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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to be absolutely shocked at my friend attitude towards her landlord and her not want to move out ???

257 replies

SpikeHairandFab · 28/04/2014 13:57

Hi, I just need to get some perception ,sorry ,I am afraid it is going to be long
My friend is buying house, she has wasted almost 5 months waiting for her dream house but she didn't get it at the end ( due to some massive muck up from vendor side, not her fault) . Now she is in process to buy a new house. Everything is o.k with this one ,she will move in at the end of June.
The problem is her landlord has served her a notice to vacate the house . It was served in Jan ,and her last day should be 24th of May. But she saying she will not move out, she will stay 5-6 weeks longer, even though her landlord sold the house he is living in now, and he want to move to the house she is renting from him.
I tried to explain to her that she really need to move out,as it is not fair on her LL , that he has given her enough time to sort something out ,and that the Law is on his side , but she saying she has nowhere to go, and she can't rent anything short term ,as it is going to be expensive. She also saying that he will have to get her to court , and that will buy her around month or so, she thinks there will be no consequence at all , she will go when she is ready , and she doesn't give a sh@t about her LL. Also she said she will stop paying him rent from 25th May , as he getting her to court !!!! I this point my jaw just dropped to the floor
I know she has 3 kids and therefore a lots of stuff , but it seems like she is trying to get advantage (not paying rent) out of this whole nasty situation.
I am really trying hard not to be judgy ,but I can't help, she is in very tough situation but I think she should at least try to do something.

Is she right that there will not be any consequence at all? She said she was reading some forum and that she got that info out from it.

She is my very good friend and even though I don't like what she's doing ,I really need to help her(not that she asked for any help). I have offered her to borrow some money , but now I am more concerned about what she is getting herself and her family in to by not moving out.
Will she get any record ?
Any advice would be highly appreciate .
Thank you for reading

OP posts:
wowfudge · 28/04/2014 22:04

Saucy Biscuit - what baloney. Where's your proof?

Caitlin17 · 28/04/2014 22:05

Aga I'm perfectly aware the writ needs to be lodged in court and served, but goodness that's not difficult. And it's far easier than what the defender will have to do to defend. Thereafter extract decree obtained, passed to Sheriff Officers and bob's your uncle.

ballinacup · 28/04/2014 22:11

Slithy I never said it was an attractive option, but you can't deny that it is an option if you can't afford to risk an issue like the one outlined in the OP.

Caitlin17 · 28/04/2014 22:11

Actually Aga in Scotland the judgment passes against the defender when decree is passed in court. Not 30 days after. The Scottish courts assume the debt is due when an action is raised. If defender denies that they must lodge defences.

AgaPanthers · 28/04/2014 22:11

Er, Sheriff Officers? Scotland only. Is the OP in Scotland?

Caitlin17 · 28/04/2014 22:15

I clearly said in an earlier post I was talking about Scots law. There are plenty of posters on here who live in Scotland and for whom this may be relevant.

AgaPanthers · 28/04/2014 22:17

OwlCapone, nowhere to rent, but somewhere to buy. The number of new home owners has fallen and is much lower than pre 1997. That's because BTL has taken over. Landlords aren't fulfilling some public service, actually they are keeping homes out of buyers and distorting the market by creating demand for shitty new build rather than homes people want to live in.

WooWooOwl · 28/04/2014 22:18

I'd love to see what would happen if on the day the tenancy ends the landlord moved back into his property and then attempted to just live alongside her while waiting for her to move out of her own accord or for the bailiffs to be allowed in.

AgaPanthers · 28/04/2014 22:23

Hopefully she'd call the police.

Caitlin17 · 28/04/2014 22:23

woowoo the landlord is harassing her and committing an offence. He has no right to just move back in. That would be ridiculous.

WooWooOwl · 28/04/2014 22:24

I'm just wondering.

I realise he has no right to move back in, but then she has no right to stay while she's no longer in an agreement and is no longer paying.

AgaPanthers · 28/04/2014 22:25

Actually she has the right to remain there until evicted.

Caitlin17 · 28/04/2014 22:31

Aga that's not strictly true. If proper notice was given to end the lease and the lease was set up correctly as an AST she does not have the right to stay there. What she has,is the right not to be removed against her consent unless there is a court decree. The 2 are not quite the same.

Spickle · 28/04/2014 22:33

Spickle's O/H here... I am really staggered by some of the attitudes espoused on here. The o/p has been given 4 months notice - FOUR MONTHS, mighty generous of the landlord I'd say and yet there are scumbags on here who are trotting out some sub-socialist cod bullshit that "it's her home". BOLLOCKS!! It's an unfortunate situation she finds herself in to be sure but now she's happy to drop someone else in the shit because she's got no sense of responsibility or dignity. Tell you what if she gets dragged to court and sued to costs etc she'll quite possibly lose her new house what happens then? Are any of you going to take her in and help out? Of course you fucking well won't internet bollocks at its' most damaging.

