Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Legal matters

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you have any legal concerns we suggest you consult a solicitor.

Original poster

Landlord changed the locks

106 replies

LolaLolaLolas · 22/03/2022 19:00

I posted a thread back in October about my ex partner, he was the named tenant on the rental house and I was a permitted occupier.

Here is the original thread if you're interested

Urgent help needed, Permitted Occupier http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/amiibeingunreasonable/4391032-Urgent-help-needed-Permitted-Occupier

Since then I am still in the house, I have been looking for properties but also trying to convince the landlord to let me stay temporarily. I was told my ex had paid the rent up until the end of March, but also told that he had ended the tenancy. The landlord declined my offer and said he wanted to move back into the house on the 1st April.

On Friday 11th March I received an email from my ex's solicitor offering 50k to me if I moved out of the house by the 18th March. I explained that 7 days was unreasonable, and was there any movement on that date.

I never received a reply from her, I sent 2 subsequent emails during w/c 14th March. Again, no reply.

Yesterday morning I was at work and my ex turned up with a locksmith and they changed all the locks, the tenancy was over. I was not allowed any access to the house, not even to collect my cats and medication I need to take daily. . I called the police and they persuaded the landlord to to let me get some things.

All of my things are in that house. Everything I own. I have found an Airbnb locally which I would not have had to do if they had been open with me. No one said at any point that the locks would be changed. I had communicated that I had found a house.

I have been told to contact his solicitor to gain access through a third party and that removals would be arranged. But she is awful and won't discuss anything with me. No one will talk to me.

I really don't know what to do. My things are being held from me. I received nothing informing me about any date to move out other than the 31st March. I didn't decline the financial offer, they never responded. I am living in an Airbnb. My dog was tied up outside the house. My son's girlfriend was in the house when the men turned up. She was traumatised by it.

I don't know why my ex was there, if he had given up the tenancy. But the landlords dodgy mate was there locked in the house. They were all in on it together.

I don't know where I stand.

OP posts:
Original poster
LolaLolaLolas · 22/03/2022 21:40

@Movingonup22

Sorry you turned down £50k to move out of a house you are not entitled to live in? That’s insane
I didn't turn it down though. I asked if there was any leeway on the date and I never got a response despite me chasing for further information.
OP posts:
Original poster
LolaLolaLolas · 22/03/2022 21:41

@WordleGirdle

Between the £50k 'inducement' to leave a week early (?) and the £4k a month rent, and the paying off of the entire six-month tenancy by the ex despite his moving out after four weeks and apparently knowing the landlord, I'm starting to wonder if there might be a teeny weeny backstory to this situation... Confused
There's no backstory from my side, but I have thought over the last few months that there may be between my ex partner and the landlord
OP posts:
katieg03 · 22/03/2022 21:42

50k? I'd have been hiring professional removers, getting my stuff in storage and hop footing it out of there in to a premier Inn. You can't live somewhere you have no legal right to. Surely? He's paid the rent but you haven't?

Original poster
LolaLolaLolas · 22/03/2022 21:43

@HellToTheNope

You completely disregard the law and your whole post reeks of spectacular entitlement.

I totally agree. You are a squatter, not a tenant.

Why should I have no rights? As a human being? Regardless of what the law says I have been treated appallingly. Why do I not deserve someone to treat me fairly and communicate with me?
OP posts:
Movingonup22 · 22/03/2022 21:44

Okay well I’m any case where you stand is outside the property which it soundsike is fair enough to be honest. You should arrange with the third party for access for your property to be put into storage and then you need to find somewhere to live.

You have no rights to be in the property so that’s the end of - I don’t see how it could be otherwise?

I imagine this has been pretty stressful for the landlord….

GettingItOutThere · 22/03/2022 21:44

50k!? I would have moved same day

cats in a cattery, stick your stuff in storage, premier in for a month and you would have more left over

insaine, you are a mug

MrsMoastyToasty · 22/03/2022 21:44

Fifty thousand pounds to move out???

Movingonup22 · 22/03/2022 21:44

You have no rights to the property and you’ve know that since I think November haven’t you??

Original poster
LolaLolaLolas · 22/03/2022 21:45

@katieg03

50k? I'd have been hiring professional removers, getting my stuff in storage and hop footing it out of there in to a premier Inn. You can't live somewhere you have no legal right to. Surely? He's paid the rent but you haven't?
I have a dog and 2 cats. I also have a house I'm moving to in 10 days. I did not decline the 50k.
OP posts:
Original poster
LolaLolaLolas · 22/03/2022 21:46

@Movingonup22

Okay well I’m any case where you stand is outside the property which it soundsike is fair enough to be honest. You should arrange with the third party for access for your property to be put into storage and then you need to find somewhere to live.

You have no rights to be in the property so that’s the end of - I don’t see how it could be otherwise?

I imagine this has been pretty stressful for the landlord….

Nope. He's a prize idiot.
OP posts:
SeasonFinale · 22/03/2022 21:47

I suspect once they realised that as long as your ex excluded you from the property and not them then they didn't fall foul of any eviction laws. I suspect that perhaps your ex has had a financial reward instead of you in that he assisted with the early end of tenancy and locking you out of the property which he would be entitled to do as tenant and you there as a guest.

