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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Lodger thinks house is hers

519 replies

Amy3030 · 27/11/2020 12:15

I have a lodger who has slowly, over time, has made the house hers and I feel like the lodger now. Small changes made, which I put down to, she has to also live here as well, so I accept at the time and say nothing, but when I look at how things are now, I realise I was wrong and my house has been completely taken over in 5 months. I spend time away regularly, and changes always happen when I am not there, now, I have vertually no space in the fridge and freezer, maybe enough for 2 things if I squeeze them in. The front hallways has a massive show rack of 20 shoes. The bathroom is cawash with her products left everywhere, and when i tidy up, the next day, they are put back to where they were before. The dining room has been taken over, it is now an arts and crafts room, with units, table full of a hundred items, bottles everywhere, it is completely unuasable now and is her spare room. She does about 5 or 6 loads of washing a week, so is always 2 clothes racks full and drying all over the kitchen and front room. Now she has put expensive fan heaters in 2 rooms without asking me and I pay all ther bills, and at night, the noise from her bedroom fan heater keeps me awake, it is like a swarm of bees humming. And she takes baths twice a week, using 36 ltrs of water instead of a shower , using just 6ltrs. A few weeks ago, I noticed my bottle of champagne, which she knew about, I'd been saving for 20 years and is 25 years old and worth hundreds of pounds, it was opened and put away with a glass left. When I confronted her she said she knew nothing about it, and just hoped I would quesion myself over it, but I certainly didn't open it after saving it for 20 years. I looked in the black bags in the outside bin and I found the top cage to the champagne and the cover paper, so it was opened in the last week. And my kitchen chef knives are slowly dissapearing, have lost 2 already. When I go away for weekend to look after my sick mother, I dont want to go home. I say to people, I dont have a home anymore. I have even stayed out in the cold in the city to stop going home. I spend most of my time depressed and sometimes crying, and working out how to tell her to leave.

OP posts:
ZBopinions · 30/11/2020 12:29

Agree with all the comments. She has to go. If you need a lodger, you can definitely do much better than her.

NeonIcedcoffee · 30/11/2020 12:33

I think this thread is yet another example of why having a lodger doesn't really work. Im my experience most home owner want the money but not the hassle of living with someone. Obviously your lodger is a pain in the arse! But really I can't see how many people would think these living arrangements were going to be plain sailing.

Sarjest · 30/11/2020 13:05

I’ve had lodgers in the past, some very good ones but one terrible one. It sounds like you’ve gone past the point of nudging/discussing the things you find unacceptable. It is your house but she has stepped over the line. It may be worth making your expectations clear to another lodger at the start however. If you haven’t said anything about the room she may think it’s ok. Too late for her now, though.

Palavah · 30/11/2020 13:41

@NeonIcedcoffee like anything else it can work brilliantly or terribly, depending on the humans involved.

ffscatmove · 30/11/2020 14:36

@Amy3030 come back and tell us what the lodger said, please! Hope your mum is improving.

midsomermurderess · 30/11/2020 15:22

The OP doesn't have to come back to update people. This is her real life, not an episode of a soap opera for Mumsnetters' entertainment.

Ddot · 30/11/2020 16:13

Dont forget op looks after mum at weekends. I'm sure she will update us, if or when she is ready. I just wish her luck and a relaxing Christmas

Wheresmykimchi · 30/11/2020 20:50

@midsomermurderess

The OP doesn't have to come back to update people. This is her real life, not an episode of a soap opera for Mumsnetters' entertainment.
No but if you post asking for advice it is surely courteous to update the outcome ?
ffscatmove · 01/12/2020 13:07

I just want to know the lodger is leaving & OP is okay - feeling like a visitor in your own home is horrible. Details not necessary & certainly not treating her situation like a soap opera Hmm

BytheRules62 · 02/12/2020 12:15

Due to the theft of the knives and champagne you could just throw her out, change the locks.

Wauden · 05/12/2020 11:55

OP, how did it go?

qazxc · 05/12/2020 18:43

I think you are right to ask her to leave.
Do you have plans on what to do if she comes up with sob stories of not finding a new place?

alexdgr8 · 05/12/2020 19:02

this is far from an entertaining tale.
i think most of us are concerned for OP.
we want to know she is ok. we are on her side.

BiscoffAnythingIsTheWayForward · 05/12/2020 23:26

I really hope you’re ok OP and also that your lodger clears out well before the 4 weeks are up!

MumsDirtyTeaTowel · 06/12/2020 23:06

Hope cf lodger is gone now.

Pinky1952 · 21/12/2020 16:24

How did you get on Amy? I was interested to know if she went without any fuss and without any of your possessions. I hope so. I couldn't imagine sharing my home with a stranger.

Ddot · 25/12/2020 06:19

Merry Christmas

Wauden · 30/12/2020 19:24

I do like the suggestions of soaking things in the bath for days on end.
And before anyone says 'this post is so old, OP's not coming back' etc, I am just saying.

Ddot · 30/12/2020 19:56

I am hoping she lets us know how things went too

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