AIBU to be absolutely shocked at my friend attitude towards her landlord and her not want to move out ???
slithytove · 28/04/2014 22:38

ballina Yes, it is an option. But how awful to have to do that because a scummy tenant might choose not to give us our home back.

hopefully he won't get the job Grin

writtenguarantee · 28/04/2014 22:41

Can you really not see the unfairness in people paying off the entire mortgage on a house when then belongs to somebody else?

What about all those people who lost their shirts 4 years ago? Does it work both ways? If I buy a house and let it out, and the house goes down in value and I am making a loss on rent/mortgage/value equation, is that fair to me?

You are forgetting that buying is risky. I was living as a tenant a few years ago not in London when properties prices were going down. I was GLAD to be paying someone else's mortgage and not owning a declining asset myself. That was a big win for me. I had a close friend in the opposite position of owning and making a loss and boy was he not happy. he was in negative equity and was really quite hurt by it all.

There are some huge perks to renting. You are not responsible for the property. Repairs are someone else's problem. Declining market? Who cares! House gets hit by a major flood? well, just rent another place while some landlord gets hit with some crazy repair bill.

empathy. Makes the world go round.

wowfudge · 28/04/2014 22:45

ballina I don't think special has shown any disdain for tenants. it annoys the hell out of me when some posters complain that a tenant is paying off the LL's mortgage like it's some heinous crime to let a property. Commercial LLs with residential and/or commercial properties they let will have bank loans rather than mortgages, but when it comes down to it, what is the practical difference? There isn't one. The lender lends its money secured on the property. If the loan or mortgage isn't paid, the lender can liquidate that asset to get their money back.

I've been a tenant for years and would never have behaved like the OP's nasty piece of work friend. Nor would I should I be a tenant again.

Aga - where is the proof to support your argument? I think you will find it is for more complex than you have set out.

PurpleCrazyHorse · 28/04/2014 23:02

I just couldn't be friends with someone proposing to do this. The landlord has given her 4 months notice to vacate and just because her house purchase dates don't match up, she's going to stay until she's evicted?

Sorry, just because it's not illegal doesn't make it right. Definitely not someone I'd want to be around.

I hope she gets everything legal thrown at her by the landlord and that this comes around to bite her in the ass. She's chosen to go ahead and put another offer on a house (after the first one fell through) knowing full well that she had notice to leave. This is 100% of her making, she's chosen to carry on knowing she's unlikely to get a completion date before the end of May. No sympathy at all with your friend.

riskit4abiskit · 28/04/2014 23:10

your friend sounds terrible. i feel really sorry for the ll. some people on this thread are bonkers and morally corrupt.

Original poster
SpikeHairandFab · 28/04/2014 23:43

Thank you all, I am quite overwhelmed by the amount of the replies.

We had very long convo with my friend ,and she finally said she is going to pay her rent till the move out day. I don't know if she just said it or if she actually will pay , maybe she just have enough of my nagging her.

But she also said that there is no way ,she will not go to any B&B or short term letting , as she can't afford it and she isn't well enough mentally to move the house twice in short space of time.

I know she is wrong to do that ,but I try to understand her.
As I said before she has 3 kids, from what I know she has never have any trouble of this kind , she has tried to be civil with the LL , but he doesn't want to go into any kind of agreement , he simply want his house back.

I would not cut her off of my life , as I have know her all my adult life and she is good person , I think she's on the edge now ( the first buying fell through and some more problems) , and we all do wrong things at some point in life. I can only hope that she will change her mind ,and after my lecture hopefully she will.

OP posts:
writtenguarantee · 29/04/2014 00:05

As I said before she has 3 kids, from what I know she has never have any trouble of this kind , she has tried to be civil with the LL , but he doesn't want to go into any kind of agreement , he simply want his house back.

It's possible he is in the same boat. he may also not want to move into B&B because he can't afford it.

there's can't afford and then there is "can't afford". is it "can't afford" because she's wants a new kitchen or can't afford because her kids will starve? there's a difference.

holidaysarenice · 29/04/2014 00:23

I really hope that it bites her in the arse. This has really annoyed me and does a huge disservice to all the wonderful tenants out there. I hope it goes to court and costs her dearly, preferably her job or house. So that yes she ends up in that very b n b that she thinks she is waaaaayyy tooooo good for.

AgaPanthers · 29/04/2014 00:27

She hasn't done a disservice to any tenants but her self.

FFS.

It's like saying that a black person had done a disservice to black people as a whole by committing a crime.

MaryWestmacott · 29/04/2014 06:57

Well, if she really is a good person, she'll call the ll and tell them exactly what she's planning to do, give them warning how long they will have to sort out short term accommodation for.

Be careful, she is obviously selfish and choosing to ignore the negative consequences of her actions on others (ie the landlord). That's not a good trait in a friend and don't be surprised if she does similar

MaryWestmacott · 29/04/2014 06:59

...don't be surprised if she does similar to you.

I'd also make it clear if her landlord does send the guys round to throw her out, you won't have her at your house. You might end up with an unwanted house guest for 6 weeks if you don't spell that out to her.

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