Lodger Legal Question

pmlindyloo

AdrianC wrote: »

The "share" of CT is solely what's agreed between members of the household. The household itself is what is liable, with every member of it jointly and severally liable. So if the household have been underpaying CT, then everybody on that bill is liable. The council want their money, and they are perfectly entitled to go after the easiest ones for it.

The same applies for utility bills that are in multiple names. If the bill is in just one name, then that person is liable in full.

Your ex-friend can take you to court. Whether they win or not is another question. They have already lost their own court case, through the foolproof method of failing to turn up or enter a defence.

Bolded part:

This is incorrect.

There is a hierarchy as to who is liable for council tax.

See here:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/council-tax/council-tax/

sheff6107

Your ex-friend is too late. She should have dealt with any grievance through the court claim. If she did make a claim your defence would be that the matter was dealt with in case number 123456, that judgment was made against her and that the court should strike out the claim as there being no prospect of success.

Guest101

Shabbadranks wrote: »

Hello all. I am new here so I apologise beforehand if I have posted in the wrong forum. I will describe my situation below and I would be very grateful if anyone could provide me with some advice.

This is a situation involving me, my partner whom I shall refer to as H, and my partners ex housemate who i will refer to as T.

So until June 2016, H and T were housemates, who rented a flat together. I was living in another property until May 2016, where i encountered some financial troubles. Due to my financial troubles, H and T kindly offered to let me live at their property with them. H was my partner and T was a close friend who in fact originally introduced me to H. They agreed to let me stay in H's room with her as a lodger - you weren't a lodger. . There was no official agreement drawn up and neither asked me to pay towards any bills or rent as the reason for me moving there was due to my financial troubles. I believe that their contract would not allow for subletting anyway so i was living there unofficially - having an actual lodger is not subletting . I did inform the council that I had moved there. T and H's tenancy agreement ended at the end of June 2016 and me and H moved to our own property, T i believe moved back to her parents house.

Anyway, a few months later, as i'm now residing with H, H received letters in the post - from who? which highlighted that T never paid her share of the council tax, and that they were now chasing H for this as the more reliable payer. - that is correct, assuming it was from the council or their agents. T also left H with considerable debt in regards to utility bills. H has now continued to pay T's share of the council tax and her utility bills. As H is my partner, as a gesture of goodwill i have contributed a total of £350 to pay off these debts which were left for H by T. - Just to clarify, these debts are private and nothing to do with the tenancy.

Subsequently, H has now taken T to small claims court over the debts which were left, and as T did not appear in court on the date requested, the judge has ruled in her absence that T should pay this money to H, and a CCJ has been issued to T. - Correct, it's a default judgment

In light of what has happened, both me and H have now received multiple messages from T, threatening legal action against ME as she believes that as i was staying at the property at the time, I should have to contribute towards her debt. - irrelevant. If she wants to go to court, let her.

As there has never been an issue with this up until now, I think that it is quite clear that this is being done out of spite - spite? it's a legal dispute, which to be fair you should win. there was no contract for you to pay , as H is my partner, and that this is nothing but an immature attempt for T to avoid paying for the bills that she owes. In any case i have given £350 to H which was paid to the council to cover T's debt and I can provide the statements to prove this if necessary. - irrelevant

I would like to know what other people think, and if T has any legal grounds to take me to court over this.

thank you in advance for any advice.

T can take you to court (anyone can take anyone else to court) but it's unlikely she would win. There is no agreement for you to pay anything

Shabbadranks

Pixie5740 wrote: »

It's one thing having your partner picking up your share of the rent, council tax and utilities but why would T want to continue paying half the bills when 3 people are living in the property?

I was living in the property for approximately 1 month, 10 days. The debts for council tax and utilities covered the entire tenancy, not only the 1 month, 10 days i was there. I was very close with T at the time as well as H.

as i stated previously i was in financial trouble at the time, and was offered to live there free. You can judge me if you want, i presume you're probably someone that has never experienced financial troubles.

Shabbadranks

Pixie5740 wrote: »

The paperwork might have gone to the wrong address. The OP only believes this once very good friend moved back to her parents' house, it's possible T was living somewhere else entirely.

The paperwork went to the correct place. T responded with an offer of £5 per month which was rejected. T applied for a suspension to the court, and then did not turn up to that hearing.

AdrianC

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Bolded part:

This is incorrect.

There is a hierarchy as to who is liable for council tax.

See here:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/council-tax/council-tax/

There is no doubt that "the tenant" is responsible here, rather than the landlord or the owner or the freeholder or wherever else in that hierarchy the finger stops.

This is the next step down. Which of the multiple tenants sharing a single tenancy?

Shabbadranks

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Indeed but I suspect that whilst the OP feels that he and H have been hard done by T feels as though the OP and H were taking liberties.

I asked for advice, not criticism. You do not know my situation so please do not act like you do.

Guest101

Shabbadranks wrote: »

I was living in the property for approximately 1 month, 10 days. The debts for council tax and utilities covered the entire tenancy, not only the 1 month, 10 days i was there. I was very close with T at the time as well as H.

as i stated previously i was in financial trouble at the time, and was offered to live there free. You can judge me if you want, i presume you're probably someone that has never experienced financial troubles.

People have financial troubles all the time, the point is that some people decide to tackle that head on - e.g. taking any work available, working two or three jobs, spending the absolute minimum etc.


Others rely on friends or family (or partners).


Since we've entered the moral argument (I've answered the legal aspect above) - Why should T subsidise you? H presumably was compensated by your company. T was punished for her kindness with a CCJ...

Shabbadranks

Guest101 wrote: »

People have financial troubles all the time, the point is that some people decide to tackle that head on - e.g. taking any work available, working two or three jobs, spending the absolute minimum etc.


Others rely on friends or family (or partners).


Since we've entered the moral argument (I've answered the legal aspect above) - Why should T subsidise you? H presumably was compensated by your company. T was punished for her kindness with a CCJ...

T was also a very close friend at the time and agreed to letting me live there.

Pixie5740

Shabbadranks wrote: »

The paperwork went to the correct place. T responded with an offer of £5 per month which was rejected. T applied for a suspension to the court, and then did not turn up to that hearing.

Let me get this straight, it's fine for you to f r e e l o a d off both your friend and girlfriend because you have financial difficulties but when T is only able to offer £5 a month towards bills/debts H takes her to court and has a CCJ awarded against her? Do you think that is reasonable?

Why did it only come to light after the tenancy ended that there was money owed to the council and utility companies? Why was H not aware of it during the tenancy?

£350 is still very cheap for 1 month and 10 days of rent plus all bills.