Housemate ?

[Mooncloud]

I'm having an issue with my housemate. I live in a 2 bed house share under a joint tenancy agreement with one other tenant who moved in March of this year (3 months ago). Despite it being against our agreement, the landlady allowed this person to move in without me meeting them first, so I had no idea who they were.

 

He's turned out to be a complete nightmare, turned the previously spotless house into a pigsty (I took time to deep clean, redecorate and provide household items when the last tenant moved out), is rude and passive aggressive, and argues back whenever I try to confront him about it and refuses to cooperate.

 

Perhaps the most frustrating thing is that he has a girlfriend who he has been letting stay at the house for weeks at a time without permission or even asking for my consent to have a long term guest - she is here every night and he leaves for work in the morning while she stays at the house. I confronted him about it and he blew up on me, denying she was staying there, and kept trying to turn it around on me by blaming me for arbitrary (and unproven) grievances, so I reported it to the landlady and she said there was apparently nothing she could do. I decided I would leave the tenancy asap and informed the landlady of this, but because I'm tied to this contract until September I'm responsible for finding another tenant to take over.

 

So far I've had no interest and I've been stuck here waiting until I can get someone, in the meantime my housemate has been further neglecting all care of the house to the point I've actually boycotted the shared kitchen and lounge altogether. The only reason the bathroom gets cleaned is because I use it and tidy up after myself but otherwise the communal areas are in a constant state of filth.

 

After the initial blow up my housemate decided to inform me that his girlfriend was staying for one weekend, however that was almost 2 months ago and she's been here every day since then. The only time she isn't here is when they both go away for a weekend, but when he returns she is with him.

 

I've been so stressed out and miserable over this whole thing to the point I've had to take time off work, but his girlfriend is still here in the house all day. To top it all off, I just got our gas and electric bill, and it's almost tripled in this quarter since the last quarter before he moved in.

 

What can I do?

[PegNosePete]

For a start, if his GF is left in the house without him, then tell her to leave. If he is not there then he has no authority to allow her to stay.

 

Did you raise your objection to a new un-met housemate when he moved in? If not, having accepted him for 3 months you may have lost grounds to object.

 

Since your landlady broke the tenancy agreement by allowing him to move in without your approval, I think you have good grounds to be excused from the remainder of your tenancy. You can't reasonably expect to remain in the property when an unsuitable housemate has been thrust upon you. You'll need to read your tenancy agreement very carefully and possibly take legal advice too since this might differ based on your jurisdiction. Good luck getting your security deposit back.

 

Keep all your valuable stuff and important paperwork behind lock and key, or preferably with a friend or family member, or in a drawer at work. Better safe than sorry.

[PegNosePete]

It looks like you're in the UK, so this may help:

https://housingrights.org.uk/news/can-tenant-leave-property-tenancy-agreement-expires

 

There's a section about "Ending a tenancy if the landlord is in breach of the contract", it's mostly talking about repairs but would also apply to you if the landlady breached the contract by allowing someone to move in without you approving them.

[Mooncloud]

For a start, if his GF is left in the house without him, then tell her to leave. If he is not there then he has no authority to allow her to stay.

 

Did you raise your objection to a new un-met housemate when he moved in? If not, having accepted him for 3 months you may have lost grounds to object.

 

Since your landlady broke the tenancy agreement by allowing him to move in without your approval, I think you have good grounds to be excused from the remainder of your tenancy. You can't reasonably expect to remain in the property when an unsuitable housemate has been thrust upon you. You'll need to read your tenancy agreement very carefully and possibly take legal advice too since this might differ based on your jurisdiction. Good luck getting your security deposit back.

 

Keep all your valuable stuff and important paperwork behind lock and key, or preferably with a friend or family member, or in a drawer at work. Better safe than sorry.

 

The contract is only for two tenants, only two of us have signed it, there is no agreement for a third. He made no attempt to inform me of his guest until I confronted him about it and the fact that she hides in his bedroom all the time she's here proves they both know it's against the rules.

 

I'm prepared to take this to small claims if necessary but I'm hoping she'll give me my deposit out if goodwill because I've been a good tenant up until now, I've been in this house over a year and have never paid late or caused any problems and always reported any faults as soon as they occur (despite her never arranging to fix them unless it's an absolute emergency). Plus like you say she broke her side of the agreement by letting him move in without me meeting him first.

