also if he is getting his deposit docked due to a cleaning issue in your room, then I can definitely see his point!

Seems like you are the one being slightly unreasonable in not communicating, you can't just walk out of a shared tenancy and assume your obligations disappear.

maninthestreet

Ignore the threat to involve the police - even if he does go to them, they'll just tell hm it's a civil matter.

BitterAndTwisted

In a joint-tenancy it is usual for the whole of the deposit to be registered in the name of the "lead-tenant". If I'm reading your posts correctly, at one point you were the lead-tenant and I suspect that the deposit was never re-registered in the name of your ex-flatmate and that is the reason why they are pursuing you to sign the documentation. This seems entirely fair if you never contributed to the deposit and it's still registered in your name.

JimmyTheWig

I agree with what has been said.

If the deposit belongs to him and he needs you to sign to agree that the deposit belongs to him then why not sign it?

Was your room locked when you left, so that the other flatmates didn't have access?
If so, it could have been the landlord's agent who described your room as being "in a state" because there was a bag of rubbish that needed removing?
If not, it could have been the other flat mate dumping stuff in your room so they didn't have to get rid of it and they wouldn't get the blame?

Or maybe there was food left in the bin bag and that encouraged mice or maggots, etc.

But either way, it seems the flat mate has agreed to stand the cost for this. Good for him.
All you need to do is confirm that what is his is his.

YoungBaker

Meet him somewhere public, sign the letter and get the weirdo out your life. The worst he is gonna do is rant how you left the room a mess - to which you could easily just ignore it and tell him your there to sign the letter, end of discussion, and aren't arguing with him.