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AIBU?

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Original poster

To finally evict my lodger, even though she will end up homelss

612 replies

Throwawaytheatre · 24/02/2020 02:08

Hi all,

Posting more for advice, but a little bit of aibu too...

Currently lying awake with worry and anxiety despite having to be up for work in less than four hours.

I’ve posted about my lodger before. She’s an old friend of mine and things started well. However; the past few months have been hard work. The first issue I had with her was when she had her partner at the time stay over. I told her I didn’t want men I didn’t know in the house and her partner in particular made me very uncomfortable. She had him stay over anyway and then after I had a chat with her to let her know how this made me feel, she had him over till one in the morning about a month ago.

She has since broken up with him, and this evening went on a date with a man she met online. She does not know this man at all and he is in his 30s (we are both 20s). She then brought him home and woke me up by having very loud sex. I have been unable to fall back asleep as I have been quite anxious about having a strange man she’s known for a few hours in the house. He could be anyone for all I know.

Just before Xmas she quit her job as she couldn’t hack doing nights anymore. She is now on UC; and is behind on rent. Our agreement says rent is weekly but she pays monthly in arrears if you see what I mean? She missed the Jan payment and has told me she will be unable to pay any extra this month (so assuming she pays be next week as normal she will still be four weeks behind ifyswim?) - I will add she always seems to have money for tobacco but that’s by-the-by I suppose.

As she is not working she has the heating on all day and my last gas bill was over £100.

The main reason I want to end the agreement is because she obviously doesn’t respect that this is my home and property and doesn’t respect that I don’t want strange men in it! However, I wonder if I would be better off making the arrears the “official” reason?

Do I have to give her a months notice or just a week - the agreement is weekly rent (in writing) but as I say she pays monthly.

The only thing is if I evicted her, she would have no where to go; she has no family local apart from her mum and the whole reason she ended up here is cos her mum threw her out. But I can’t keep living like this!

Thanks.

OP posts:
yellowallpaper · 25/02/2020 10:15

Evict her. The friendship will end, but I wouldn't care

BaileysforBreakfast · 25/02/2020 10:17

woodchuck - you keep mentioning squatters now. Squatters are not lodgers. Squatters are usually occupying an empty property, where there may be risk to property, but not to people. Lodgers, on the other hand, are usually in a homeowner's space where the homeowner may feel vulnerable. Massive difference between risk to property and risk to person.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 25/02/2020 10:28

@BadLad Grin

JudyCoolibar · 25/02/2020 11:19

Once a lodger isn't paying rent, any right to reasonable notice diminishes to the time needed to find a safe alternative, which in effect can be a few hours given the existence of hotels etc.

There is no law stating that someone is no longer a lodger if they are behind on the rent unless you know something I don't. If so please link to it. Otherwise I will assume just making it up

As the quote you reference doesn't claim that the individual concerned is no longer a lodger when they stop paying rent, it appears that it is you who are making things up, Woodchuck.

She just can't force a to leave immediately with no notice i.e. if the lodger doesn't go voluntarily immediately she's not going get any help from the police.

Whether the police will or will not give help is irrelevant to the property owner's rights.

So far as the right to reasonable notice is concerned, the clue's in the word "reasonable". When a lodger is potentially putting others in the house in danger despite having already received a previous warning, manifestly allowing her to continue for several days wouldn't be reasonable.

IntermittentParps · 25/02/2020 11:27

She has got one. OP did it when the lodger claimed UC.

Which the lodger has now broken (not paying rent and having visitors without permission). She doesn't have a leg to stand on.

OP, I hope it went OK?

sonjadog · 25/02/2020 11:38

So, what happened then?

justcly · 25/02/2020 11:59

@BoomBoomsCousin

What part of "if the OP needed to call them" do you not understand? I was responding to Woodchuck's silly comment that the police would not help in any circumstances. If you cannot follow a thread you would be advised not to comment.

MidniteMessenger · 25/02/2020 12:51

@woodchuck99 don't go, you are correct and many here are posting incorrect advice and are loving the drama.

safariboot · 25/02/2020 13:43

Unless she has a written contract she has no rights at all actually. She has no proof at all that she is a tenant, you can say anything, that she is a friend contributing to the food etc.

Untrue. Lodgers do have some rights, though not to the same extent that tenants do. No written agreement doesn't change the fact that a lodger is a lodger, it's just harder to prove if the landlord decides to tell a pack of lies.

Jonb6 · 25/02/2020 13:59

The law regarding notice re excluded occupiers is in the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.

Jonb6 · 25/02/2020 14:06

And I should add reasonable notice depends on what is reasonable notice in all of the circumstances so each case rests on its own facts. One hour notice to a lodger who has told you to fuck off when asking for the rent is reasonable. On the other hand if the rent has not been paid, 24 hours notice is reasonable. If you are just deciding you don't want a lodger anymore a month might be reasonable, so it very much depends on the actions of the lodger and the manner in which the landlord decides to interpret their behaviour and actions. Parliament has chosen not to give lodgers, or excluded occupiers to use the correct term, security of tenure or better rights is because the landlord is vulnerable as a consequence of poor behaviour in their own home and they did not feel it appropriate for that reason.

AriadnesFilament · 25/02/2020 14:53

You sound like you know your onions @Jonb6.....

BigChocFrenzy · 25/02/2020 15:10

I'd give her 1 week's notice, citing failure to pay rent on time and feeling unsafe in your own home.

  • by EMail so you have a record

If she acts up, or doesn't leave on time, then contact the police

How soon the police come may depend how busy they are,
but they'd be more helpful in evicting a lodger, rather than a squatter when an LL doesn't live on the premises

CuriousaboutSamphire · 25/02/2020 15:24

@woodchuck99 don't go, you are correct and many here are posting incorrect advice and are loving the drama. Except some of us work in the industry and have posted correctly. Dismiss thatinfo as much as yuou like but, in short... read @Jonb6 post just it encapsulates the correct information.

Fredastaireatemyjamsandwich · 25/02/2020 15:24

d

BreatheAndFocus · 25/02/2020 15:49

What happened, OP? Did you give her notice?

JudyCoolibar · 25/02/2020 16:00

As pointed out here, in some cases immediate notice for excluded occupiers may be held to be reasonable.

Penners99 · 25/02/2020 16:04

I think the lodger has got OP locked in the basement!

everythingcrossed · 25/02/2020 16:19

I've got a darker imagination than you, Penners. I think the lodger is cleaning up a crime scene (perhaps with the help of her Tinder hook-up)...

Loli2020 · 25/02/2020 17:22

Op how did it go?

icelollycraving · 25/02/2020 18:37

I suspect the op found it stressful but the cf talked her round. She will be back in another month or two to say she still hasn’t seen the paltry rent and should she evict her. Some people struggle with bring direct, which is probably why they end up with twats taking the piss.

dognamedspot · 25/02/2020 18:50

@CuriousaboutSamphire
Nothing I posted implied that I was demanding Op had to come back. I wasn't. So keep your insults to yourself.

Lorddenning1 · 25/02/2020 19:36

@icelollycraving I agree

ivykaty44 · 25/02/2020 20:18

This isn’t the first post in this lodging friend who has never paid rent and the last boyfriend made op feel intimidated

Dontjumptoconclusions · 25/02/2020 20:20

We haven't had an update on what happened... OP, if you haven't given her notice, please save the time of creating a new thread by just reading this one. You have some great advice here. Good luck!