Friend in the Wrong?

The_Hurricane

AdrianC wrote: »

I'm not convinced she's wholly representative of those on benefits. But I suspect there's a strong correlation, largely because those with an attitude such as hers will rarely amount to anything much in life, precisely because of that attitude.

The problem is that it reflects on those who are perfectly respectable and civilised people, and would make excellent tenants, but happen to be in receipt of benefits.

I didn't think my friend was like this, I only seen the situation by chance on Friday when she asked me to get involved.

picket_fence

The_Hurricane wrote: »

I had a full and frank conversation with my friend, things are a little worse than I was led to believe. In order to get back onto a sound footing and reimburse the rental arrears she needs to pay over £600 and another £200 to bring the deposit up to the agreed amount.

Repairing the windows and paintwork damage and cleaning the house etc will she claims bring her a bill of over £1000 (rent/deposit inclusive), therefore she is toying with the idea of waiting for eviction and then moving her, her partner and kids in with a relative and using a false reference to get new accommodation elsewhere.

Personally - I disapprove.

You've clearly tried your best to help her, the rest is up to her. Given the size and nature of her family, does she have a family member who can realistically put her up? Or is this more wishful thinking on her part. Unfortunately it seems that your friend just expects everything to work out the way she wants. There are an infinite number of what ifs in this scenario, none of which I can see resulting in a happy ending. I would advise you to take a step back for the time being, but I know that is easier said than done.

BrassicWoman

are you sure she's not trying to get you to stump up the cash?

The_Hurricane

At the risk of sounding like I'm stabbing my friend in the back (which I am not) but I do also feel sorry for the LL, by the time the tenancy is up he will be over £600 out of pocket due to lost rent, then another month of lost rent when the eviction happens and then more money to repair the windows and clean the house.

I really hope she sees sense.

Bantex_2

What has the partner got to say for himself. Or is he another parasite?

dancingfairy

2 wrongs to not make a right. Personally I think that the leak should be fixed but given that the landlord doesn't have to renew the tenancy and frankly seems to have bent over backwards already to help her I don't think she has much hope at the moment.
I suggest she reviews her budget and comes up with a realistic plan to pay off the arrears/pay for damages and puts her proposal to the landlord. I'd then hope that if she sticks to it that the landlord doesn't enforce a s21 but gives her a chance to get back on track. She could in theory go to the environmental health at the council an get them to inspect this leak. This will obviously bring attention to her situation which she may not want. Also Environmental health are not known to act quickly and obviously if she upsets the landlord she might find her tenancy agreement is not renewed. Obviously she is very dependant on the will of the landlord at the moment as not being in a fixed term contract the landlord can serve her notice and he doesn't need to have a reason.
On the other hand, she could continue with her current course of action which is very risky.
df
p.s the landlord seems very lenient so would perhaps take an offer to repay the arrears.
Your friend might want to contact Shelter to find out exactly where they would stand if they got evicted.

The_Hurricane

Bantex wrote: »

What has the partner got to say for himself. Or is he another parasite?

Interesting question but as of the last six weeks he has got himself a full time job, his first type of employment in some years.

The_Hurricane

dancingfairy wrote: »

2 wrongs to not make a right. Personally I think that the leak should be fixed but given that the landlord doesn't have to renew the tenancy and frankly seems to have bent over backwards already to help her I don't think she has much hope at the moment.
I suggest she reviews her budget and comes up with a realistic plan to pay off the arrears/pay for damages and puts her proposal to the landlord. I'd then hope that if she sticks to it that the landlord doesn't enforce a s21 but gives her a chance to get back on track. She could in theory go to the environmental health at the council an get them to inspect this leak. This will obviously bring attention to her situation which she may not want. Also Environmental health are not known to act quickly and obviously if she upsets the landlord she might find her tenancy agreement is not renewed. Obviously she is very dependant on the will of the landlord at the moment as not being in a fixed term contract the landlord can serve her notice and he doesn't need to have a reason.
On the other hand, she could continue with her current course of action which is very risky.
df
p.s the landlord seems very lenient so would perhaps take an offer to repay the arrears.

In relation to the leak, my friend contacted the plumber who advised he struggled to find the leak originally and recommended to the LL to put the repair on the long finger as a dish would catch any drops from the cylinder. It appears the cylinder will need to be replaced if the leak is to be stopped completely.

[Deleted User]

So if the boyfriend has a full time job, her benefits will be changing if not falling. DLA, if she gets it for her child will be unaltered.

To be honest people like this do make me steam a little bit because there are lots of us on benefits who are responsible, do struggle to manage life's little financial foibles but we do get tarred by the odd tenant on benefits who is like this. Because the damage/debts can run into relatively large sums of money it makes a huge impression on LL's. Once bitten, they will be reluctant to do it again. So a tenant like me can't find a LL.

She doesn't seem to have figured out that most agencies run credit checks that are difficult to falsify.., this LL could take her to court to try to recover his losses. Eventually it will catch up with her. Poor daughter. I would guess that she has quite a lot of other debts chasing her. This financial irresponsibity doesn't spring out of no-where.

Thank you for trying to sort this out.., but I'm afraid sometimes situations can't be sorted because the person in trouble isn't willing to do what's necessary.

tunnel

The_Hurricane wrote: »

I didn't think my friend was like this, I only seen the situation by chance on Friday when she asked me to get involved.

Friend or not, In your shoes I'd have taken one look, given what advice was relevant and then told her you would rather not get involved.
You've been given a lot of very good advice on here, if she chooses not to listen that's not your problem