Rented House advice

parkrunner

FBaby wrote: »

Indeed, but currently, he can't access his property and as it's been stated, there is a high risk that the police won't act to put her on the street if she refuses to go with very young children and nowhere to go. They will tell her to contact the council etc..., she'll say she'll do, and in the meantime, OP still doesn't have his rental property.

At least he will be living in it if he gets a locksmith to open the door as GM suggested several posts back.

C.C.L.

Throw her out, it's not her house it's yours whilst you have a tenancy agreement and paying rent. Take someone with you, change the locks & pack all her stuff & the childrens, leave it outside and don't let her back in.
She can call the police but it will get her nowhere at all, she has no rights and even they can't force you to let her stay.
You've been given great advice on here from landlords with years of experience. Take it or take the hit, and do it now before she screws you over some more.

Ms_Chocaholic

Just a thought .... if you are concerned about being accused of harassment, once you are back in the property after you've hung about outside and changed the locks, with the help of a locksmith or your dad/uncle, write out a note on a large piece of paper, explaining what you've done, that she has no rights to access the property and stick it on the front door. Ask her to text you (not ring) to arrange collection of her property.

You then don't need to see her to explain, but make sure someone remains in the property for a while so she doesn't try and get back in.

Paul_Jones_1984

Thanks for all the replies.

Having read through it all, it seems I have two options:

1. Change the locks, throw ex GF out and sort something regarding her belongings. Then take back the house to live in.

2. Change my bank account. Tell my employer my new account. This will stop all payments for rent and utilities. Then just wait and see what the landlord and letting agents do. I guess it that would mean them pestering me for a while, then CCJ.

My gut instinct tells me to go for option 2. Mainly because it would avoid any confrontation with my ex GF. My income has dropped since moving. I expect the creditors would go for attachment of earnings, but that wouldn't be much.

But my head tells me to go for option 1. This would avoid any CCJ and also there is the furniture to consider. It cost quite a lot new. If I walked away from the house, I'd lose the furniture. Either the landlord or my ex GF would take it. Plus I'd lose my deposit.

I've come to realize I don't really want to continue with the rented house. I will likely stay with my parents for the longer term. But if I take the rented house back I can arrange to sell the furniture.

So I'm planning to go ahead with option 1. Even though it makes me feel really nervous and sick.

Regarding the locksmith. I'd rather get it done when ex GF is out. But she is in the house most of the time. My colleague suggested arranging a "meeting" with ex GF somewhere else, saying that I want to discuss handing the house over to her etc, then at that time getting someone to change the locks whilst we chatting away from the house. This feels very dishonest, but probably is the best way. Otherwise I would have no way of arranging a suitable time with the locksmith.

So can anyone advise whether the locksmith will ask me for documentation etc to prove it's my house before he breaks in?

Also, this will result in my ex GF arriving back at the house, probably with a baby and toddler, to find herself locked out. Then what? I'm guessing she'll need to go to the council offices. There's no way she'll get on a train back to Leeds with two little ones. Even if I gave her the money. She'll need a small van to collect all her belongings, pram etc.

My colleague advised putting all her stuff in a local self storage unit. Pay for the first month, then just hand her the key / code to access. End of the month, I cancel the storage payment and it's between her and the storage company.

Paul_Jones_1984

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

Just a thought .... if you are concerned about being accused of harassment, once you are back in the property after you've hung about outside and changed the locks, with the help of a locksmith or your dad/uncle, write out a note on a large piece of paper, explaining what you've done, that she has no rights to access the property and stick it on the front door. Ask her to text you (not ring) to arrange collection of her property.

You then don't need to see her to explain, but make sure someone remains in the property for a while so she doesn't try and get back in.

That's a good idea. I can advise her to take that notice to the council, to show them she is homeless.

Paul_Jones_1984

seashore22 wrote: »

OP, do you even want to live in this rented house and pay the rent? It's coming across that you don't really want this house, would be happy to live at home with the parents and are hoping to push the problems on to the girlfriend and the landlord. This seems the most likely explanation for your apathy.


There's nothing wrong with regretting a decision, but it's just not that easy to walk away from commitments and that is what everyone has tried to tell you.

Yes, you are completely right. I have realized that I don't really want this house anyway. I only rented it because my ex GF was moving with me. If it wasn't for her I'd be happy at my parents house. It's more peaceful and less expensive. My income has dropped quite a bit now. That's why I've been thinking it may be easier to walk away and let the landlord go for CCJ, because he won't get much. Main concern though is my deposit and my furniture. Well, I'm expecting problems with the deposit, but the furniture cost quite a bit.

DaftyDuck

There really is no sane option 2 in your list, above. All you do is defer the problems, and magnify each tenfold.

You will end up heavily in debt, possibly more than you can imagine. Want a scenario? Ex gf torches the place. LL chases you for costs...

Do as everyone has suggested. Reenter and kick her out. Stabilise the situation over a month, then consider if landlord will allow you to terminate contract.

Stop faffing about, and get on and do this tomorrow.

Paul_Jones_1984

DaftyDuck wrote: »

There really is no sane option 2 in your list, above. All you do is defer the problems, and magnify each tenfold.

You will end up heavily in debt, possibly more than you can imagine. Want a scenario? Ex gf torches the place. LL chases you for costs...

Do as everyone has suggested. Reenter and kick her out. Stabilise the situation over a month, then consider if landlord will allow you to terminate contract.

Stop faffing about, and get on and do this tomorrow.

Yes, I see what you're saying.
But as my income is now much lower and if I sell my car, I'll have no real assets for them to seize anyway. Maybe they'd get £20 a week from my wages. But things are looking less secure with work now anyway. So they'd need to keep applying for new deduction calculations with my new work hours, New employer etc. So the chances of me being worth chasing are low.

G_M

Paul_Jones_1984 wrote: »

.....it seems I have two options:

1. Change the locks, throw ex GF out and sort something regarding her belongings. Then take back the house to live in.

2. Change my bank account. Tell my employer my new account. This will stop all payments for rent and utilities. Then just wait and see what the landlord and letting agents do. I guess it that would mean them pestering me for a while, then CCJ.





So can anyone advise whether the locksmith will ask me for documentation etc to prove it's my house before he breaks in?



My colleague advised putting all her stuff in a local self storage unit. Pay for the first month, then just hand her the key / code to access. End of the month, I cancel the storage payment and it's between her and the storage company.

Option 2 makes no sense at all. Why change the bank account? Just cancel your standing order.

But that aside, you just store up probems (prsonal, legal, financial) for the future. So good - you're opting for option 1.

Yes. A decent locksmith (rather than a cowboy) will want confirmation that it is your home/property (owned, rented) whatever - he won't want to help you break into someone else's home to nick their Renoir! Do you have the tenancy agreement? Can you download a copy of the electoral register showing you are listed at that address? Do you have ID? Bank statement showing your address? As a last resort, ask the agent for some paparwork/confirmation, though my advice is to not involve the agent......

Quite a good idea about storage. You need to
a) keep her stuff secure/safe
b) make it available for her
c) and ideally keep her at arms length

This achieves all 3.

G_M

Paul_Jones_1984 wrote: »

..... they'd need to keep applying for new deduction calculations with my new work hours, New employer etc. So the chances of me being worth chasing are low.

Bear in mind there are 2 aspects to this

1) financial. Getting your (meagre?) wages docked for months/years to come

2) reputational. This will follow you around. Want a credit card? A new tenancy? A loan?......