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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Unwanted guest.

452 replies

melissa2929291936 · 02/04/2023 22:22

My work sent me abroad for six months.I arranged to rent our home out to a "friend".She only paid two months rent but I let it slide until we returned.When we did come home,she refused to leave the house.The police said there was nothing they could do so myself,husband and two small children had to camp out at my mothers thirty miles away.After six weeks of this,and having tried every legal avenue,I went to our home after "friend"had left for work.I still had my keys so I entered and turned the water off at the stopcock.The stopcock is in a weird place,not where you'd expect,so I was pretty sure she didn't know its location.I then cancelled the broadband for the address.That night she had the nerve to phone me complaining.She said she had an infant,a toddler and no water.I informed her she could go to her own mother (who lived in the same street.)but the rental time in our written contract had passed and she hadn't even paid me for most of it.Cue tears,threats etc but,because I knew she had somewhere to go,I held my ground.Went round next day and she'd gone,although the place was trashed.I had the locks changed,cleared up and moved back in.Now she's bad mouthing me all over,saying I threw out a mother with young children.Her main gripe though seems to be the lack of broadband rather than water! I genuinely don't think i was in the wrong "throwing her out"_I knew she wouldn't be on the street.

OP posts:
MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 03/04/2023 08:25

Newyeardietstartstomorrow · 03/04/2023 08:19

We will all support you on here, but I don't think the law will be on your side. Cutting off her water would be against her human rights. I had acquaintances in a similar position and they cut off the electric and ended up in court. If I were you I would have moved back in with her and wiggled her out from the inside.

There's no proof she cut off her water,she just turned the stopcock off.

The CF would have to take the OP to court ,I doubt she'll bother ,it'll cost loads.

WonderingWanda · 03/04/2023 08:25

Cabella · 02/04/2023 22:54

@melissa2929291936
OP, would you mind stating the location of the stop tap? I am in my own flat, moved in 7 months ago, and can't find the stop tap, it's not under the sink. It was built by Barratt in 2002, no idea of the location of stop tap.

Out house didn't have an internal one when we moved in. Just one in the front garden under the little flap where they do the water meter. We have since had one put in. There's a t shaped metal bar for reaching down and turning it.

35965a · 03/04/2023 08:27

If you’re in England/Wales you better hope you don’t get in big trouble for an illegal eviction.

Rosula · 03/04/2023 08:28

What "legal avenues" did you try? Given the rent arrears, it doesn't sound as if you tried very hard.

PopsicleHustler · 03/04/2023 08:29

Some friend.

I was expecting a Nightmare tenants scum landlords ordeal of traipsing to court 😑 glad you got her out.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 03/04/2023 08:30

The OP didn't remove all her gear out though, the CF moved out and then the OP moved back in.

NillyNoMates · 03/04/2023 08:31

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 03/04/2023 08:32

WonderingWanda · 03/04/2023 08:25

Out house didn't have an internal one when we moved in. Just one in the front garden under the little flap where they do the water meter. We have since had one put in. There's a t shaped metal bar for reaching down and turning it.

Show quote history

I always move the stopcock to a reasonably accessible position ( this one used to be behind the integrated washing machine). It is also possible to add a stopcock further down the line so you can get at it. Any decent plumber will do this and it is not a big job.

Why are stopcocks put in these places, given that they are usually an emergency function. One of life’s mysteries.

TenTwentyAtCheltenhamSandwich · 03/04/2023 08:35

I cannot believe you moved out of your own home & left her there! I’d’ve picked her up & slung her out. Or at the very least stayed & made her life hell. As for the people who’re saying you shouldn’t have done it, send her round to their homes see how they like it.

Hoppinggreen · 03/04/2023 08:37

Bewilderedandhurt · 02/04/2023 23:00

The moral of the story is always get a contract signed then you have a legal leg to stand on.
If a "friend" dislikes the idea of it all being legally above board and signing a contract then you have to question their motives.

