Liability issue when moving out from a house

clairead18

I have a friend of mine who has moved into our house, had handed in his month notice and found a replacement tenant for his old house. He received a phone call from the tenant that has replaced him saying that after 2 days has decided that they don’t want to continue living in the house due to cleanliness issues. They have not signed the new contract yet just want to know who is liable to continue paying for the room, the replacement tenant or my friend? His old letting agency has said that he is still liable to pay even though he handed his notice, has left the house and even found a replacement, I hope this makes sense, thanks in advanced. 

davidmcn

How has the "replacement" tenant managed to move in without signing anything? If they're merely occupying the room while your friend's tenancy is still running (the month hasn't expired, has it?), then I expect the tenancy is still your friend's.

tom9980

My understanding is because the replacement tenant moved in and I assume paid rent that there is an implied contract between him and the landlord even if one is not signed, therefore your friend is not liable but the new tenant is. 

Wait for more opinions.

Thrugelmir

Where did your friend find the replacement tenant? 

MaryNB

davidmcn said:

How has the "replacement" tenant managed to move in without signing anything? If they're merely occupying the room while your friend's tenancy is still running (the month hasn't expired, has it?), then I expect the tenancy is still your friend's.

tom9980 said:

My understanding is because the replacement tenant moved in and I assume paid rent that there is an implied contract between him and the landlord even if one is not signed, therefore your friend is not liable but the new tenant is. 

Wait for more opinions.

I moved in to my current house share two weeks before the previous tenant's notice was up. Not ideal but needed somewhere asap and demand is very high where I live. Agency was aware but they didnt send me the contract until the start of my tenancy (well, they didnt send it to me then either because they sent it to another applicant who failed the referencing, but I got it a few days later). Because she had paid for the month already I paid the two weeks rent directly to her rather than directly to the landlord.
Thankfully they didnt ask me to leave after two days....

Can't believe it took them only two days to decide his cleanliness was a problem. I've been in houseshares for years, the standards are low....

greatcrested

You need to tell us

* which country?

* were you a tenant or lodger?

* did you have a sole tenancy, or joint?

* was it a fixed term? If so, exact dates?

* or was it periodic (rolling)? Exact period dates?

* did you serve notice to end the tenancy? Date served? Date expired?

* when you 'found replacement', what happened? Was your tenancy 'assigned' to the replacement? Or did you sub-let to him? Or was your tenancy ended and a new one created in his name?

* in what way (if at all) was the landlord/agent involved?

Without all this clarified, we cannot advise on the legal position.