New lodger first month's rent and rude behaviour issue

randd

Hello,

I'm a live-in landlord and have recently signed a contract with a new lodger who has misbehaved and not paid his first month's rent.

We agreed that he can just pay £200 for deposit and pay rest of the deposit i.e £240 by the end of first month. The rent that is discussed on the contract is £400 - payable in advance monthly on the 12th day of every month. (12th June was his move in date). The notice period on contract is set to 1 month and it also states that agreement will end automatically without notice if the Lodger stops living a the property or at any time more than two Rent payments are due and unpaid.

After this lodger moved in, I reminded him few times that his first month's rent amount is still due. To which he replied that he will pay next week as he gets paid every Friday. I also informed him that you are supposed to pay before your move or on the same day as it is payable in advance for that month.

Next, lodger was not at home from Friday (16th June). I left few messages on 19th about his rent and 20th about whether he is alright or not as he didn't responded to messages or call.

On 21st June he messaged me that he was at his wife's place since Friday. He said he is going to move back in with his wife and he will pay me for a month soon.

To which I asked for a date when will he pay his rent. As the rent is 10 days over due. He replied that he will be down for his stuff in a day or two to take his stuff and will pay another £240 next week.

I got an impression that there is a possibility that he will take his stuff and leave without paying the rent. As he said next week without any specific date and he wants his stuff before the payment.

Yesterday i.e. 24th June, I asked him when he is coming and about the rent again. As it was already 13 days late. I said if he knew about his rent money issue he should have shared with me about this problem or not signed the contract in the first place.

I also gave him option that if he don't want to pay £240 then he can leave on 25th June as his £200 runs out for renting 14 days. And gave another option that if he don't want to leave then he should pay rent by 25th June as it is already too late.

I called him today to get a response for his next step and he didn't answered. I then dropped a message asking politely that did he managed to make a decision from the two options above. He replied that "My daughters bday, **** off!"

I'm really worried after listening to his response. I replied him that I've asked you politely and there is no need to get mad on me. I'm giving you notice to vacant the room as this kind of behaviour is not acceptable.

I'd like to know where do I stand legally as this is the first time I've encountered this issue. I'm also worried that as such he has got they key of the main door, he can come anytime and do anything to the property or damage something. Only the main door has locks and no other room doors have locks!

I'm not sure what should I do next. I've given him notice which is of 1 month - 30 days from today. But I'm more worried about his attitude and behaviour towards my house and belongings.

Please advice.

G_M

1) give him notice

2) evict. No court order required as he's a lodger not a tenant

3) Notice must be as agreed in the contract, or if no notice period agreed, then 'reasonable' notice.

4) if rent is owed & remains unpaid, use the small claims court

5) once he's gone, change the locks

6) if there are threats or you fear for your safety, report to local police (not 999 unless actual violence), then evice immediately and change the locks

for next time:

a) agree a 1 week notice period either way
b) take full deposit before handing over keys
c) take first week/month's rent before handing over keys


LODGERS (Licencees/Excluded Occupiers)
A lodger (broadly) lives in the same property with a resident landlord & shares facilities. Unlike tenants, lodgers have few rights.

The Housing Act 1988 provides definitions of 'Resident Landlord' & 'same property' (S31 & Schedule 1 (10).

See:

LodgerLandlord (21 tips from solicitor Tessa Shepperson + General information site)

Landlordzone (Various articles on taking in lodgers)

Renting out rooms in your home (Government info)

Rent a Room Scheme (HMRC guide for tax-free income from lodgers)

sevenhills

randd wrote: »

We agreed that he can just pay £200 for deposit and pay rest of the deposit i.e £240 by the end of first month. The rent that is discussed on the contract is £400 - payable in advance monthly on the 12th day of every month. (12th June was his move in date). The notice period on contract is set to 1 month and it also states that agreement will end automatically without notice if the Lodger stops living a the property or at any time more than two Rent payments are due and unpaid.

The advice I have seen, is that 1 month notice is too long. You are being too nice.

G_M

sevenhills wrote: »

The advice I have seen, is that 1 month notice is too long. You are being too nice.

Do you mean 'too long' for a sensible agreement?
Or 'too long' from a legal point of view?

If the contract says 1 month, then that's a legal agreement, but I agree not sensible to have put 1 month in the contract.

paddy's_mum

Given the foul language, the aggressive response and the unpaid rent, I'd be changing the lock forthwith.

You are not denying him access, nor depriving him unlawfully of his belongings but you are taking (what I'm sure any court or police officer would agree are) sensible steps to keep yourself and your home safe.

He has several means of contacting you to arrange for re-admission (if you so choose) or collection of his belongings.

It's just such a shame that the contemptible behaviour of a few idiots creates an "I'll never do that again..." situation.

randd

Hi all, thanks for your replies.

Given the foul language, the aggressive response and the unpaid rent, I'd be changing the lock forthwith.

I was also thinking to change the main door lock but I was not sure whether this is legally allowed or not. I really want to have these safety procedures in place. I'm also looking for camera installation so that I'll have some proof if something wrong happens.

Its quite frustrating and disappointing that all this is happening to me. As all I did was helped him by understanding his deposit issues and letting him in. From next time, I'm surely going to ask for full deposit and first month's rent before handing over the keys as @G_M has advised.

@paddy's mum: you said it right that just because of few people, I'll now not be helping another person in future cause of this fear and headache that I'm going through now. Having a bad weekend cause of all this and with this painful headache I'm having thats not gone even after taking a paracetamol tablet.

PhilE

Its the safety of your home. You are uncomfortable with him in your home, he is no longer welcome. Notify the police, change the locks and tell him his stuff is outside. If you have a big, male family members or friends, have them round.

Save the text message and any evidence of him being an undesirable.

You can change the locks of you feel threatened and no one can force you to have another in your home, if you feel threatened by them. Personally, I'd rather go to court about it then end up having to fight to defend myself inside of my own home, or suffer sleepless nights.

societys_child

I would have thought, if he'd not paid the initial full rent in advance. as per the agreement. the contract would be void before it even commenced.

moneyistooshorttomention

When I had a lodger acting similarly back in the past and it had become clear he was going to carry on refusing to abide by our agreement and paying rent due = I just came back and changed the locks and he was out of there. He had less than 24 hours notice.

It was my home and I was entitled to feel safe in it and I doubt that "the law" could expect to enforce him staying against my will for even as much as one day - so I chucked him out regardless. There was no legal comeback from him.

I suggest you do the same.

randd

societys_child wrote: »

I would have thought, if he'd not paid the initial full rent in advance. as per the agreement. the contract would be void before it even commenced.

Ya, even I thought same about the contract but without any legal knowledge, I'm not sure.

randd

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

When I had a lodger acting similarly back in the past and it had become clear he was going to carry on refusing to abide by our agreement and paying rent due = I just came back and changed the locks and he was out of there. He had less than 24 hours notice.

It was my home and I was entitled to feel safe in it and I doubt that "the law" could expect to enforce him staying against my will for even as much as one day - so I chucked him out regardless. There was no legal comeback from him.

I suggest you do the same.

Hi @moneyistooshorttomention,
Thanks for sharing your experience. How did you arranged for him to collect his belongings? did you allowed him to enter in the house and pack his stuff OR you packed his stuff and just gave everything to him denying entry in the house?