If the CF does have a contract then OP has acted unlawfully

user1492757084 · 03/04/2023 08:38

You know that you are not in any way wrong.
Well done for finding a very good solution.

BadNomad · 03/04/2023 08:40

As others have pointed out, you could get into a lot of shit for how you handled this. Hopefully, for your sake, your friend is just as daft and doesn't realise this.

JemimaTiggywinkles · 03/04/2023 08:41

She wasn't a guest, she was a tenant.

SunshineAndFizz · 03/04/2023 08:41

Meh. Let her slag you off. Who cares.

This won't be the first CF thing she's done and won't be the last, people will know what she's like.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 03/04/2023 08:52

TenTwentyAtCheltenhamSandwich · 03/04/2023 08:35

I cannot believe you moved out of your own home & left her there! I’d’ve picked her up & slung her out. Or at the very least stayed & made her life hell. As for the people who’re saying you shouldn’t have done it, send her round to their homes see how they like it.

We're not the ones who took on tenants illegally and kicked them out illegally 🤷‍♀️

Crinkle77 · 03/04/2023 08:52

hoophoophooray · 02/04/2023 22:40

If she paid you rent at any point, she legally had an assured shorthold tenancy. You should have protected her deposit (if you too one), had electrical and gas safety checks done, and various other bits.

What you did in the eyes of the law was an illegal eviction. The ONLY way to legally get someone out it to serve them with a s21 (no fault) or s8 (late rent) notice and wait for it to go through the courts. That is why the police wouldn't help as illegal eviction is a criminal offence.

Yep this. It might seem unfair and annoying but this is what you should have done.

OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow · 03/04/2023 08:53

Did op say she had a contract? And if the paying of rent means a contract, op states she only paid 2 months. And it was a fixed term for six months and the cf refused to move out.

Exl · 03/04/2023 08:56

YANBU. I don’t know the legal position but I wouldn’t have camped out elsewhere for six weeks I’d have moved my family back in on the first week.

ChickenDhansak82 · 03/04/2023 08:59

You illegally evicted her.

You should be thankful that she is only badmouthing you as legally she could take you to the cleaners for what you did!

(I'm not condoning her actions but you need to be careful here...)

BadNomad · 03/04/2023 09:00

When you rent out your property without a written tenancy agreement, a verbal/oral contract is created instead. This gives both the tenant and the landlord statutory rights. So what the OP has done is conducted an illegal eviction, which is actually a criminal offence.

pottydimley · 03/04/2023 09:04

AlwaysGinPlease · 03/04/2023 07:26

Only on MN would people be defending a CF that lived rent free and refused to leave and then make the OP out to be the villain of the story. Ridiculous 😂

Oh no. They'd do it on Twit as well and probably phone the police themselves! 😂

loislovesstewie · 03/04/2023 09:05

If you gave her exclusive use of the property and requested rent then you created a tenancy. The only proper way to end the tenancy was to issue notice, either a S8 or a s21, obtain a possession order and then instruct bailiffs if she didn't leave. As others have said you have, potentially, carried out an illegal eviction and harassment of a tenant by turning off the water. If she contacts a law centre or takes housing advice from a professional then you really could have the book thrown at you. This is an occasion where taking advice before letting the property would have been a better option.

MyopicBunny · 03/04/2023 09:08

AlwaysGinPlease · 03/04/2023 07:26

Only on MN would people be defending a CF that lived rent free and refused to leave and then make the OP out to be the villain of the story. Ridiculous 😂

Yep! The level of intelligence on MN has gone downhill massively in recent years.

loislovesstewie · 03/04/2023 09:09

BTW any legal action in respect of an illegal eviction would be carried out by the local authority if the former tenant made them aware of what's happened.

TeacheeTeacherson · 03/04/2023 09:11

Sometimes you can call the water company and they can tell you where it is, they have a little map of it. Ours is under the floorboards in our living room, maybe look for any unusual flooring that might lift up?