DD’s nightmare flatmate.

[Timble]

Hi all,
do you know if landlords or agents have a responsibility to protect tenants?
do tenants have any rights at all?

my DD is in her third year. Living with three lovely girls and one who they are all terrified of.
she has locked them all out, refusing to let them in (I wasn’t told until the next day and told DD she should have rang the police at the time). She’s rude, threatening. Makes a lot of noise in the middle of the night. She keeps calling the girls racist (there has been no racist comments towards this girl aside from this girl constantly calling them ‘stupid white girls’ or similar. She messages the girls regularly to tell them to stay out of her way or they’ll regret it. To shut up and be quiet or she’ll make them. (No loud noises, they’re all in their third year and studying hard/on placements). All the other girls now want to move out as they can’t face living with her anymore. I just can’t believe we have to pay and even though they’ve reported this girl to the estate agents and they’ve had meetings nothing has changed. They believe this girl has been kicked out of uni and hasn’t paid rent but they don’t have proof.

my DD is 20 and she manages most issues herself/with the other flatmates but currently she’s had enough and needs help.
I guess it’s not really an AIBU but can we refuse to pay last terms rent or we pay and chalk this up to a horrendous experience? No idea where dd will live if she moves out!!

thank you xx

Well, she sounds like someone who needs 'adjustments' first - equalities act and human rights legislation- before anything can be done to her. welcome to the real world!

So because it’s not what you want, you get snarky?

Call the police every time she threatens any of them. They will contact the landlord. He can't ignore them.

I genuinely don’t know how it works. They tried to find a fifth person and couldn’t. The estate agents then said about this girl. It was her it they all pay for 5th room. They thought she’d be ok but just not friendly. They didn’t think she’d be so awful.

i think your comment ‘it’s a landlord not a parent was very patronising’ Hence the snark.

I think a meeting with other housemates and landlord , safeguarding call to uni for unhinged behaviour is the next steps forwards

You said the LL “forced” this girl upon them

but 15 mins later it’s the estate agents suggesting this girl to them

sounds normal. pay for whole flat the 4 of you or get a 5th person so you just pay for your own room. millions of pp making the latter choice, daily.

I didn’t say it
although i certainly agree with it

I genuinely don’t know how it works

Evidently

so you say things like the Landlord “forced”the girl on them but then say actually the EA suggested her to fill the room and she seemed nice enough so they agreed. And in their interest as they’d have had to pay that share if not filled

also, the truth is parents could have just paid for the 5th room if wanted a guaranteed outcome for their 4 kids. took a risk and it hasn't worked out. sadly.

The other Tenants should know this, even if its not going wrong its really important.
For all the girl who didn't end up living there knows she is still responsible
An Agent can't just swap someone out like that withour the LL knowing I don't think. I don't have a lot of experience with HMO's but something sounds very wrong with the whole set up

I sympathise SO much, I've had similar, I can't believe some of the responses here!

In the end in our situation they called the police, got a Non-Molestation Order.

Knowing your child is living in an unsafe environment is truly awful and I feel for you.

Are they all in their final year, how much longer does their lease run?

I know this doesn’t help the situation, but if they’re only going to be living there until June, is it even worth trying to find a new place now? By the time they move, they may only have a few weeks left at uni.

If it’s a longer lease it could be worth moving.

I do sympathize, OP, my DD also has a nightmare roommate who’s fallen out with everyone and has just announced that she’s taking everything that she provided for the flat ( they each provided different items) which includes their kitchen table and chairs! Luckily she’s mainly living with her partner now so they don’t see her much, but it’s horrible when someone turns out to be a nightmare. Your poor DD . 💐

It’s abuse plain as day but somehow they have no rights

have the police told your dd this when called? what have the police said when they have been called?

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housingadvice/privateerenting/problemswithhhousemates

Have they complained in writing to the letting agent?

Is there an HMO licence for the property?

Have they received all the correct letting info; certificates, how to rent guide etc, before the start of the contract?

As guarantors were you given a copy of your daughters AST before being asked the sign the guarantor agreement?

If all of that has been done correctly, then I would get all the other tenants to jointly write to the letting agent. Copy in the landlord if they have their details.

If it's an HMO, and the girl is no longer a student, the LL should be paying the council tax (as fun as it would be to stress her out by telling the council to put the whole bill in her name)

So inform the Letting agent and landlord of her non student status, for council tax, her anti social behaviour, any police incident numbers - get them to report any further issues such as being locked out again- and ask both to either take action to evict her or they will all look to terminate their contracts.

In the end in our situation they called the police, got a Non-Molestation Order.

this^

What I find interesting is the OP’s exaggeration

“landlord forced”
to
EA suggested

obv the behaviour is stressful and I sympathise. shared like this once and never again. pay up for whole flat or ll or agent can just add randoms. that's how it works.

hence I am heavily involved in my niece's uni set up and make my brother-her dad- aware that he must budget for her studio in student acc until her younger sis can join her and the 2 can share.

OP - what about the fact that they only have a couple of months left?

Good advice @PineappleCoconut . Her leaving makes the most sense, especially if they only have three more months at uni.

The whole council tax bill would be liable by the non student - minus the 25% for single occupancy, as the students don't count in this instance.

The onus is on the non student to prove they are still a student if the council request

Definitely university student support. I had a similar issue when I was at uni and they provided a grant to be able to pay the trouble makers share of the rent so we could ask her to leave. Equivalent of a hardship fund I guess.

or some parents have found themselves paying for 2 places for those remaining months to remove thir kids to a better environment. no easy solution I am afraid.

missed a couple of months left- explains why ll and agent feel not much more they can do in the short time remaining, as processes to deal with her are legally prescribed and not an overnight thing.

I don’t really know who it was I’ve prob said LL or estate agent many times in this post. I genuinely have no idea how it works.