How to get someone out of your property who refuses to go

[despairingmum4]

My son (in his 30s) has drink and drug issues and makes bad decisions.

At the end of May, he let a "friend" into his flat and now this person refuses to leave. My son is now working abroad. We were alerted to the situation by an anonymous letter from someone in the street who was concerned about the situation (the person in the house has been to prison and has other criminals over) and also had concerns that our son was intimidated into letting him in. The person occupying does not pay rent (although he has loaned my son a significant amount of money) and done some work on the property. We have paid him for this work on the basis of invoices he has submitted and photos of the work. We have agreed to pay him the money he loaned to our son and part paid him this. He refuses to leave. We have served him (through a solicitor) with a notice to quit but he is still there. Our solicitor is now going to try and get a court order to remove him. The person occupying says he will fight the application as he has a two year old daughter who stays with him some nights and we can't make him homeless. This all started about 8 weeks ago so he has had plenty of time to find somewhere else to live. Solicitor says it will take 3 months to get him out using the legal process. He says he will go if we pay him the full amount of the money our son borrowed, but we don't want to do that until he has moved out. Stalemate! In the meantime, he has had a skip delivered to the flat's parking bay (person is a builder) and this is breaching one of the covenants of the flat as it is only to be used for parking. We think a breach could end up with our son being taken to court by the management company.

We are so upset about the whole thing it would be really good to hear outsiders' objective views of what to do about this and get him out. Is there a way we can safely pay him the money and ensure he moves out? He is a really bad person so we can't trust him.

Sorry for the long read!

PS As soon as he is out, son will sell the flat and son has agreed to repay us the loan and legal costs from sale proceeds.

What did the police say?

Your son’s home insurance will be completely invalid

As you don’t dispute the money he’s owed and just want to ensure he’s out before he receives it, would an escrow service be an option to release the funds once your own locksmith has changed the locks?

You absolutely can. It’s extremely normal for victims of cuckooing to move out of their own home . I’ve worked in this field since 2014. I currently have 11 cuckooing victims living elsewhere in order to get away from the Cuckoo.

The police are normally only informed of the situation once the victim is clear of the cuckoo influencing the victim’s life and they have other family/friends involved.. who contact us.

Can you tell me more about an escrow service please? That could be very helpful. And thank you

OP, back to basics.

What has your solicitor applied for?

The legal remedy available will depend on the legal status of CFL (Cheeky Fucker Lodger). He’s not a tenant, he’s not a lodger & he’s not a squatter. All three of those have specific remedies for regaining possession of your property.

NTQs usually refer to tenants so they wouldn’t apply here as CFL is not a tenant.

In order for him to be a lodger, your son would have to live in the property with him (lodgers share communal areas but have their own bedroom). If your son is temporarily away then it could be argued he is still living there.

He’s not a squatter as your DS gave him permission to live there.

I’d have a look at what puts someone in each category. Approach it like a 1st year law student. What makes someone a tenant? Who is a squatter? Then work out what CFL is and that will help you find a solution. You may be able to apply for an Order for Possession (depending on what the CFL actually is) yourselves by applying online to the court. Your legal fees may get quite high as this guys doesn’t care what sternly worded letters say. He’s been to prison. He has zero f*cks to give.

This is one of those situations where the legal remedy open to you may be completely useless. It’s all well and good having a legal right to kick someone out, but how are you going to physically do that, especially when they’re violent, abusive a-holes. How much does your son owe him? I’d take a view on that as it may be cheaper to pay him the money (50% prior to him moving, 50% once he’s gone?). He’s got the opportunity to cause substantial damage to the property if he wanted to, so how much are you willing to spend on replacing kitchens, patching up holes in walls, replacing trashed floors etc?

I think you maybe need a new solicitor op

I’ve not used one in the UK before, only abroad, but this looks like you could use it for your purposes https://www.transpact.com/FAQ.aspx

@despairingmum4
Sorry for late reply . Working (in cuckooing /vulnerable person safe guarding)
The police will not be interested in your son’s drug use per se.. as the vast majority of cuckooing victims are drug users and identified by the cuckoo via this route. It’s how they befriend and then control the victim’s life. It is not actually covered under the modern slavery act 2015 at present -(no movement of people or employment as such) although amendments to the modern slavery act due next year will close this loophole .
The police need to know about your son’s situation.

Get the water, gas, electric and broadband cut off if possible, assuming the utilities are in your son's name?
Change the locks. Remove anything of value that belongs to your son for safekeeping. Take photos of the inside. Install a Ring doorbell and CCTV inside in case he tries to break in.
Phone the skip hire company and tell them to move the skip as he does not have permission to have it there.

Your solicitor sounds hopeless.

I think you must pursue the cuckooing with the police. What I would foresee is that he's changed the locks and when your son returns he won't be able to get in. The eviction process too through the courts although that will almost certainly need enforcing by bailiffs, I doubt the man would go quietly.

Get the utilities cut off.

You’ll have to continue with the legal route.

Also log with the police as a cuckooing episode. At the very least this should appease the management company re; the skip outside.

Once the eviction comes through, bailiffs will ensure he leaves. On eviction day, ensure all locks are changed and tamper proof and instal cameras in case he tries to return. Start the sale process as soon as the court set the eviction date.

I’m no expert in this field but I once had a lodger who didn’t want to leave and I was told by a solicitor as there was no rental agreement and it was my home they had no rights. That i didn’t have to follow the steps you’d need to follow to remove a tenant. They said the police would remove him if I rang them (he left on his own accord in the end).

This is a criminal, not a civil matter.

They were keen to help but I don't think there is enough evidence to prove a crime. And there's no way.my son will testify. So I think police will just stir things up and make things worse so have not made a report.

Thanks. I'll look into this.

We seem to have little choice but to go down the legal route and eventually we will get possession. It will take months and £££ but unfortunately I don't have henchmen to send round.

Can you explain this a bit more please. Why will it be invalid? This person is a licensee of my son, the owner. Should we inform the insurance company?

We are pursuing possession proceedings. I agree - it will need bailiffs to evict him. He's a nasty piece of work.

Thank you. That sounds like excellent advice. Spoke to the police today.

Not sure we have enoigh evidence for a criminal charge, so we're forced into civil proceedings

This. You have paid for legal advice so follow it.

I think it's more complex because my son has left and this guy has exclusive possession

It's been really good to hear everyone's views. Really helpful. And new ideas have come up that solicitor did not consider, such as cuckoo-ing, police and escrow. So I have found this helpful - and feel a little less alone with all this awfulness.