Student joint tenancy - tenant left owing

Annied

My daughter left her student house at the end of june. She has been contacting her landlady since to get back the joint deposit of £1500 which is currently held by the DPS. She has now found out that one of the other tenants left owing over £800. She has messaged him to try and get him to pay up but has had no reply as yet. She is trying to get an address for him but what are the options to get back the money owed?. The landlady has given 2 weeks to sort it out or she will pay back the deposit less the money owed.

Would really appreciate some advice.

Thanks

Pixie5740

As joint tenants they are all jointly and severally liable for paying the rent. If one doesn't pay then the LL can come after the other tenants for the shortfall.

Is your daughter the lead tenant? Will she get back the whole deposit minus any deductions, to then divvy it up amongst the other tenants?

In the short term the LL is going to get the money from your daughter and the other tenants. In the long term your daughter and the other tenants can take the non-paying tenant to small claims court. There is no guarantee that they will be able to cover all the money. If it's demonstrated that the defendant can only repay 50p a week then that's all they'll get. Personally I'd still go down the small claims route, if only to get a judgement against the person who owes the money so that it will make it more difficult for them to get another tenancy later on.

jaylee3

I feel sorry for your daughter Annie, but Pixie is right. The LL will take the money from their deposit, and she (and her other housemates) will have to chase the non-payer for the £800.

How did he end up owing £800 though. Surely, the rent should have/would have been paid in full by all the housemates every month? Is that not how it works no?

theartfullodger

Pixie5740 wrote: »

....
Personally I'd still go down the small claims route, if only to get a judgement against the person who owes the money so that it will make it more difficult for them to get another tenancy later on.

Agreed: And a CCJ so they'll find credit agreements harder also (eg mobile 'phone contracts, loans, mortgage...)

jaylee3

theartfullodger wrote: »

Agreed: And a CCJ so they'll find credit agreements harder also (eg mobile 'phone contracts, loans, mortgage...)

Good idea. :T (this goes to Pixie too.) Make them pay for the poop they have left their friends in.

solentsusie

Surely the other tenant needed to give contact details to the landlady/letting agent to get the tenancy in the first place? I would have also thought that they would have required a guarantor being a student?

Did they rent directly from the landlord/lady or go through a letting agent? One of them should have home address contact details or those of the guarantor who would be expected to cough up should her other housemate default on their rent.

booksurr

solentsusie wrote: »

Surely the other tenant needed to give contact details to the landlady/letting agent to get the tenancy in the first place? I would have also thought that they would have required a guarantor being a student?

Did they rent directly from the landlord/lady or go through a letting agent? One of them should have home address contact details or those of the guarantor who would be expected to cough up should her other housemate default on their rent.

all very true but:
- as the amount of o/s rent is less than the deposit the LL has no reason to chase the student or their guarantor if the deposit minus damages deductions is still enough to cover the unpaid rent . Why would she do work when the money she needs is already available to her?

- technically speaking the LL cannot share such personal info about guarantors with other tenants as that would be a breach of data protection, although of course who knows that, or gives a fig if they do, is another matter

Annied

Thanks for all your advice. There was no guarantor and the house was rented direct from the landlady who is now asking us for contact details for the tenant who owes. It looks like we are going to have to go down the small claims route.

Thanks again

Pixie5740

Annied wrote: »

Thanks for all your advice. There was no guarantor and the house was rented direct from the landlady who is now asking us for contact details for the tenant who owes. It looks like we are going to have to go down the small claims route.

Thanks again

I hope you manage to get it all sorted out. Let us know how you get on.

jjlandlord

solentsusie wrote: »

One of them should have home address contact details or those of the guarantor who would be expected to cough up should her other housemate default on their rent.

In a joint tenancy liability is joint and several: There is no such thing as "her rent" or, in general, "her guarantor".
Likewise guarantors are liable for all the joint tenants, and thus guarantee everyone.

pinkshoes

If the deposit is £1500 and the tenant owes £800, then surely the LL can return £700 to your daughter, so she's then only lost £50 of the deposit?

Or are there other expenses to be deducted?