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

Thank you! That’s very interesting. I have to admit I’m scared there would be repercussions if the police got involved. I don’t think she’s ok this girl, I don’t think she cares about anything at all.
I looked at the screenshot my dd sent and it said ‘if you know what is best for you you’ll tell the landlord to start clearing you out, the only way you can survive with me in this house, you better watch out’
That’s threatening enough isn’t it?

It isn't their responsibility and she might not be s student anyway.

Would maybe a few parents visit and have a gentle word with the girl ? Or would any of the girls have any contact details for her parents, even on SM, and a parent contact them to express concern ? Or contact the letting agent and express concerns about the safety of your daughters. I’m aware these students are all adults but they are young adults and sometimes needs must.

Or the girls write to estate agents/landlord tomorrow and express concerns about their safety ?

Would the girls block her from all their contacts so she can’t harass them with messages ?

Hi OP, I’m a uni lecturer and have seen a fair few situations where living situations have broken down (although this does seem on the more extreme end of the spectrum). The university should have some sort of accommodation support/advice service in place, usually via the student union - most do. They should be able to advise on the best routes forward, and depending on the institution, might have contacts within the letting agencies who are a bit more helpful, or be able to intervene directly if your daughter is actually starting to feel unsafe. It would definitely be worth your daughter and the rest of the housemates emphasising the safety aspect, especially if there’s a risk of them being locked out late at night. She should also make her personal tutor aware, as situations like this can start to impact on academic work, and her tutor might be able to signpost support within the uni.

Go stay there for a few nights see if she behaves the same then, she may be a complete bully which it sounds like or she may have some MH problems though doesn’t sound like that,I hate stuff like this, I wouldn’t be letting it drop until I’d exhausted all avenues. If she leaves the door open, I’d just shut it and offer no reaction. The EA can’t just wash their hands of it, they chose this girl to be there so need to step up. I’d be furious about paying two rents but if all else failed I would probably suck it up. No one wants their child feeling unsafe and at risk.

Very good idea I hadn’t thought of that!! Thank you!

yup. guarantors too. ll will lose zero no matter who doesn't pay.

I feel like I’m living in a parallel universe here! This girl is deranged and threatening, and people are suggesting student support??? As well as making direct threats, she is also behaving oddly. Why wouldn’t you call the police? Does she need to start waving a knife around first?!

As a student I experienced something similar. University found me a place in halls which I didn’t pay for initially but meant I could move out to somewhere that felt safer. Once the landlord had replaced me, I ceased paying the landlord and started paying university instead. I had to lock myself in my room to feel safe. It was an awful tIme - I completely empathise.

What I’m worried about I guess is if they call the police and they question her they won’t remove her so she’ll still be living there and most likely pretty pissed off about it.. I don’t know if she is mentally unwell or not but I’m a bit worried about it tipping her over the edge!!

Sorry just seen latest update, there could be something wrong with her MH state but hard to know without seeing it. I would definitely be showing those messages to the Uni, EA and police.

If they don't want to contact the police then the only option is to move out unfortunately although it is obviously going to be costly.

A friend of mine was in a similar position years ago unfortunately. Solicitor could only advise moving out and hoping the landlord didn't sue. Unfortunately they did.

That’s what they do. They have to tell each other if they’re going to be away at the weekend etc so that one of them is not left on their own there. One girl was so worried she flew home at a big expense to her just because the others were away that particular week. She was too scared to stay.

I understand the fear, but if something needs dealing with, it needs dealing with.

Go to the university and police.

The alternative is trying to ignore, which is ridiculous.

I know. And parents always seem to have this idea that they’re only guaranteeing their child’s share of the rent.. Which is almost always wrong, unless the contract states it.
Most estate agents will let them think that but all guarantors are also liable for the full rent amount.

People seem to have no idea about this until it all goes wrong and comes back to bite them sadly.

I think we have no choice, I’m honestly so sad for the girls! No one should have to live like this! They’re all preparing for dissertations and she sleeps in the day and bangs around all night so they can’t sleep. Talks to herself etc!

This sounds a horrendous situation. If these are student only accommodation and she is no longer a student should she be staying? Never mind the outrageous behaviour.
Think your DD needs to keep pestering the LL/estate agent about the situation - it is not acceptable.
Would you be able to contact shelter for some advice?

They can write a joint letter to landlord listing the ways in which the other person is breaching the tenancy and causing damage to the property, restricting access to the other tenants or causing ASB. Along with any photo or video evidence. Then hopefully the landlord will evict them.

It's nothing to do with the landlord or estate agents. Your daughter needs to report threatening messages to the police. If she's aggressive, any of them can report her for domestic violence and the police will remove her. I would also suggest that it might be cheaper to try to organise buying the girl out of the contract than all of them moving out. If she hates them so much, she might be open to them paying her remaining rent so she can move out.

They don’t have proof she’s not a student. She’s very loud on the phone and often talks on speaker. They overheard a conversation that she cannot resume studies until she pays her fees or sonething to that effect. She doesn’t leave the house so I assume she’s not a student any more.

I am sorry to be commenting again in a negative way.
If the tenancy is within the fixed term it cannot be ended unless all of the tenants and the landlord agree to this. It doesn’t sound like this girl will agree.
The deposit is almost certainly regarded as a single entity for the whole tenancy. Any inspection of condition, etc will only be carried out when the tenancy actually ends.
If anyone can have any influence over this person it would be worth while paying for her to move out to her own self contained smaller accommodation.

I guess it’s an option. She could have gotten along with all of them but it kind of feels like she chose to be awful so maybe she enjoys it and wouldn’t move out…

Does she smoke a lot of weed?

LL and agent are two different things (unless the agent is the landlord) The landlord (unless they know the girl) will no doubt be stuck trying to get her crazy ass out of his/her property for months, losing money and probably end up with a trashed house…so no happier than you having her living there. The agent pushing this girl - they’ll likely have lots of people on the books and just wanted to fill the room asap.

your daughter and her friends all need to report to the police asap everything this girl has done. They also need to call immediately if they get locked out or if any more threats get chucked about.

you’re worrying something will happen to them if the police get involved shows they shouldn’t be in that house already. But the police do need to be involved. Get them out and get the police involved because young women need to be taught to escalate before abusers escalate.

Honestly I give up! If what you’re saying is all true, this girl is unwell, possibly in the early stages of a psychotic episode. She’s actually told your daughter that the only way she can survive is by behaving a certain way, the implication being that she will kill her otherwise. But you don’t think the police have a role here, because the girl won’t like it? I’m starting to wonder if this post is genuine because I’ve never read anything so bonkers.