Rent Arrears my daughter wasn’t aware of

Mehappy44

We have been helping our daughter financially through university.  In her final 2 years she shared a very small flat with her boyfriend in London.  They were both named on the tenancy agreement.  The rent was £1900 per month and because my daughter was a student, she was to pay £900 (with family help) and he was to pay the remainder.  The boyfriend dealt with the rent payments, my daughter transferred her share to him and he would then transfer the whole amount to the landlord.  When it was time to vacate, the landlord sent a message to both of them saying before you leave we need to discuss the rent arrears.  This was the first my daughter had heard anything about arrears!  It transpires that she was transferring her share to her boyfriend, he was then keeping it and getting the landlord to agree missed payments. She can prove her payments to her boyfriend  through her bank statements. My daughter had also used her car savings money to pay the 2K deposit, which obviously the landlord kept.  Her boyfriend had also borrowed a further 2k from her and now she has nothing left.  She totally trusted him.  It now transpires that they owe 9K in rent, now 7k because he has kept the deposit.  The landlord is very nice but obviously wants his money, in instalments if necessary.  I am concerned that her boyfriend will not pay this debt and has already missed his first payment.  My daughter has been in tears every day and I am concerned we will at some stage receive something from the small claims court because they were both named on the tenancy agreement.  I am thinking that there must be some way we can officially transfer the whole debt to him?  Not sure how to deal with this and I am trying to help her without telling anyone else in the family!

El_Torro

If it was a joint tenancy then they are both liable for the rent and the landlord can pursue them both for the debt. 

If your daughter can prove that she gave her boyfriend money that he then did not spend on the rent then it should be possible to take him to court for the money. Not a quick fix unfortunately, especially if he digs his heels in and refuses to give her the money back. That's even assuming that he has the money to give back.

theartfullodger

On joint tenancies all tenants each are liable for the whole lot.  Landlords usually don't care who pays as long as someone does.

Negotiate, calm and polite, with Landlord. I would try suing boyfriend but might not succeed. 

Painful expensive lessons 


Sorry, really sympathetic but...

Brie

It's an expensive lesson for your daughter.  I suspect the BF (hopefully ex now as he's not trustworthy in any sense) will not pay his share at all so it will all come down to your daughter (& you?) to sort it out.

The good news is that private rent arrears don't easily show up on a credit history.  Only if they go so far as getting a CCJ against your daughter.  And the LL won't want to go to the time and expense of doing a CCJ if there is a plan put in place for the money to be repaid.  

And yes I would consider taking BF to small claims court.  Because he deserves that to happen.  And when he doesn't pay (because he won't) then your daughter can file a CCJ claim against him.  Which he will deserve.  He still won't pay but at least it will be on his credit history as a warning to any future LL.  

ian1246

Sounds criminal as well since he's falsely represented what the ££ have been used for. Did daughter have bank references on the transactions & any messages which coincide with the transfers to support whar the £££ were for?

Emmia

I really hope this guy is now firmly an ex boyfriend... Frankly how on earth could your daughter ever trust him again?

I would also definitely take him to court over this.

doodling

Hi,

Unfortunately I suspect that your daughter will never see that money again.

If your daughter has evidence of her arrangement with her boyfriend then suing the boyfriend (assuming your daughter know where he lives) might be an option.  I suspect it will merely result in a CCJ which he will ignore (although it will affect his credit rating) and it is up to you whether spending the money on court fees is throwing good money after bad.  Also note that the "small claims" limit is (I think) £10k and beyond that the legal process gets expensive so think about what your claim will be for if you do decide to go down that path.

In an ideal.world, the landlord would pursue the boyfriend for the arrears but most landlords won't want to get involved in disagreements between joint tenants so you would expect them to pursue both tenants equally.  Note that your daughter can lose a court case and not have a CCJ recorded on file providing the demanded amount is paid within a month - there may be mileage in some brinksmanship if the landlord sues both the boyfriend and your daughter at the same time (not that I expect the  boyfriend to care about a CCJ given his behaviour so far)).

I assume that your daughter has no other leverage over the boyfriend?  For example, if they were still at university,  the university might have been willing to get involved but it sounds like it is too late for that.  Alternatively, did either party have to offer a guarantor?

user1977

doodling said:

so you would expect them to pursue both tenants equally.

I would expect them to pursue whoever they think is worth suing. In joint and several liability, there is no requirement for the creditor to pursue the parties "equally", they are free to pursue either of the tenants and leave it to the couple to balance things up between themselves.

youth_leader

I was wondering if you had contacted the boyfriend's parents?  I would involve them.  

My friend lent her daughter's partner a huge amount of money which he didn't repay after many promises.  She finally got in touch with his parents - they had gone NC with him years before because of his borrowing.  She is still incensed when he puts his latest purchases on FB - the last was an £800 coat.  Her money.

As one of life's fixers, I would get a bank loan and pay this off in total, then take the boyfriend to court.  I am very sorry your daughter is in this situation at this stage in her life, best wishes to her for the future.

saajan_12

Mehappy44 said:

My daughter has been in tears every day and I am concerned we will at some stage receive something from the small claims court because they were both named on the tenancy agreement.  I am thinking that there must be some way we can officially transfer the whole debt to him?  Not sure how to deal with this and I am trying to help her without telling anyone else in the family!

Legally in a joint & several tenancy, both tenants are liable for the whole rent, so the LL can go after either / both of them. The rent split is between daughter and boyfriend, who would have to settle the shares between them. So worst case, the Landlord could indeed sue daughter, she could then sue boyfriend, he could then say he has no assets to pay even if it means a CCJ.

Now few things you can practically do:
* Have daughter talk to the LL, showing her history of payments and that its boyfriend's "share". While legally it would be the LL's right to go after both, they might be encouraged to chase the boyfriend who might be more willing to pay as was supposed to come from him. 
* Speak to the boyfriend's parents. For those amounts, the LL will likely follow through and get a CCJ against one or both tenants. So if they want to avoid that, they might want to help pay it off, contain the damage and then recover it from him over a longer time without the risk of judgements. 
* Collate any bank statements showing the regular payments from daughter as well as any proof of the agreed split. 

Btw were you / boyfriend's parent a guarantor of the tenancy?