Help - Daughter being evicted from Student Accomodation!!!

rolo-polo1965

Recieved a call from my daughter at 11pm last night to say that she is being evicted from her student house.

The house belongs to one of her course friends parents.

She has a contract which has been signed and is for he forthcoming year.

The land lords daughter and my daughter had a disagreement last night over a toaster! When my daughter got in yesterday her toaster which was in the kitchen had been placed out side her bedroom door. My daughter asked her 2 house mates why?

The land lords daughter told her that there was not room in the kitchen for it so she had spoken to her mum about it and so had removed it from the kitchen!

She then proceeded to shout and swear at my daughter telling her that this is her house and she could do what she wanted.

My daughter says she was very calm and did not shout or swear at her. My daughter told her sh needed to eat her tea that she had brought home with her then would talk to her about what was concerning her.

The land lords daughter went up stairs to her room.

The next thing the land lord arrives and starts shouting at my daughter tellingher to stop upsetting her daughter as this is her house and she can do what she likes in it. They do not want my daughter living there any more and her contract is now terminated and she needs to get out over the weekend! She became very abusive towards my daughter and was swearing and shouting in her face. She accused my daughter of bullying her daughter and was going to report her to the police! She also said they do not need my daughters rent as her daughter is more important and needs a safe environment to live!

She also told my daughter that the third house mate who my daughter gets on very well with that she has been contacting her telling her that my daughter has been making her life a misery and bullying her. The third house mate spoke to my daughter via face book and has said this is all lies!

She said all this in front of the other house mate and my daughters boyfriend.

Luckily we only live 10 mils away so my daughter can move back home and still attend uni!

My daughter came home last night very upset after talking to the other house mate via facebook and she will back my daughter up on all of the above!

She has emailed the land lord asking for her eviction in writing!

I guess i am basically after some advise here!

Where do we stand?

Itsgottabedone

Oh dear - it sounds as though the girls' dream of a fun, grownup house-share has developed into a shrieking nightmare. Presumably they entered into the agreement because they wanted to be independent, but instead of working out their issues between themselves have called in the Mummies.

Of course you want to support your daughter, but you'd prove more helpful by encouraging her to sort things out for herself. What does she want the outcome to be? How will this be achieved?

rolo-polo1965

I will talk to my daughter when she gets up to find out what she wants but she was very upset last night!

She is in her second year of uni and was in hall last year!

PasturesNew

First questions are:
1] Is she a LODGER, or a TENANT? This is very important. What is written on her agreement?

We'll take it from there as the answers will differ... but:

A] Lodger - unfortunately she can be asked to leave with (almost, but fair) immediate effect.
B] Tenant - with a piece of paper that says Assured Shorthold Tenancy - they can't budge her until the end of that agreement date.

As for eviction - whether it is allowed/legal and how it can/should be done, will depend on the answer to Question [1]

terryw

Is your daughter a lodger or does she have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy?

Edit: Ignore ......crossed with post above

rolo-polo1965

PasturesNew wrote: »

First questions are:
1] Is she a LODGER, or a TENANT? This is very important. What is written on her agreement?

We'll take it from there as the answers will differ... but:

A] Lodger - unfortunately she can be asked to leave with (almost, but fair) immediate effect.
B] Tenant - with a piece of paper that says Assured Shorthold Tenancy - they can't budge her until the end of that agreement date.

As for eviction - whether it is allowed/legal and how it can/should be done, will depend on the answer to Question [1]

It states on the top of her contract "Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement"

ecoelle

How awful for her, it's very upsetting when house shares don't work out. I think if she feels like she wants to return to the house then she should as it sounds to me like they have no legal right to 'evict' her, but, i wouldn't want to live with someone so spoilt as the other girl i'm afraid. Maybe she could look for a room going in another house, speak to some other people on her course who are in house share and see if she could move in with them if they have room, failing that, could she live at home this year and save some money? I know this means she misses out on some of the experience of uni life though. The other option would be to contact the accommodation officer at the students union and see if they can place her in halls.

Good Luck

Itsgottabedone

The way I see it, there are three alternatives -

1) She doesn't want to continue to live at the shared house
2) She wants to patch things up with her housemates so that they can all live together again
3) She wants to defend her legal rights and will insist on staying in the house till the end of the tenancy (if she is a tenant and not a lodger). Sounds horrendous to me!

rolo-polo1965

ecoelle wrote: »

How awful for her, it's very upsetting when house shares don't work out. I think if she feels like she wants to return to the house then she should as it sounds to me like they have no legal right to 'evict' her, but, i wouldn't want to live with someone so spoilt as the other girl i'm afraid. Maybe she could look for a room going in another house, speak to some other people on her course who are in house share and see if she could move in with them if they have room, failing that, could she live at home this year and save some money? I know this means she misses out on some of the experience of uni life though. The other option would be to contact the accommodation officer at the students union and see if they can place her in halls.

Good Luck

This is basically what i said to her last night.

When she wakes up we will have a chat and see where she want to go from here!

At least we are not too far away from uni for her to get there each day!

terryw

As she is on an AST, she has definite legal rights. Here is a link to Shelter:
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/eviction/harassment_and_illegal_eviction_by_landlord/illegal_eviction#0

It really depends upon what she wants to achieve. Please come back and let us know.

PasturesNew

OK, an AST. Legally, they can't shift her until the very end of that term. However, I'm sure she doesn't want to continue living there ... and, maybe the AST's faulty anyway.

So, next question:

2] Did she pay a deposit? Does she know which "scheme" it is in?

It is a legal requirement that her deposit should be put into a scheme and she has to have been informed in writing within 2 weeks which scheme it is in. This protects her deposit.

I'm figuring that: She will want to leave, so her best course of action is to let them know she has rights, but that she no longer wants to live with them - and so she's not moving out right away but will be actively looking to leave soonest.

When do her monthly rent dates run from/to? As she's paid this month's rent, she probably needs to look at leaving on/before that's up and to not forget to cancel any standing order.

But, she WILL need to get this agreement in writing with them, to the effect of: You've asked me to leave, I have rights, I am prepared to leave on/before [rent date] and I expect my full deposit to be returned as you're forcing me out, which is technically a criminal offence of illegal eviction.... so don't push me!