Troublesome lodger

spirit

Hi all,

I have a lodger who I served with a notice to quit last week so he has 3 weeks left to go. the reason was that he broke the licence agreement by not paying his rent but more importantly for breaking a fundamental house rule which was to not smoke in the room. I could smell the smoke in other parts of the house and also there were fags butts in the room. He signed a licence agreement - the wording says "I understand that the rent will be £x per month payable in advance only by cash/cheque/standing order. A deposit of £x (equal to the monthly rent) will be required, any damages/costs agreed, including outstanding rent will be deducted. I undertake to comply fully with the lodger agreement I sign to follow ALL the house rules and give the required notice in writing when I decide to leave.

Now, he breaks other house rules, cleaning ones mainly but I'm not too bothered about that, smoking does bother me though. He has found somewhere else to rent and wants to go now, but the notice I gave him was 4 weeks. To be honest it would suit me for him to go now as I strongly suspect he is still smoking in there. Point is, I really need the rent from someone or other and really need another lodger lined up before he goes.

However, as he has and continues to break the rules, can I have him evicted now and use his deposit for the remainder of the rent? There will be cleaning deductions and possibly redecoration of the room ready for the next licencee as fag smells are difficult to eradicate?
Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for your advice.

Christina

Tiglet

If you gave him 4 weeks' notice, that means that he should leave after no more than 4 weeks - it doesn't mean that he has to stay for the full 4 weeks. He can leave whenever he wants, but you can't make him leave before then. If he's got somewhere else to go, then let him go. If you need to clean/redecorate the room after he goes, you'll have a period when the room is vacant in any case, and that might as well be now.

spirit

thanks Tiglet. It would suit me if he goes right now and I don't want to stop him from leaving, but my point is that he is liable for the rent until the end of the notice period - isn't he?

london_saver

Doesnt the lodger pay you in advance? If so, he should have paid in advance of rent for 4 weeks i.e notice period end of Jan, rent paid at beginning of jan for period Jan. He can then leave within the 4 weeks and you should still have the rent that covers January.

If this is the case, you should really worry about it, as long as he leaves within the next 4 weeks.

Good luck with the nasty lodger!

Jonbvn

AFAIK, lodgers have little legal protection, unlike tenants. Therefore, if you want him to leave now then there is nothing to stop you. You do not have to evict lodgers.

spirit

thank you to london_saver and Jonbvn. I normally take 1 month in advance but this person is paid weekly so the agreement he signed is on a monthly licence agreement but he is only able to pay me weekly. He claimed last week that his employer mucked up the BACS payments so he didn't get paid the week before last, but that he'd pay me 2 weeks on Friday just gone. Well on the Thursday evening he miraculously found the first weeks rent then said when I asked for this weeks that he had found somewhere else to go - obviously wanting me to let him off paying.

I am not a shrinking violet luckily and made him pay me this weeks rent. Thinking about what you have said London, he would have already paid up to the end of his notice period if he were paying me monthly in advance anyway wouldn't he? So, if he moves out before the 4 weeks is up, can I take the rest of the rent out of his deposit?

Debt_Free_Chick

I think you need to determine what is more important to you - the money, or him leaving.

It seems a little unfair to want to have him go now, but also to have him pay the rent for a period when he's not there.

I don't see that you can effectively "fine" him for breaking the house rules. The penalty for breaking the rules is eviction - you can't "fine" him as well.

Take one or the other - the money (and his presence) or the peace (with him gone and no rent).

Just a pragmatic solution, but one that I suspect would be upheld by the Court, if you had to pursue it.

SerenaGoode

spirit wrote: »

So, if he moves out before the 4 weeks is up, can I take the rest of the rent out of his deposit?

Personally I think this would be outrageous behaviour. Fair enough if you don't like the smoking to ask him to leave but how does that justify you stealing money from him, which is what keeping the deposit would constitute.

Shame on anyone who thinks this is a reasonable proposal.

SerenaGoode

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

I think you need to determine what is more important to you - the money, or him leaving.

It seems a little unfair to want to have him go now, but also to have him pay the rent for a period when he's not there.

I don't see that you can effectively "fine" him for breaking the house rules. The penalty for breaking the rules is eviction - you can't "fine" him as well.

Take one or the other - the money (and his presence) or the peace (with him gone and no rent).

Just a pragmatic solution, but one that I suspect would be upheld by the Court, if you had to pursue it.

I totally agree. He would be completely within his rights to make a small claim if the OP withholds the deposit and the court would rule in his favour if they heard the facts as presented here.

I hope the OP will see sense and not let things get to that stage.

clutton_2

excuse me saying this, i rarely make really personal comments on here - but you sound like a really bossy controlling person, treating him like a child - and yes, you asolutely DO want it all your own way

"It may sound like wanting it all my own way but I just want him out, yet the rent paying "" = you cannot have both

when did he move in ? did you protect his deposit ? Have you researched whether the 2004 Act includes Lodgers' deposits under is compulsory lodgement regulations ?

seven-day-weekend

We have had lodgers on and off all our married life.

I personally think you are being unreasonable.

You have evicted him. Why should you have his rent as well?

You'll have to clean the room anyway before another lodger comes in and in my experience, rooms in lodgings are never empty for very long. I think yoiu will get your rent.