Problem Lodger

Serena55

Hello All,

I would be very grateful if you could you kindly provide some advice on my situation below.

I took in a lodger on a 3month fixed term agreement and prior to their move-in, when they came to view the room, I explained the house rules and that there was a weekly cleaning rota which are all clearly explained in the lodging agreement as well. I sent her a copy of the lodging agreement to review and following a second viewing she decided to take the room.  

Not too long after her move in however, it appeared things might get problematic as she would not adhere to some of the simple house rules such as locking the door behind her, cleaning up after herself following kitchen & bathroom use, emptying the bins when it’s her turn – I would always have to prompt her. After several prompts, I pointed out that leaving the door unlocked in particular presents a security issue but that didn’t help either as the very next day she left the door unlocked again. On one occasion she even left the keys hanging outside the door whilst she was in the house. As I didn’t want to continue living under these conditions and the atmosphere between us was deteriorating, I offered to give her money back to move out but she refused and was determined to stay to the end of the term.

At some point she stopped cleaning the bathroom altogether when it was her turn on the weekly rota and I frequently had to clean the kitchen before I could use it as she would not always clean up after herself and didn’t take out the rubbish either. She would do several loads of laundry during the week with sometimes just 2 items in the machine as a load at 60C on a 2.5hr plus cycle. Sometimes I’d come home in the evening and every single light bulb she had access to would be burning bright whilst she would actually be out of the house. She also started bringing in her friend to sleep over which was also in breech of the terms of the lodging agreement.

The straw that however broke the camel’s back was when she forcibly opened the washing machine whilst it was on a cycle as I had started it to do my laundry. I was out when this happened, and she admitted opening the machine when I confronted her upon my return.  The machine is now malfunctioning, but she refused to pay for the damage and moved out 2days later at the end of her fixed term. Is there any action I could take against her legally or subtract the any repair or replacement cost from her deposit?

Thank you in advance for your feedback.

diggingdude

In all honesty probably less hassle to just let it go. Did she admit in writing to damaging the washing machine? Did she pay a deposit

powerful_Rogue

She's gone - I'd leave it at that personally.

Serena55

Yes, she paid a deposit.

She admitted verbally but not in writing.

Serena55

diggingdude said:

In all honesty probably less hassle to just let it go. Did she admit in writing to damaging the washing machine? Did she pay a deposit

Yes, she paid a deposit. She did admit in verbally but not in writing.

powerful_Rogue

Serena55 said:

diggingdude said:

In all honesty probably less hassle to just let it go. Did she admit in writing to damaging the washing machine? Did she pay a deposit

Yes, she paid a deposit. She did admit in verbally but not in writing.

If she denies it, would be the case of going via the Small Claims Court which is based on the balance of probabilities. That's as long as you have her new address.

diystarter7

OP. Put it down to experience and learn from it as it's not worth chasing penniless, hand-to-mouth brigade that are all sweetness and pie initially but behind the mask nasty.......

Yes it hurts but make it easy on yourself and let it go and just hope the ... meets their match or better.

TBagpuss

hat did the lodger agrement say about the deposit and what it was for / waht could be deducted?
If it specifcally says that you are entitled to recover costs for any damage caused then get someone to repait thr washing machine and to provide a statement saying that th damage was consistent with it being forced open mid-cycle (I'm impressed she managed it, most you haveto turn them off and wait) 

But I think the biggest lesson is to make sure moving forward that if you have a fixed term agreement it also hs specific provisions allowing you to terminate early if the lodger failes to keep to the agreement 

theoretica

powerful_Rogue said:

Serena55 said:

diggingdude said:

In all honesty probably less hassle to just let it go. Did she admit in writing to damaging the washing machine? Did she pay a deposit

Yes, she paid a deposit. She did admit in verbally but not in writing.

If she denies it, would be the case of going via the Small Claims Court which is based on the balance of probabilities. That's as long as you have her new address.

Wouldn't it be the other way round?  If the OP keeps the deposit, as lodger deposits are unprotected, the lodger would need to go to court to get it back.

powerful_Rogue

theoretica said:

powerful_Rogue said:

Serena55 said:

diggingdude said:

In all honesty probably less hassle to just let it go. Did she admit in writing to damaging the washing machine? Did she pay a deposit

Yes, she paid a deposit. She did admit in verbally but not in writing.

If she denies it, would be the case of going via the Small Claims Court which is based on the balance of probabilities. That's as long as you have her new address.

Wouldn't it be the other way round?  If the OP keeps the deposit, as lodger deposits are unprotected, the lodger would need to go to court to get it back.

Indeed, would then be upto the lodger to instigate SCC action and the OP to defend it.