LODGER DIED - FAMILY DISPUTE RENT

[ViolettFlame]

My lodger of 15 months died. (Not in my home). I unfortunately didn't have a lodger agreement but there is proof of rental and financial arrangement as she replied to my on-line rental ad, paid a deposit and a set monthly amount. This was all conducted on-line and paid through my bank so there is a record.

The family failed to remove her belongings for a further 11 weeks. I kept them informed rent would be due as I can't afford to have the rooms unrented. Access was granted at any time. They didn't want her possessions touching and kept delaying saying they couldn't afford storage and had nowhere to put them.

They paid the final amount due without any kind of dispute or word of disagreement but are now threatening me with court as they believe rent shouldn't have been due from the date she died. (I had deducted the deposit and advance rental from the amount requested, calculated up to the date her possessions were removed. I have therefore not received more than could be expected).

I believe the fact set rental was paid forms a continuous contract until the rooms were free from occupancy. This was sympathetically communicated by text, email and telephone discussions during this period and subsequently accepted by the family by way of final payment. I have retained all written evidence.

It is a horrendous situation for the lodger's family and I feel so sorry for them but I am an independent third party and surely can't be held financially responsible for their decision to continue using my home for storage?

I know I could seek legal help but if anyone can anyone please advise on this I would be grateful.

N.B I know not to make this mistake again and will ensure an agreement is in place for all future lodgers.

I think you have been completely reasonable.

Did the rent include bills such as energy, water, council tax, broadband etc as is usual with a lodger OP? So you still charged the family for that even though lodger wasn’t using it?

Was there really no where you could have moved the lodgers possessions so you could let the room? I assume lodger would be supplied with bed, bedroom furniture etc so it surely can’t have been a room full of stuff. You could have dropped it off to them after a few weeks?

Sorry but you sound mercenary and I hope the family get the money back.

It's hard to know if you're talking about an actual lodger or a tenant. If you don't live in the property then they're a tenant and the housing act of 1988 applies

If they're a tenant or a lodger, the tenancy doesn't end on the death of the person renting.

If you don't live in the property (not in my house sentence) then they're definitely a tenant and even if they just signed a lodger agreement the case law of street v mountford says it's a tenancy and they had to pay until they removed their belongings

However; tort law applies because it's belongings. So it's complicated. I'd suggest getting legal advice if you're concerned but they'd have to bring a small claims case.

I took it to mean the lodger died elsewhere - not in the OPs home.

The notice periods in any license agreement apply but monies would be due from the estate.

Then you’d have needed to do torts at end of notice period.

Family requested OP not touch the belongings.

Thank you everyone for your helpful answers. She had 2 rooms in my home and rent was paid under the rent a room scheme. My offers of help to clear the rooms were declined. After very apologetically advising I would have to ask for rent while her possessions were still in place, they made a direct decision to not clear the rooms as storage costs were too high. I'm not rich and rented on the basis of needing the income to live.
Thank you very much to those who have not judged and provided helpful advice.

Sounds more than fair to me, OP - you told them the situation and they decided to continue the rental agreement for a certain period.

Did the rent include bills such as energy, water, council tax, broadband etc as is usual with a lodger OP? So you still charged the family for that even though lodger wasn’t using it?

The problem is that most of those will remain the same or similar, however many people are in the house and using them.

OP wasn't charging the family whilst rubbing her hands together with glee at what she could rinse them of; her finances and budget are dependent on receiving that income from a lodger, so whilst the rooms were unavailable for a new lodger, having been 'reserved' by the sadly-deceased lodger's family, she did still need to receive that income.

Contracts can be verbal as well as written and both carry the same weight.

How can a contract be "verbal"? That would end up in a he said/she said kind of scenario.....

No idea, not in UK.

ALWAYS get a contract on paper, preferably overseen by a lawyer/solicitor.

Might cost a bit but covers all eventualities.

This is your HOME you are protecting it for your own future. Paid for it I presume.

oh, and don't move any dick-head man in getting his feet under the table

Sorry but they are not their brothers or sons keepers . The contract was with the dead person. You can make a claim against his estate but otherwise you are out of luck .

Please read the OP properly.

People enter into verbal contracts all the time

@Iflyaway Contracts can not only be verbal, they can be formed through conduct. There has to be certainty of terms but that's possible.

For example - you pick up a sandwich is Tesco, take it to the self pay till and buy it. You've completed the whole process of offer, acceptance and payment (known as consideration in contract law).

I would agree that written is better for anything even slightly complicated but it isn't required and people should be aware of that. There are some exceptions (eg purchase of land) but otherwise it's entirely common.

You might be surprised at how many companies and relatively big transactions happen without a contract signed by both parties - or reading MN maybe you wouldn't be! Often companies exchange their standard T&Cs and then just get on with it until there's a dispute.

OP I’m a lawyer. you’ve done everything right. Ignore almost everything that’s been said. tort law? Wtf? Lay people should really not attempt to give legal advice!

just reiterate what someone said above - you’re sorry for their loss but you consider the matter closed.

All they had to do was take her stuff. Why would that take 11 weeks?

Some terrible advice on here. Mumsnet is the worst place to look for legal advice as everyone piles in without a proper knowledge base. OP I don’t think you were unreasonable if you agreed with the family that they would need to pay you for keeping the items in the room, and that is supported by the face that they did pay. I seriously doubt the family will be able to afford to take you to court. Be civil but firm.

(You can only give a Tort Notice if you intend to dispose of the goods or sell them)

INAL but I can give my experience. A very close family member died. They were liable for rent for the notice period. The landlord calculated that from the day they died. In this case, three weeks. The landlord deducted the cost of cleaning the room and the three weeks of rent from the deposit. The rest was refunded to the estate.

I never saw him as heartless or mercenary. He had a young family and couldn't afford to cover the cost of the notice period himself. It's very reasonable that he received what he was entitled to.

That said, if the deposit hadn't covered the rent and there had not been money in the estate to cover the difference, I wouldn't have covered the rent arrears myself. I am not responsible for any outstanding debts of someone else, dead or alive.

@Leftbutcameback Thanks for the explanation.

I’d be pissed off having To pay for the person that died. But I wouldn’t have left their stuff for longer than a few days unless I was in a different country and physically couldn’t get to clear the things out their home. But if I was the landlord I would have boxed all the stuff up and told them it was going into storage for x weeks after which it would be their responsibly to pay the storage fee or remove the items from storage. I would be in contact a week before the storage date ended.

She meant the lodger didn't die in her house.
Don't know why people are having such problems with understanding that.

After very apologetically advising I would have to ask for rent while her possessions were still in place, they made a direct decision to not clear the rooms as storage costs were too high.
So they knew in advance that the rent would still be payable (and paid it, I know, without argument).
And I assume they decided the rent was less expensive than storage?
So they did look into their options, and decided to pay rent.
That sounds like you offered a verbal contract and they accepted it.
I'm not sure they have much chance of winning if they did go to small claims court.

When my DM died we had a week until her rent was due in a council run facility. If it wasnt cleared by then I would have had to pay another month. It is harsh but they needed it to house someone else just like you need the income. It was a rush but had to be done.

I would ignore them.