please help!

[Citruspunch007]

Hello,

I have a friend who has been living with her ex boyfriend for a few years.

She lived alone and rented her accomodation privately long before they got together.

He moved in with her not long after they became an item and has lived there with her for a few years now.

However, they split up a while ago but he will not leave the accomodation.

He is jobless and says he has rights to stay- 'squatter's rights'.

My friend pitied him so she let him stay on the condition he find somewhere asap but he hasn't bothered and has basically abused her kindness and remained in the property with no intention of moving on.

My friend has informed the landlord but he is convinced it will cost thousands to take her ex to court to get him out and if he stays, my friend will have to pay his rent.

My friend just wants to leave and make a fresh start and is looking to move asap but with her ex still there and preventing things from moving forward, she feels she will be stuck for a good while to come.

 

I'd like to know what rights my friend has.

The tenancy is in her name, not her ex's.

 

If she was to wait till he'd gone out and change the locks, is she acting lawfully?

 

If she leaves and he remains, will she really have to pay for him to live there?

 

I would be very grateful for any advice from anybody. It's getting very desperate!

 

Thanks very much.

[blue4ever]

Tell Your Friend To Tell The Landlord What`s Going On And If He Can Not Help .Tell Him Your/,she`s,off Mans And Terminate The Tenancy And Get A Better Place With Out That Bar Steward

Start Again

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[waterbottle]

I'n not totally sure about this but I THINK that the boyfriend has no right to stay.

 

As I see it, technically your friend is his LL, and the real LL is her LL. Does that make sense?

 

If a LL (and I'm thinking of you friend here) rents part of a house to someone as a 'lodger', (and this would be the key term!) they have no rights to stay. They do not need to be evicted through the courts....just told to leave.

 

Now I'm not SURE about any of this but if what I say turns out to be true she could do a few things.

 

Tell him, in a letter that outlines everything that has occured, that he has to leave within e.g. 72 hours. Have a witness to see it served (put into his hands), and keep a copy If he is likely to go mental and break stuff she should skip this step.

 

Threaten to call the police and explain that she wants him removed as he is not a tenant.

 

Actually call the police.

 

Or change the locks when he is out and be prepared to call the police.

 

If, however, he is deemed as a 'subtenant' then things are more complicated.

 

The simplest thing is to go through the whole proceedure of moving out; i.e. give required notice to landlord and explain that he will have to deal with the b/f situation. Once she has done this and buggered off she will not be liable for the rent, though a sneaky LL might try and threaten her for it.

 

Remember that the above is only my OPINION!

 

Shelter have a good website. I don't think squatters rights exist anymore!

 

Keep us posted!

[Citruspunch007]

Thanks very much for your advice.

 

Is she comitting any crime in chucking his things out and changing the locks? The only thing holding her back is for fear of it being unlawful to do that.

[waterbottle]

To be honest I don't know. I don't think so as he seems to be a lodger. He would need to call the police. They would then try and do whatever was the least hassle for them. They may try to hassle your friend into letting him back in the house. Basically beware of what the Police say; their main interest is to keep the peace. After that they are lazy, lying bullies.

 

If his status is as a 'subtenant' then he may have a claim for unlawful eviction but this would be a civil claim.

 

You have to think in terms of the likelihood of it going to court. Every day, many people have 'civil' wrongs done against them but 99.9% never come to the attention of the court.

 

What sort of bloke is he? He would need to convince a solicitor that he had a reasonable chance of success and that he would stand to gain a significant sum. then it would have to go through all sorts of other steps.

 

Your friend can never be totally sure. Even a solicitor will speak in terms of it being 'likely' or 'unlikely' that such a thing would happen.

 

She can take a chance and do something or just keep plodding on. Tell her to look on the Shelter website. She could even call them!

[raydetinu]

I believe he has no rights, just chuck him out, change locks etc. and if a disturbance ensues call the police and they will get rid of him and if he keeps causing a nuisace get an injunction.

Less traumatic way if you want leave anyway, is give the landlord due notice and leave. then it will be the lanlords problem.

[Esio Trot]

Thanks very much for your advice.

 

Is she committing any crime in chucking his things out and changing the locks? The only thing holding her back is for fear of it being unlawful to do that.

 

On the proviso that the boyfriend is not named as either a tenant or a permitted occupant in the tenancy agreement, then he is no more than a lodger - she has sub-let to him as a licensee, and a verbal licence at that.

 

As has been stated, she can chuck him out and his things - it is not unlawful.

 

However, to demonstrate "reasonableness" in case he wishes to take court action, she need to issue him written notice to leave within 14 days. Once this time is up then if he goes out (it makes it easier if he is not there) that is the time to strike and do the physical bit, including changing the locks.

 

As a pre-emptive strike, she could do a covering letter enclosing the 14 notice letter, and send this to the local police station. In the letter she can state that the relationship has totally broken down and that she is fearful of him remaining. If he does not go after 14 days and remains in the property, she can call the police who having had the letter should be aware, and although they might try and treat is as a civil matter, will have to attend and assist.