Rights as joint owner?

[trolleytiger]

I own a flat with a family member and we have a joint mortgage.

 

For the last six years I have been out of the country and she has been paying the mortgage herself.

 

It is a two bedroom flat and she has been renting out my room.

I did the same when she was out of the country.

 

I moved back in November 2011, and in May 2012 she moved out.

 

I found out 4 days before she left that she was moving and was renting out her room.

I was annoyed but asked that I be able to choose who to live with from her short list and she said fine.

 

Then the day she was moving out she told me she had found someone and they were moving in the next day and there was nothing I could do about it.

 

The only thing she said was that they wouldn't be having people over all the time as she knows I don't like that.

 

The new tenant signed a contract with my family member and is paying her the rent monthly, and gave her a deposit.

 

It has been nearly two months and things are not going well with the tenant.

 

He has his girlfriend over 2 to 5 times a week and when I complained says that he's entitled to live their as he pleases.

 

There are many other problems and I am wondering where I stand if I want him out.

 

He signed a 2 month contract with my family member which is up on 12 July, and then there were going to extend it or stop depending on how things turned out.

 

As you can tell I am not currently in contact with my family member, but could I give the tenant notice even though I didn't sign the contract,

and am I perfectly within my rights to find someone my self to rent the room to?

 

I can't think it is fair that as the owner in residence I am expected to live with someone I didn't agree to.

 

Any advice would be much appreciated. Sorry for the essay.

[mariner51]

What type of Agreements were granted to current & previous Ts?

You previously let her room when she was abroad and vice versa? Who was the LL? Who trousered the rent? Was it declared to HMRC or were Ts regarded as lodgers, with equal access to shared areas?

Current situation would suggest you are not the LL, family member is, so is LL Ins, GSC and other LL resp arranged by her?

The fact you have a joint residential? mortgage may mean you could poss object to her renting to others. Likely outcome is you would have to 'buy her out' .

You need a solicitor, tax accountant to sort this one out IMO

[trolleytiger]

She previously rented to friends so she didn't have current agreements. We had a kind of agreement that if one of us wasn't living there then the one in residence had to cover the mortgage and could rent out the other room to cover costs. All the bills are in her name as I was away for so long but I pay her 50% of everything every month. She has no contact with the tenant after he moved in. he just pays her by standing order and if he has any problems he comes to me. He has equal access to shared areas, and nothing has been declared to HMRC as far as I know.

 

I don't have a problem with her renting to others, I just want to be able to agree to who I have to live with. If I object to the tenant can I prevent them from moving in?

 

I am looking to buy her out but am trying to see what i can do with the current tenant situation.

[raydetinu]

I would think as joint owner of the poperty you would have every right to pick the tenant and object or in fact deny anybody coming into your home that you did not want.

IMO you are joint Land Lords and as you are living on the premises, the tenant is a lodger, and you can give them notice to leave at the end of the current contract.

In future I suggest you formalise any letting arrangements with both of you agreeing to the terms.

[mariner51]

Joint owner? Depends on mort contract & Land Registry entry surely? 50% equity interest almost certainly, but OP does not appear to have any contractual relationship with T/L, so cannot be deemed his LL, so houseshare?

Given the previous letting & contribution arrangements, it would seem reasonable that resident joint owner should choose T/lodger as then the incomer could be a lodger on rent a room basis with few rights & with assoc tax benefits.

Does absent joint owner intend to re-occupy?

Oh what a tangled web has been weaved!

[trolleytiger]

The absent owner is planning on living elsewhere. If I want to end the tenancy and find a new tenant, how much notice do I have to give to the current tenant? He had a trial agreement that ends 12 July.

[raydetinu]

As he is a lodger, I beleive it is the minimum of his rent period, If he pays monthly then one month or weekly then one week etc.