URGENT: Greedy landlord gone OTT..?

whowants2brich

Hi all,

Firstly, I won't comment on the landlord or the situation, I would just like to ask for some advice on this one. Any comments would be greatefully received, I'll let you know the outcome as it unfolds...

My girlfriend has been renting from a landlord for two years now, paying £350 per month, all inclusive. The landlord has known that I've been staying over a couple of nights a week, mostly at the weekend but sometimes during the week as well. She's suddenly decided to ask me to pay rent, but it doesn't end here.

One of her housemates is fine, he gets on with us and talks to us and has no problem - but the other two don't like my girlfriend and the way that she is. Whenever they're in the lounge or kitchen, my girlfriend and I can't go near it, so we have to wait until 8pm some evenings (at least 7:30) before we can get anywhere near the kitchen - even then, the living room's not available. When it comes to using the bathroom, the other two guys share it for an hour each, pretty much every single night, thus preventing my girlfriend from doing things like brushing her teeth - which she's taken to doing in the kitchen sink a few times!

There's always been a sense of fear that whatever the others in the house want to do, they get to do it - and my girlfriend has to put up with it or move out. We've been trying to move out for the past 6 months, but our jobs have been too unsettled and we've been hunting around for other jobs and places to live. As yet, there's not been a decent opening for us, so we've stuck there, sat tight, and continued looking elsewhere.

Over the past 2 years, the landlord has been ok with us, to the point where I was talking to her not more than two months ago, about the economy, the housing market, the state of politics, and various other things - even giving her hints and tips on how to possibly improve the house or the garden, because she was talking about redecorating everything. She knew that I was staying a couple of times a week, and chose to say nothing - until tonight.
My girlfriend was called up and the landlord wanted to meet up with her - to ask for 12 months backdated rent from me. In full. £4,200 (ie 12 months at £350 per month). If she would have asked for a contribution of £50 or £100 per month, I might have accepted it, but instead she's settled for my girlfriend and I to calculate how many nights I've stayed over and that we should multiply that by the nightly rate of £11.65 for the past 12 months. My estimate would be approximately £1,500 - an average of 12 nights per month (or 3 nights per week). This takes into account holidays, weekend breaks away, actually going back to my parents which I do still do for a few nights a week... The scary thing is that there's no guarantee that she'll be happy with me offering £1,500 - and she's probably going to try and kick my girlfriend out of her room if we don't pay.

If I offer to pay her £1,500 (£11.50 x 130 days, working out at 2.5 days per week on average), and she doesn't accept it - and she still wants the full £4,200 - then should I seek legal advice or start legal proceedings? If I offer her a fair contribution (and I think that my contribution is beyond fair) and she rejects it, then it would be thrown out of court for wasting time, and I'd possibly have to pay nothing - she'd pay my court fees etc - and my girlfriend would lose her room. In any event, she's going to give her written notice to be out of there in a few months anyway, so that we can find somewhere else, so by the time she loses her room through these means, it wouldn't be the end of the world... My only concern is that she may lose her room before then, and have nowhere to stay.

My question to you all is... Can she actually do this? Without any forewarning, prior discussion, or asking for a contribution. Without any written notice that if I don't contribute a set amount by x date, then she'd seek the full amount. Anything. I'd quite happily pay a proportion, as I wrote earlier - but I just don't know what she'll accept.

I look forward to hearing your comments on this one - and if you have any questions then please feel free to ask and I will provide further information.

Many thanks,
Whowants2brich

PS The landlord wants to meet up with my girlfriend (but not me) next Tuesday. She says that the contract is not with me but with my girlfriend, yet nowhere in the contract does it say anything about paying extra if someone stays round. I think that this in itself shows how the landlord is scared of me questioning this.....

beingjdc

No, it's clearly nonsense. If you are living somewhere else, and on the electoral register somewhere else, and so on, you are a guest. This is a normal thing which people do. Even if the contract says 'no guests' it's probably an unreasonable term.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/unfair_contract_terms/oft356.pdf

cheeny

I would agree with above. She is chancing it What a cheek. Even is she tries to throw your girlfriend out she still has to play be the rules i.e. 3 months notice etc.
Personally I would find somewhere else, moonlight and let her chase you for any backrent etc. if she does find you eventually you then you wont be any worse off than being up front.
sounds terrible good luck

glitterygert

why doesn't your girlfriend stay at your place for a while

olly300

Don't pay anything and help your girlfriend to move out. It's clear that both of you are not liked and there is no point staying in that situation.

If you can afford to pay £1,500 then you can afford to help your girlfriend find somewhere else to share. And this time make it clear to whoever she is sharing with that you stay at the weekends and in the week.

ManAtHome

You missed the "tell her to f*ck off" option - £700 a month for a ROOM! I'm with Cheeny - don't give the grasping b*stard the time of day...

thesaint

ManAtHome wrote: »

You missed the "tell her to f*ck off" option - £700 a month for a ROOM! I'm with Cheeny - don't give the grasping b*stard the time of day...

Cheeny's option could see the girlfriend with a CCJ by the time the OP found out about it.

ManAtHome

thesaint wrote: »

Cheeny's option could see the girlfriend with a CCJ by the time the OP found out about it.

Previous address if less than 3 years at current? well that'd be missing the crappy one out then...

epz_2

pay nothing, what can they do, you could rent a place by yourself for a fair old time for £4200, its not even as though it sounds that good a place to live.

i do agree that if you get a couple shareing a room they should kick in a bit extra cause of extra inconveniance and space they take up but if you havent agreed to anything or sighned it in advance then its good bye, pack your stuff and see you.

Pandora123_2

I agree with the others and would only add that offering to pay her ANYTHING could be seen (from a legal POV) as an admission by you that you owe her back rent. I think that would be a mistake.

whowants2brich

... My girlfriend agrees that I should contribute, and has pretty much said so to the landlord. The other thing that she's saying is that I should pay the money (she's calculating it as about £2,000 for the days I've been there over the past 12 months) - and that if I don't pay the money, she'll call it a day with me.

Do I go with who I want to be with, or do I stick with what we all so obviously believe in - if I fight, she may be evicted or have a CCJ (which nobody wants, and I don't honestly think it'll stand up in any kind of court) - and if I don't fight then I'd be throwing £2,000 down the drain to a landlord who's the most selfish person in the world...?

On the one hand, I should pay £2,000 as it's a small amount to pay to keep the person you love - but on the other hand, she should be siding with me, and understanding that the landlord has no legal right to ask for this money. As she isn't entirely agreeing with me on this one, and she doesn't want to be kicked out of her room with nowhere to live, it doesn't make this any easier for me - does it? Talk about the devil and the deep blue sea...

In the meantime, thanks everyone for your support - any further comments are more than welcome.

Whowants2brich