Flatmate / Refusing To Pay Rent / No Contract

[dirtychinchilla]

You could print this email contract, all sign it, and then just tell him it's a contract to remove all liability for him paying the rent, so he signs it. And then open it up and show him that he's ****** himself

 

[Locky]

Guys... to confirm, the agents knew about tenant D coming in and had prepared a new contract with us. We all signed it and thought we had returned it. I have an email copy of the new (unsigned) contract.

Lesson learnt; get written proof of receipts next time.

Hope this helps.

And thanks for the feedback so far. I'm leaning towards Small Claims at the mo.

Look, both you and your other flat mate need to grow a set, kick him out today, get his stuff and evict him, if he gets violent you either call the police or kick his teeth in. DO NOT LET HIM TAKE THE **** out of you which he clearly is doing right now as he will think he can get away with it.

 

[mattyfez]

Guys... to confirm, the agents knew about tenant D coming in and had prepared a new contract with us. We all signed it and thought we had returned it. I have an email copy of the new (unsigned) contract.

Lesson learnt; get written proof of receipts next time.

Hope this helps.

And thanks for the feedback so far. I'm leaning towards Small Claims at the mo.

Sounds sensible, on balance his arrears split between the other three of you isn't exactly going to ruin you.

Play the long game, and file a claim against him in due course... it will seriously hamper him if he can't get a reference for other properties because it comes back with a CCJ for a rental agreement he decided no to pay (you may want to spell this out to him).

Just make sure you have a forwarding address, or ideally a parental address to file against, and if he doesn't file a defence statement within a set time the claim is filed and and/or is a no show for the preliminary you can request the judge to rule against him on that basis alone.

But do formally give him 30 days notice to pay, clearly stating your case -remember you have to be seen to be very reasonable here if it ends up in court.

As for people suggesting to just kick him out, that's unlawful, there's no two ways about that. As I said in a previous post, all he is guilty of at the moment is being behind in his rent, the alleged refusal to pay any additional rent is nothing more than rhetorical at this point. If you do this it would go one of two ways -

If he's not organised you may never see him again and you'll end up with whatever junk he left behind.
If he is organised, of he has a relative who takes the fight up on his behalf you could end up in serious bother.

 

[chiggz]

^^ Thanks, awesome response! And yeah, although I'd love to, there's no real sense in attempting to throw his stuff out or anything like that.

I'm putting all these sensible responses together and hopefully soon will have a definite plan in place.

 

[Dave85]

Am I misreading this but he is not paying for June's rent but is living there all June. The portion of the deposit you get back he paid will cover this rent for June?
He will not be paying for July as he will not be living their but you believe he should?

If that is correct surely he is just being a tard not paying the rent but as you will get some of the money back from the deposit it's at least not a total loss. Obviously if the deposit is kept for damage then you would then chase him for the rest via small claims.

And as for claiming kick him out take the advice of others and don't bother its a legal minefield.

 

[chiggz]

^^ To confirm, he last paid for May's rent. So he's staying here during June but has not paying June's rent.

Yes, some of it will come back from his share of the deposit. However, there still is a fair bit of loss here.

Anyway, the main reason for this thread is not for the monies, but to win the moral battle (is that the right phrase?).

 

[thenewoc]

My non legally qualified opinion:

I'd be inclined to pay short and notify the agency that this is due to tenant D refusing to pay. I'd also write to tenant C so you have a written record of informing them of the situation. Tenant C should be made aware that in the absence of the new TA that they are likely to receive a letter from the agency regarding outstanding rent.

Write to tenant D declining their verbal request to be released from the TA and that they remain jointly liable for rent for the remainder of the TA. Confirm that as of the date of this letter they are currently in arrears for June's payment (£ x). If payment is not received within the next 7 days in cash and in person then I shall escalate the matter through the small claims court procedure which will also include claiming for my out of pocket expenses in dealing with this matter.

 

[AJK]

My non legally qualified opinion:

I'd be inclined to pay short and notify the agency that this is due to tenant D refusing to pay. I'd also write to tenant C so you have a written record of informing them of the situation. Tenant C should be made aware that in the absence of the new TA that they are likely to receive a letter from the agency regarding outstanding rent.

Yeah, don't do this. The agency/landlord won't care which tenant has come up short if you are joint and severally liable, they'll chase you all.

 

[ilcp]

You really need some proper advice on this if your seriously going to take it futher, too many possible variables relating to legal and contractual issues.

i.e. its probable hes now technically a "lodger" (if both parties are going to insist no contract exists) which means you can kick him out with "reasonable notice" i.e. make it a right pain for him so he either has to leave fairly soon or pay up.

EDIT: But then the fact hes paid a deposit could have implications here either way so again you need proper advice.

hang on a minute.

If he has paid a deposit, surely this will be to the agent, so if they have lost the contract, they may not even acknowledge that there was a deposit ever placed?

Also if he is not paying, put all his stuff on the footpath and change the lock. Surely if he has no contract, not paying then he has no right to live with you..

 

[thenewoc]

Yeah, don't do this. The agency/landlord won't care which tenant has come up short if you are joint and severally liable, they'll chase you all.

Won't that mean they'll be chasing tenant C also though, if they only have the original TA? If the others refuse to make up the short fall the original group would be persued surely, putting the pressure on tenant C. Tenant C should really have a copy of the new contract releasing them from responsibility.

 

[AJK]

Won't that mean they'll be chasing tenant C also though, if they only have the original TA? If the others refuse to make up the short fall the original group would be persued surely, putting the pressure on tenant C. Tenant C should really have a copy of the new contract releasing them from responsibility.

Assuming the tenancy is joint and several liability, the agency will chase all the tenants as a group, they really don't care who pays what as long as they get the full amount. Where does that get you? Now you're in trouble with the agent, you still haven't sorted things with Tenant D, and Tenant C is [annoy]ed at you because he thought it was all sorted and has been completely out of the picture since January.

Also if he is not paying, put all his stuff on the footpath and change the lock. Surely if he has no contract, not paying then he has no right to live with you..

Stop suggesting this!

Most sensible approach so far offered by mattyfez a few posts above:

Sounds sensible, on balance his arrears split between the other three of you isn't exactly going to ruin you.

Play the long game, and file a claim against him in due course... it will seriously hamper him if he can't get a reference for other properties because it comes back with a CCJ for a rental agreement he decided no to pay (you may want to spell this out to him).

Just make sure you have a forwarding address, or ideally a parental address to file against, and if he doesn't file a defence statement within a set time the claim is filed and and/or is a no show for the preliminary you can request the judge to rule against him on that basis alone.

But do formally give him 30 days notice to pay, clearly stating your case -remember you have to be seen to be very reasonable here if it ends up in court.

As for people suggesting to just kick him out, that's unlawful, there's no two ways about that. As I said in a previous post, all he is guilty of at the moment is being behind in his rent, the alleged refusal to pay any additional rent is nothing more than rhetorical at this point. If you do this it would go one of two ways -

If he's not organised you may never see him again and you'll end up with whatever junk he left behind.
If he is organised, of he has a relative who takes the fight up on his behalf you could end up in serious bother.