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

If her studies are just paused she will still count as a student.

It's not right or fair, but if I were in this situation as a parent, I would say sod the expense and assist my adult child to get out of there immediately, permanently. I wouldn't take the risk with a person clearly this unstable who is making threats.

Not all student accommodation, even on campus, is owned and managed by the university. Flats can be owned by individuals or companies and let via a management company. The management company can only act on things that contravene the tenancy agreement so that is the first place to look.
The second route might be via the police if your daughter and the other girls are willing to go down that route. Evidence of any threatening behaviour will be helpful — witnessed or recorded.
Your daughter and the other tenants could try approaching student support services to ask if they can help.
Your daughter also needs to check what happens if one tenant defaults on rent.

Ring the university and speak to student welfare tomorrow and ask them for advice. If they can’t/won’t do anything then contact the agent, explain that you’re removing her daughter for her safety and will be reporting the threats to the police once your daughter is safe. Also ask what assurances they can offer that your daughter won’t be charged for any damage done by whoever remains in the property.

I don’t really like to suggest this, but needs must: they need to gang up on her and read her the riot act. And if she makes threats they need to ask her to say it again so they can record her.

It will take some determination and their home won’t be very comfortable for a while but they need a combined front to show her that her behaviour is unacceptable and must stop.

They showed all of the screenshots of the threatening behaviour. The estate agents arranged a meeting with her but they don’t really know what was said to her.

I know you have to go through a process, but you can start the process. That works. Sometimes.

Depends if the landlord knew how much trouble it would cause.

I work at a university & have some experience dealing with situations you are describing.

From what you have said about this girl’s behaviour, there is no way that she is not already on the university’s radar.

Even if she has dropped out, she will still be a registered student until at least the end of the academic year, when she would be formally withdrawn during the Exam Boards & therefore, they have a duty of care here, both to her & the other girls.

So, you & your daughter should get on to student services & the accommodation office. Only one student need attend a meeting, but email them in advance with ALL the details, all the verbal abuse, the locking out, the threats & sign it from all the girls in the house, with them in cc, making sure you use their university email addresses. All parents in cc as well.

You should also include the student discipline office in this email.

Student discipline is not just about behaviour at uni, but outside as well, if it is damaging to other students & damages the reputation of the university.

Make sure you say that this girls behaviour is frightening, is harming your daughters ability to study/participate fully on their placement & is having an effect on her/their mental health.

As others have said, someone needs to be ringing the letting agent every day & get them to step in.

Good luck.

I'm surprised that some of the posters think that this person can be reasoned with. If she was able to be reasoned with she wouldn't be acting in such an aggressive and odd manner in the first place. Police and medical staff is what she needs. However, I would not want my child to get any further involved or feel that they need to take responsibility for this person.

Can they contact the landlord directly?

I would be asking EA/LL for actual practical solutions:
Locks on bedroom doors
Changing of back door lock so she can't lock them out
Similarly, changing of front door
CCTV installed due to her threatening behaviour

In my experience pressuring the LL for things that will cost him, spurs them into action because they don't want the hassle.

I also think theres a difference between her being unpleasant/dominating and her more recent behaviour and would contact university welfare. Maybe she needs some sort of mental health assessment or for her family to be contacted.

I would try and settle in advance and get out,

I think that you need to find out whether if they all move out and leave the girl and she damages the house whether you will be resposible for the costs.
She is clearly not going to 'leave well' and might possibly end up as a squatter, but as they foisted her onto you in the first place perhaps the estate agent will agree to let them leave and take lots of photo's of everything in the house on leaving day as proof of the condition of thee house.
If the girl and her guarantor father default on the rent & possible damages, then you need something signed to say you are not liable from that point onwards.

@Timble if she's breaking tenancy, causing damage, asb in the house and potentially even breaking the law I'm sure they'll evict.

I'm sorry OP, you have to call the police. That message you put earlier was a clear and direct threat to the girls. She sounds psychotic. I would honestly be fearing for their safety. You have to speak to the police. This is not a situation where you can pussyfoot about. I'd be telling the EA and the landlord that you're going to the police because their lives are in danger. This is untenable.

She’s already out of the house and is able to stay at her bf parents (they are so lovely). I’ve told her not to move back but I guess I really just wanted to figure out if anything could be done. I hate all this 😞

If she isn’t a student then the house is no longer exempt from council tax (if it was, I’m not sure about every local authority but where my DD goes to uni if the whole house is lived in by students it is exempt; as soon as one isn’t a student the whole house isn’t although the students themselves are).
Sorry that isn’t directly relevant, and I feel for you OP, it was just an extra point to ensure your DD has her financial ducks in a row

If her studies are just paused she will still count as a student

I wouldn't want to try that with council tax, tax isn't forgiving and any reason to collect will be found. not paying student fees and not studying - can't see council still counting that as a student as they might not be paused but permanently broken

Nearly 200 replies but what’s really needed is for you to check the details of the contract.

You haven’t said what you and your DD are liable for, or what notice she can give or if it’s for a fixed term.

If your DD is on a separate contract and liable for her room’s rent only, has a separate deposit, and can give a month’s notice to end her contract and move out… then why wouldn’t you do that in this situation? It’s an absolute no brainer. And would definitely be worth the inconvenience of moving to ensure her safety. I’m sure she could find another room even if it was as a lodger locally. And you and your DD wouldn’t even really end up out of pocket.

If however it’s a joint contract for 12 months with no option of ending it early, you and your DD being liable for the rent of this girl (and any other girl who moves out and chooses not to pay because of this situation), and your DD is liable for any damage the horrible girl does to the house, then there are other things to consider and it’s less clear cut to decide what to do. You stand to lose a lot of money and go through a lot of hassle so you’d be better off getting proper legal advice.

No one on here knows which contract your DD has so their ability to help you is sadly very limited. You need to get a copy of the contract from your DD asap.

It’s a terrible situation and I really hope the contract is the first option.

The key thing here is that your dd has spent 3 years of funds and fees on university and 3 years of her time. She has only one term left. Likely including exams. She should focus on that at all costs, and it's good she is no longer there.

Thank you for this, I’m scribbling down so many notes from all you lovely posters. I need a plan of action. This is very helpful, I appreciate it.

If she is making threats of violence your daughter & others need to contact the police.

Your daughter and others need to start recording her threats too, but only if they are safe to do so. Screenshot any messages.

She and her flat mates should approach the student union, my son's student union provides housing advice, she could also go to the university welfare or at my son's uni, the law department (they have a law degree at his university) has a clinic which would give free advice.

It’s a contract for the academic year. It started august last year and will end July this year. I am going to print it out and have a good read of it.
The other issue is the contract we actually all signed doesn’t have this new girl’s name on it. The contract was signed for the original 5 girls, not sure that makes a difference?

I don't think that will work. Even if they physically leave they may be legally responsible until the end of the Tenancy agreement

If multiple girls and their parents were signing the same contract / named in the same document then it’s a joint tenancy agreement so sadly option 2 in my original comment.

This means that you and the other guarantors and all the girls in the house are equally responsible for all rent / damage until the contract ends (even if they move out beforehand).

If the estate agents have stupidly cut corners and not sorted a new contract that includes the new horrible girl though then this could be what saves you. Seek legal advice asap to see if you can use this loophole to have the tenancy agreement voided.

And NEVER sign up to a joint tenancy agreement ever again! Especially if it includes someone you and your DD don’t know.