 

I've told her absolutely everything already, why I believe he's in breach of the contract and that I'm unhappy enough to want to leave, but all she said was there's nothing she can do. She didn't much seem to care and still doesn't now.

[Mooncloud]

It looks like you're in the UK, so this may help:

https://housingrights.org.uk/news/can-tenant-leave-property-tenancy-agreement-expires

 

There's a section about "Ending a tenancy if the landlord is in breach of the contract", it's mostly talking about repairs but would also apply to you if the landlady breached the contract by allowing someone to move in without you approving them.

 

This is really helpful, thanks!

[PegNosePete]

I've told her absolutely everything already, why I believe he's in breach of the contract

Great, make sure it's all in writing, not phone calls or in person.

 

Don't mention why HE is in breach of contract - the contract is between him and the landlady, not between you and him. Do mention however, that she is in breach of her contract and therefore you believe you are entitled to end the tenancy early.

 

I'm unhappy enough to want to leave, but all she said was there's nothing she can do. She didn't much seem to care and still doesn't now.

It sucks but from her point of view, if she kicks him out, she'll only have 1 tenant and therefore half the rent. Whereas by letting you go she believes you'll be held responsible for the rent until September.

[d0nnivain]

If the landlady broke the agreement by allowing the other tenant to move in without meeting you, your obligations to stick around have been severed. Just get out.

[AnotherGuy1234]

Move out. Build a fence. Make a tiny home or rent another place-Alone.

[Mooncloud]

Great, make sure it's all in writing, not phone calls or in person.

 

Don't mention why HE is in breach of contract - the contract is between him and the landlady, not between you and him. Do mention however, that she is in breach of her contract and therefore you believe you are entitled to end the tenancy early.

 

 

It sucks but from her point of view, if she kicks him out, she'll only have 1 tenant and therefore half the rent. Whereas by letting you go she believes you'll be held responsible for the rent until September.

 

Sorry I just realised I misread the question in your original reply.

 

So technically I agreed to her letting someone move in despite me not meeting them, however she assured me she ran checks and was confident they were suitable. I didn't have much of a choice as she neglected to find someone to replace the last tenant in time for their departure, so I was left responsible for all the bills myself for about 3 weeks until she obviously got desperate and found this guy, then when we originally arranged for me to meet him, he postponed the date and then the landlady kept bailing out on our appointment to sign the contract so everything was a mess leading up to him signing and moving in.

 

It's actually a joint tenancy so me and the other tenant are tied into one mutual agreement, rather than the landlady having separate agreements with each of us. This is why it was especially awkward arranging for all three of us to sign the contract together because they kept messing the dates around and twisted my arm to get me to sign it regardless. Even if I had met him, he has a way of appearing very reasonable face to face so I couldn't have reasonably guessed he would be so horrible in the long (or short) run.

 

The discussion I had with the landlady initially was over the phone because it was a lot to explain in writing, but I have records of the call date and made my points very clear and have plenty of messages between myself and the other tenant proving what I explained to her.

 

I've composed a draft email to her laying out the discussion we had and punctuating that I previously explained all of it and why I expect my deposit back. I'm getting this proof read by some family members who have worked in HR so they can hopefully give me a good opinion before I send it.

[PegNosePete]

Well, if you "technically" agreed to him moving in by signing the new lease, then you're stuffed. You signed a fixed term tenancy agreement and you're bound to abide by it, unless it has a break clause, or unless the landlady has breached it... which she hasn't.

 

In light of this new information you've given us, I'm not sure what grounds you think you're entitled to get out of the contract now? Which clause in the contract will you use?

 

Not liking the housemate, not liking his cleanliness, his bad habits or his girlfriend, are not sufficient grounds to break a contract.

 

I guess your options are:

a) put up with it until September and then move out

b) find a new housemate to replace you

c) move out now but continue to pay your portion of rent

d) move out now, stop paying rent and get sued

 

Whether you get your deposit back really depends which option you choose and the terms of the tenancy agreement and the condition of the property (which is why I say good luck!!!).

Edited June 27, 2018 by PegNosePete