House mate leaving before the contracts up !

I was working in a local solicitors practice before christmas, one girl was getting sued from the Landlord because she never moved in after signing the contract back in June. She never thought of the consequences, she thinks that the room has missing skirting boards = in habitable ("I am not living in that"). Instead she does a 80 mins drive to uni everyday instead.
 
Unfortunately, the contract you all signed will have stated that you are 'joint and severably liable'. Meaning that you are all in effect one tennant.

It's tricky because it measn that it's your (the two of you left) responsibility to pay the rent in full. If you want the other guy to still pay his share then that's between you & him. You can't just pay 2/3 of the rent and then point at the other guy for the missing portion, the managing agent/landlord will persue you for the arrears under the 'joint and severably liable' clause.

You're screwed I'm afraid. Either convince him of his obligation to you, find someone else or you'll have to pay up yourself.
 
WillyNelson said:
Unfortunately, the contract you all signed will have stated that you are 'joint and severably liable'. Meaning that you are all in effect one tennant.

It's tricky because it measn that it's your (the two of you left) responsibility to pay the rent in full. If you want the other guy to still pay his share then that's between you & him. You can't just pay 2/3 of the rent and then point at the other guy for the missing portion, the managing agent/landlord will persue you for the arrears under the 'joint and severably liable' clause.

You're screwed I'm afraid. Either convince him of his obligation to you, find someone else or you'll have to pay up yourself.
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This answer is absolutely spot on.

Only other thing I would add is that if you are on very good terms with your landlord he may agree to pursuing the non-paying tenant for the rent arrears.

But he is under no obligation to do so and if unsuccessful he is legally entitled to charge you.

Business is business and if I were you I would try and find out (without him knowing) where your mate will be living. eg. his full address, his parents address, date of birth, national insurance no. etc. This will make him easily traceable if need be in the future.

Also having his parents address can be a powerful emotional tool in your arsenal. A polite well-worded letter to them may help get them on your side, and they could then apply some pressure on him to face up to his responsibilities. They may even cover his costs for you.
 
Can someone clear something up. Joint tenancy, a person leaves, remaining people have to pay the rest in full. Surely everyone's name/sig is on the document? How can someone then decide to opt out and leave it to the others?
 
Going to Cali said:
Can someone clear something up. Joint tenancy, a person leaves, remaining people have to pay the rest in full. Surely everyone's name/sig is on the document? How can someone then decide to opt out and leave it to the others?
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Because unfortunately thats how the contracts are written and it takes any work off the landlord, peer preasure from friends is a great way to keep the rent coming in
 
Going to Cali said:
Can someone clear something up. Joint tenancy, a person leaves, remaining people have to pay the rest in full. Surely everyone's name/sig is on the document? How can someone then decide to opt out and leave it to the others?
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Because often they just move out when you arent there and leave no forwarding address and goto ground. What are you going to do? mug them for the money?
 
You and your other housemate will have to make up the rent shortfall but I believe you can take the housemate who moved out to the small claims court to recoup your money. I would inform him that this is what you will be doing.
 
Going to Cali said:
Can someone clear something up. Joint tenancy, a person leaves, remaining people have to pay the rest in full. Surely everyone's name/sig is on the document? How can someone then decide to opt out and leave it to the others?
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That's really a question of that person's morality. As I said before, the law sees all tennants as one single entity.
 
No offence intended, but you seem like a pushover.

  • You haven't confronted him about it
  • You've moved out of your room for the new tenants

If it were me I'd be round to speak to him, explain how he's really leaving you and your mate up the river and try to recoup at least some money.

I'd also ask the landlord about his bond, perhaps it can go towards the rent while you try to raise the money between the 2 of you.

Perhaps you could explain to your "mate" that if he just stayed until next month, it would give you time to find a replacement then it wouldn't be so awkward for you; as mates.

The key here is trying to be straight with him, without insulting him.. otherwise he'll give you a 1-fingered wave and then you have no choice. No trying to have a go at you either :)
 
EVH said:
I'd also ask the landlord about his bond, perhaps it can go towards the rent while you try to raise the money between the 2 of you.
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That isn't legal. In the same way the two remaining tenants could take the legger to court for the money they have to cover, the legger could take the landlord to court to get his deposit back.
 
Deadly Ferret said:
That isn't legal. In the same way the two remaining tenants could take the legger to court for the money they have to cover, the legger could take the landlord to court to get his deposit back.
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No he couldn't. The deposit isn't his it belongs to the tennancy. And you probably couldn't take the absconder to court to recoup your losses as they'd probably view the agreement as social, therefore no contract exists and you wouldn't be able to sue for breech of contract.

EVH said:
I'd also ask the landlord about his bond, perhaps it can go towards the rent while you try to raise the money between the 2 of you.
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The only way to bring the deposit into it would be to only pay your two shares of the rent for the remainder of the tennancy (2 months?). Then when you leave in March the deposit will be used to cover the arrears and any unused portion of the deposit returned to you. However, you will probably still be out of poket as some of 'you share' of the deposit will have been used to cover the arrears.
 
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And also, under the new legislation, the deposit din't held by the landlord anymore, it is held by a 3rd party. This is due to the increasing cases of landlord using the deposit without just cause.
 
WillyNelson said:
No he couldn't. The deposit isn't his it belongs to the tennancy. And you probably couldn't take the absconder to court to recoup your losses as they'd probably view the agreement as social, therefore no contract exists and you wouldn't be able to sue for breech of contract.
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I disagree. It's obvious the legger owns a one third share in the total deposit. In each case the spirit of the agreement is obvious, and isn't a contract essentially just a formal agreement? This agreement is down in writing, is formal, and so effectively is a contract.
 
The 'legger' does not own 1/3 of the deposit, he merely contributed that amount to the whole. The deposit is made by the Tennant, in this case being three people joint & severably liable.

If the abscondee went to court for their 'share' of the deposit the judge would rule against them as they broke the tennancy agreement and the deposit was quite rightly used to cover the arrears.

If the two remaining people took the abscondee to court for the outstanding part of the rent the judge would probably rule against them as in the tennancy agreement they sign up to the fact that they are joint & severably liable for the rent. Therefore if one of the three does do a runner the other two have to cover it.

The tennancy agreement isn't a contract between the tennants, it's a contract between the Tennant(s) and Landlord.

I used to be a client accountant for a letting agency. I delt with this kind of thing on an almost daily basis.
 
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