Original poster
LolaLolaLolas · 22/03/2022 21:48

@GettingItOutThere Probably

OP posts:
WallaceinAnderland · 22/03/2022 21:51

I did not decline the 50k

Well you didn't accept it so it amounts to the same thing.

Sweetchocolatecandy · 22/03/2022 21:52

I agree with the majority of other posters- you sound like an entitled squatter determined to make other people’s lives difficult. The fact that your ex felt that he had to offer you money and your landlord refused to let you stay goes to show that other people know exactly what you’re like as well.

Movingonup22 · 22/03/2022 21:54

Have you been paying the rent while you’ve been there??

Original poster
LolaLolaLolas · 22/03/2022 21:55

@Sweetchocolatecandy

I agree with the majority of other posters- you sound like an entitled squatter determined to make other people’s lives difficult. The fact that your ex felt that he had to offer you money and your landlord refused to let you stay goes to show that other people know exactly what you’re like as well.
That's horrible. You have no idea what I'm like. It's easy to bash people via the internet but until you've walked a mile in my shoes you are clueless.
OP posts:
Billandben444 · 22/03/2022 21:55

Asking if there was any leeway for the moving date (and giving you the 50k) told them you were still messing them around and they were done with it.
Why do I not deserve someone to treat me fairly and communicate with me?
Offering you 50k was fair and giving you a moving date was communicating.

HowIsItMarchAlready · 22/03/2022 21:56

The sense of entitlement here is astounding.

BlueSummerBaby · 22/03/2022 21:57

OP were you hoping to be evicted by bailiffs so the council would have a duty to house you? Do you have somewhere more permanent than the Air BnB to go to?

Where are your animals now? If any are inside the property try the RSPCA for help getting them back, it's a welfare issue if nobody is feeding or watering them.

If you could get all your stuff back tomorrow, would you have means to remove it from the property and somewhere to store it? If so, try asking all parties including your ex if they could possibly arrange to have your things put onto the street/front garden where your friend (not you, they mentioned removal by a third party so they obviously have a problem with coming into contact with you) can collect it from. Unless the friend can collect in one go at a time of these people's convenience this means you risk it being stolen, you'd need to accept that risk. If you make any asks or demands apart from getting your stuff put outside for a friend to collect I suspect the answer will be no. If you don't get an answer from anyone, get the friend who would collect to ask as it could be none of the other parties will accept any contact from you at all and will only deal with a third party. It might be quicker to do it this way than asking the police for help. I can't imagine your self inflicted issues are going to be their top priority.

You've been monumentally stupid. There are areas of the UK where £50k would buy you a flat outright. The time for negotiation was long before you were served a section 21. You stated their terms of being out in 7 days were unreasonable. That's you turning their offer down. FWIW I've known people moving from one council property to another getting only a few days definite notice before they have to be out, although obviously there's nothing to stop them packing up before this if they know a move is coming. 7 days is plenty. You should at the very least have been boxed up and ready to go knowing a section 21 had been served. Any further communication you have with these people should involve the words "please", "thank you" and "I'm sorry".

Original poster
LolaLolaLolas · 22/03/2022 21:57

@Movingonup22

Have you been paying the rent while you’ve been there??
I have tried and tried to talk to the LL about this but he would never engage with me. I was told initially he had given immediate notice. Then I was told January. Then I was told end of March. The 2 section 21s had different dates.
OP posts:
HellToTheNope · 22/03/2022 21:58

That's horrible. You have no idea what I'm like. It's easy to bash people via the internet but until you've walked a mile in my shoes you are clueless.

Yet you bash the landlord who only wants their property back from a squatter who has no right to be there, holding their property hostage. It's not the landlord's fault that you made horrible choices in your personal life.

Original poster
LolaLolaLolas · 22/03/2022 21:58

@HowIsItMarchAlready

The sense of entitlement here is astounding.
Harsh
OP posts:
HellToTheNope · 22/03/2022 21:59

I have tried and tried to talk to the LL about this but he would never engage with me.

Why should he? You're not supposed to be there.

SantaHat · 22/03/2022 22:00

This is a truly bizarre thread. I’m sorry you think you’ve been treated badly, but as far as the details you’re giving us, you’ve badly overstayed in a property you had no rights to and didn’t even take the opportunity to do so when offered a life changing amount of money. It’s just bizarre

Original poster
LolaLolaLolas · 22/03/2022 22:01

@HellToTheNope

That's horrible. You have no idea what I'm like. It's easy to bash people via the internet but until you've walked a mile in my shoes you are clueless.

Yet you bash the landlord who only wants their property back from a squatter who has no right to be there, holding their property hostage. It's not the landlord's fault that you made horrible choices in your personal life.

Or I was coercively controlled? He was/is manipulative and very clever. And the landlord has had his rent paid. I have liaised with him over any remedial works he wants me to do to the property before I leave.
OP posts: