Problem lodger damaged room - help required

Freebiehunter1980

Hello,

Please can you help with a problem lodger.
My lodger has been living in my flat for a year and 9 months. He signed a Lodger Agreement on a 6 month term, which I then said would turn into a rolling contract, asking for 2 months notice should he want to leave. I received one month rent as a deposit.

My lodger is abroad for the next four weeks and on receiving a parcel for him, I went into his room to put it on his bed. On entering his room I noticed an awful stench and noticed the windows were covered in mold. The mold was all over the windows, surrounding walls and ceiling.

More worrying I noticed the bed mattrass (which was only 9 months old when he moved in) was all black and had collapsed on itself. The stench from the room was coming from the bed and he had clearly wet the bed on numorous occasions and just left it. The slats from the bed have gone sodden and cracked and are disintegrating. I really cant express how vile it was. I had no idea!

The whole carpet was dirty and the general cleanliness was awful.

I admit, perhaps I should have inspected his room, but I tried to give him his privacy.

When he returns I plan on asking him to leave. Where do I stand on keeping his deposit? It won't cover the cost of a new mattress, repairs to the bed and cleaning of the room. Can I ask for more money? What do I do if he refuses to pay?

He is self employed so when he moves out I have no hope of tracing him.

Can I do anything? I would just like to know where I stand if he refuses to pay?

I would appreciate any advice on how to handle this.

Many thanks

Anxious first time landlord.

00ec25

your position is simple


1. if damages exceed the deposit and he will not pay then your only recourse is legal action via the small claims court since you need a legal judgement before you can seek repayment.


2. as with any such claim you will need evidence that the damage was caused by his occupation, therefore you will need an inventory stating the item condition when he moved in and an inventory statin g its condition when he moved out. Obviously if both documents are signed by the lodger to confirm his agreement with the stated conditions then your case will be that much stronger.


3 if you win then you can start separate proceedings to enforce the judgement. As he is self employed then as you suspect this will not be as easy as an attachment of earnings and so may come down to paying bailiffs to seize goods if he wont pay up. You will therefore obviously need to keep track of where is moves on to...

Freebiehunter1980

Thank you for your advice.

Unfortunately, I foolishly didn't get him to sign an inventory.

I do still have the receipts for the bed and mattress that had been bought 9 months prior to him moving in. Would that help?

G_M

Firstly, some pointers for next time, and for others reading this who are considering taking in lodgers:

Apart from the lesson about inspecting, next time do NOT try to cobble together a lodger agreement based on a tenancy agreement (ie 6months followed by monthly rolling etc).

And... 2 months notice!! :eek:

Lodgers have (almost) no statutory rights or protection. Their rights are based on contract law: the agreement.

This is your home. Surely the last thing you want is to be stuck with someone for two months if they are annoying. Or unpleasant. Or... well, anything.

Personally, I would not stipulate any initial fixed period and would require 1 weeks notice either way.

As for the problem -:

* I would remove the mattress. It's a health hazard. You cannot leave things as they are for 4 weeks
* Photograph everything and get in a friend as witness
* Clean and dry out the room
* Contact him abroad if you can and tell him what you are doing, and give him notice
* When he returns, give him a week, and hope he goes
* keep the deposit
* Give him bills / quotes for the (professional?)cleaning, new bed/mattress, re-painting and any other remedial work required
* if he does not pay the extra amount you claim, assaidaboveyour only recourse is the courts, and frankly it's probobly not worth the hassle
* the important thing is to get rid.

phill99

There is no such thing as. Lodger Agreement. Lodgers have virtually no rights.

I wouldn't fanny around.

Photograph the room as evidence. Then get it cleaned and the mattress removed. Change the locks. When he comes back ensure he removes his stuff with immediate effect (that you have already boxed up ready for removal) have a large male friend (or 2) there when he comes back.

Keep the deposit.

Certainly don't give him 2 months notice, not even a week (as GM suggests).

I had a lodger once and gave her 24 hours notice. She didn't move her stuff out so I left in the front garden and changed the locks.


It is no good !!!!! footing around with people.

[Deleted User]

Vinegar (500ml bottle available from Asda etc for 48p), 2 litres of warm water, a cup of bicarbonate of soda (or more but it will make the solution fizz - you can buy boxes of bicarbonate of soda from the cleaning section in Wilkinsons), plus a cap or more of Ariel (sorry about the name but it does seem to work better than any other washing powder to me). Soak the carpet thoroughly as you need to get the solution right into the carpet backing as well as the fibre surface. Apply again if needed but it shouldn't be needed.

Mix the solution in a 5 gallon bucket, not a small bowl. It will fizz and you don't want fizz everywhere but in the bucket.

The room will smell of vinegar for a day but it does die away and it will remove any odorous bacteria without using bleach.

You might want to shampoo the carpet after. But it doesn't take as long as it seems.

You can use this solution on any other affected areas.

I'd certainly give him notice now. You can claim the rent he's paid as going towards damages that aren't covered by the deposit (keep receipts of course) but I doubt he'll take the case to small claims court. Just put all his stuff in large black bin bags, taking photos of anything valuable (as well as of the state of the room before you start and how it looks after you clean up. Then he just has to pick it up and take it away once he comes back and you can clean while waiting for him to come back. I personally would not allow him to spend another night in that room.., damaging a nice new mattress. You might be able to recoup your losses by renting the room out as quickly as possible.

Don't buy a second hand mattress if you can avoid it.., last thing u need is to import bed bugs.

G_M

phill99 wrote: »

There is no such thing as. Lodger Agreement. Lodgers have virtually no rights.

Agree with the tactics suggested but must correct you: of course there is such a thing as a lodger agreement. If a landlord writes one (and it can say whatever he chooses to write) and a lodger signs it, it is an agreement.

Indeed, it forms the basis of a legal contract (hence some of the advice both you and I have given could constitute breach of contract).

A contract is any agreement between two parties (here LL & lodger) which involves exchanging money (rent) for 'consideration' (accommodation).

Your 2nd point is correct, if amended to read "Lodgers have virtually no statutory or common law rights". Unlike tenants who are given many rights by statute (Acts of Parliament) and common law (historic rights granted by the courts).

But lodgers still have the same rights of contract as anyone else.

[Deleted User]

Hmm I guess bearing in mind GM's comments, you had better ignore my post unfortunately (but keep the cleaning solution recipe for when the room is vacated lol).

Blackpool_Saver

How on earth could you not have noticed before, did it not smell from outside the room? did the lodger not smell? where are they washing/bathing are these shared facilities??? have you had a peg on your nose?

[Deleted User]

Does it matter? The OP is asking for advice NOW lol. Closing the stable door after the horse has gone etc.

Blackpool_Saver

deannatrois wrote: »

Does it matter? The OP is asking for advice NOW lol. Closing the stable door after the horse has gone etc.

Yes I believe it does, because they are partly to blame letting this witless wonder into the home