Split up with joint tenant

[Anthony1985]

My girlfriend and I were joint tenants on a house, it was us and her daughter there. For the first 17 months i paid the rent,council tax bills etc. Then we had a massive argument and her, along with her mother decided to kick me out of the house that i was solely paying for. She said that she was going to get the council to pay the rent on the house so i cancelled all my ties to the house. Then my girlfriend got on the phone to the letting agents and said that I stormed out and am now refusing to pay the rent, the helpful (not) lady said that, "this is how it's going to work,you are going to pay at least half the rent but if you're ex can't pay the other half then you will pay that aswell". My ex phones me up all smug and happy with herself because her mum said she will pay her half of the rent (she is the guarantor on the lease), and also said she wants nothing to do with me and I can no longer go on seeing her daughter even though she has grown up calling me daddy since she was born! So I said fine I'm not paying anything and cancelled the standing order for the rent. The letting agent said I have to pay the rent because it was my choice to leave (wrong) and it's my choice to go back, this too is wrong as I went to collect my things and she has changed the locks! I have read somewhere that if she has to pay the rent she can take me to court for my half, my question is that if she tried to claim that money back then could I say that I want half of all the money I have spent on the house for her and her daughter? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have no intention of paying one more penny to her and would like a legal argument to shut her up once and for all! Still bit angry as she seems so smug that she is still going to be taking a big portion of my wages!

[blacksheep1979]

First off, is your name on the tennancy agreement? Also what provision is given in the agreement for canceling your tennancy? (its normally one month).

 

If your name isn't on the tennancy agreement then its going to be hard for either your ex or the agency to get money from you. If your name is on the agreement I would suggest contacting the agency to cancel the agreement asap. If your ex's name isn't on the agreement you could try to ge ther evicted from the house as well and or if you paid all the rent whilst you were there and both your names are on the tennancy agreement you could try taking her to the small claims court for half the money (same with bills and council tax).