Lodger Done / Doing a Runner , with £700 owed - what can I do ?

Pixie5740

A bad lodger (or tenant) is worse than no lodger (or tenant). Your friend should change the barrels of the locks, pretty simple and straightforward so he should be able to do it himself. He could try taking the lodger to small claims court over the £300 if he can track the lodger down. However, winning a judgement is the easy bit, enforcing it is another matter and if the lodger doesn't have the money then he doesn't have the money.

thesaint

G_M wrote: »

1) option is to sue him. For this, he'll need toknow where he's gone, to serve court papers on him

Just serve papers at the house he is/was renting.

katejo

Write it off as bad experience and remember to take a month's rent as deposit next time. Then, should they do a runner without giving notice, you have the deposit as the final month's rent.

Also change the locks.

AdrianC

MoroFenrir wrote: »

He has a lodger who rents a room in his house
Lodger owes £300 in rent , and £400 is due today for next months rent as they have NOT given notice to leave.

So he actually owes £300.

He's also not left his keys to the house meaning that my friend will have to get all the locks redone.

Plus the cost of the locks. But changing those would be a wise precaution anyway.

in a bag of trash was a letter from 02 saying he's had his phone barred for not paying them either...

So he doesn't actually have £300 to pay his landlord.

We belive he's run back to his mums

Do you know where his mum is?

There's really only two things he can do.
1. Shrug and write it off as an occupational hazard.
2. Throw good money after bad, launch a small claim for the £300, and be really, really surprised if it ever actually gets paid.