House keys

Skiddaw1

OP, I sympathise. On the one hand, you obviously wanted to do your parents (and their dog) a favour but on the other.... as has been said, it IS your house. If I was your wife I think I'd be getting pretty dogged off (no pun intended! ) with the situation. I agree with what some of the others have said- the time has come to (politely if possible) set some ground rules with your parents plus an ultimatum of how long this arrangement can last.



Good luck....

onwards&upwards

nattybuk wrote: »

More so just having someone walking into the house when we’re not their. For instance I work for a large tech company and have prototypes in my office and a very expensive car that’s on the drive when I get the train to the office every so often. Always happy to open the doors and hand the pooch over to the walker.

Mrs doesn’t feel safe with others having keys since her mums was burgled by someone with a key last year. I think because it’s so new to use having our first home, we want to protect it and contents. For me I would loose my job if the prototypes was stolen or leaked and don’t want to constantly unplug everything and put in a wardrobe.

As long as it’s a real dog walker it’s fine. Why would they want to risk their livelihood and freedom by stealing from a client? It’d be obvious who’d done it after all!

My dog walker has a key and I have quite a bit of expensive equipment as well as confidential data in my home. The only thing the dog walker has ever taken is her Christmas card and present!

That said, I think it’s time to set a deadline of sorts for your folks to find somewhere. It’s clearly not working!

Marvel1

onwards&upwards wrote: »

As long as it’s a real dog walker it’s fine. Why would they want to risk their livelihood and freedom by stealing from a client? It’d be obvious who’d done it after all!

Rare but does happen.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7907359/Shocking-moment-carer-42-caught-hidden-camera-stealing-elderly-patient.html

Davesnave

nattybuk wrote: »

So we have our first home absolute dream fast forward to December parents rang to tell us the landlord has sold the house they are [STRIKE]letting[/STRIKE] renting and struggling to find a house that accepts a dog.

We said they could stay with us until they are comfortable financially....

It's only January. Your parents had until at least June to find a new place, but you took them in quickly, so they could become 'comfortable' financially. I think this might be code for "save up for a deposit."

Good for you; it was a very kind thing to do, but your parents have lost out on two learning experiences which might have benefited them in the long term.

Firstly, they sound as if they don't have a clue regarding their rights as tenants. If their landlord sold the house they were renting, only a court order obtained by the new landlord could have got them out. Allow at least 6 months for that, probably more, especially if notice wasn't served correctly.

Secondly, unless there are special circumstances, your parents are of an age when it's their responsibility to have a financial buffer in the form of savings to cope with emergencies, like finding money for a deposit.There's nothing that teaches financial prudence better than being up against it money-wise, but if people are shielded from this reality, they don't learn it. You may be shielding them and now regretting it, especially if they show signs of changing things to suit themselves for a long stay.

However, if illness or a similar unavoidable and serious problem has affected your folks recently and they've used-up their savings, forget the paragraph above.

onwards&upwards

Marvel1 wrote: »

Rare but does happen.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7907359/Shocking-moment-carer-42-caught-hidden-camera-stealing-elderly-patient.html

It is rare, and although it’s horrible, that happened partly because the thief thought they’d get away with it because of the dementia/age of the victim, that wouldn’t be the case for a dog walker usually.

markin

I would not be surprised if half the people on FB advertising as being dog walkers are using fake names, collect 30 keys and then vanish.

onwards&upwards

markin wrote: »

I would not be surprised if half the people on FB advertising as being dog walkers are using fake names, collect 30 keys and then vanish.

Bit alarmist! I know loads of people who use a dog walker and that hasn’t happened to a single one of them.