Tenancy situation exploded (LONG rant)

[Mooncloud]

So I posted a while back about the flat I've been living in for about six months now. The girl that owns it is technically the landlady and I rent out a second room there, whilst sharing all the other facilities.

 

We had a few minor problems but things were generally ok up until when she served me my notice to leave- she had met a guy a few months prior and suddenly wanted him to move in so she gave me till the end of april to go.

 

Now the problem is when I first moved in, I had every intention of getting some kind of tenancy agreement set up because I paid her a deposit on top of the first months rent and didn't want any disagreements further down the line incase things went south. I made her aware of this several times in the first few weeks of moving and she kept saying she would take care of it, but she seemed cool and we had time to sort it. Well, time went on and it never happened- it was pretty much never mentioned again.

 

I never got any written confirmation that she put my deposit in a protection scheme which I'm pretty sure is a legal requirement of any landlord in England, and for all I know she spent it all because the day I moved in and forked over the money, she immediately went out shopping for shoes and clothes to go partying even though in previous communications she was telling me how her cat needed surgery that she couldn't even afford.

 

She very often would complain to me about being broke at the end of the month after going out for numerous nights in town, restaurants, cinema and the like, and tells me she has to ask her parents for money because she can't even buy food. I would lend her cigarettes or offer to share my bottles of wine, which are both luxuries she can't seem to do without even when she spends all of her own money. She has asked me to pay my rent early on a few occassions pretty much so she can afford to go out to parties she's got planned at short notice.

 

Based on all of this I think its pretty safe to say I was concerned about getting my deposit back at all, so I got some advice from my family and they agreed it would be appropriate to withhold my last months rent which was equal the amount. The day my rent was due, she had gone out to a party and I was sleeping for work early the next morning. At about 2.30 am I was woken up by the sound of someone loudly fumbling their keys in the door followed by hard banging, and my landlady yelling my name telling me to let her in. Our front door does not have a latch so someone on the outside cannot physically be locked out from the inside if they open it with a key, and this has never happened to either of us. I let her in and she was falling over drunk, reeking of alcohol and slurring how glad she was to see me, hugging me etc. I was extremely groggy and needed to be up for work in 3 hours so I went back to bed, but shortly after she came banging on my bedroom door and yelling my name over and over again.

 

This is where things went bad. She asked me about my rent and I told her I didn't think now was a good time to discuss it as she was clearly drunk and I needed to sleep since it was half 2 in the morning. She sort of accepted this and went away, only for about a minute to pass and she came back and did the same thing. Her attitude was aggressive this time and she kept asking me to repeat why I wasn't paying her the rent, then doing a double take and getting more and more angry, swearing and pushing her way into the room. I told her I would not continue discussing it with her as she was drunk and asked her to leave, to which she began yelling I couldn't tell her to leave her own room and she had more right to be there than me if I wasn't going to pay rent. I explained it doesn't work that way and I just wanted to go to sleep for work tomorrow and she even claimed I was lying because 'you don't even work Saturdays' which I do, plus it was Thursday morning at that point. Seeing I was not going to get through to any sense of hers I gave the ultimatum to simply get out because she was in violation of my right to privacy at this point. She kept repeating the no rights in her home, no leg to stand on lines and even when I physically got out my tablet, opened internet banking and made the transfer in front of her, she continued berating me until I was having to yell over her to get out- her boyfriend who had apparantely been hiding in the lounge the whole time appeared behind her at some point during the argument just to stand there and apparantely intimidate me more.

 

Eventually she stormed out and I shut the door behind her, but within seconds she turned heel, threw my door open and came in yelling how dare I slam the door in her own home, that I'm disrespectful, throwing a barrage of belittling insults and she wanted me out of her house that instant. I was sat on the edge of my bed with my head in my hand out of pure exasparation waiting for her to finish, and simply and firmly said no, you're extremely drunk and I've told you multiple times please get out. I've paid you the full month and you have no right to be in here. Queue again storming out, for real slamming the door, and two seconds later AGAIN like clockwork bursting in, and this time suddenly she sat on the bed next to me, started trying to act apologetic and reasonable (still slurring though) and actually asked me if I would leave this week. I very calmly and politely told her to **** off right this second and then came the catty, sarcastic insults which were now just spiteful instead of having any 'legitimate' backing. I sat silent refusing to acknowledge her any further until she finally left and didn't try to come back in, but it took a solid hour for my heart rate to come down and I was able to try and lie down again and I somehow eventually drifted off.

 

To further add insult to injury, I was yet again woken up after another couple of hours with repeated knocking on my door. I ignored it and it carried on at intervals for a solid minute or two, then I heard someone shuffling away after I still didn't respond. Minutes later however it resumed, louder this time, so I hauled myself out of bed and pulled the door ajar to see my landlords' boyfriend, stood there in only his boxers, with what I swear was a subtle grin on his face asking if they can have some cigarettes because she was 'in a bad way'. I practically threw the packet at him and shut the door without a word, I felt too sick to want to smoke and rarely did anyway so it was not too big of a sacrifice to get them to leave me alone.

 

I went to work the next day and received a lengthy text from my landlady that afternoon basically standing by everything she previously said and refusing to acknowledge her behavior was completely out of order. We're now at a stand off where neither of us agrees with the situation, but she's threatening me to leave by the 17th April instead of the end of the month as agreed. I told her I would leave as soon as possible but I expect to be reimbursed the remainder of the full months rent that I paid plus the deposit. She seems to have given her word on the deposit which I honestly can't trust, but not confirmed the remaining rent even though she's adamant she wants me gone asap. She doesn't want to sit down and have a discussion about it and we've basically just avoided each other the entire bank holiday weekend which has ruined it for both of us. I feel like I can barely leave my room with her here at the moment and I certainly don't feel welcome to even use the communal areas at leisure anymore, she has exiled my stuff from the kitchen cupboards and crammed them into one corner and has kept the door to the lounge permanently pulled shut.

 

I have no clue where to go from here basically. I have already been viewing houses and looking to move as soon as I can but what else can I do in the meantime to make sure she can't screw me over anymore?

Edited April 6, 2015 by Mooncloud

[writergal]

Here in Minnesota we have a housing handbook for both tenants and landlords, "MN Landlords and Tenants Rights and Responsibilities." It basically states:

 

"The rights and duties of landlords and tenants in Minnesota are spelled out in federal law, state statutes, local ordinances, safety and housing codes, common law, contract law, and a number of court decisions. These responsibilities can vary from place to place around the state."

 

Doesn't England have something like that? A legal handbook that spells out the law, statutes, ordinances, codes, etc., for both the landlord and tenant? If I were you, I'd find that first, so you have something in writing to show your landlady/roommate what your rights are as a tenant, specifically concerning the double deposit of first month's rent and security deposit that you gave her (that she probably spent already).

 

It's too bad that you don't have a legal lease. Those exist to protect both the landlord and tenant in these situations. I think you will probably just have to be ok with losing your deposit, since your landlady never wrote up a legal lease for you as a tenant to be there, and didn't include the amount of rent that you pay her, or the amount of the security deposit that you paid her.

 

Do you have copies of the checks that you wrote to pay her rent and the security deposit with? Or at least a bank record? That is proof that you paid her, and that she would owe you the security deposit. If she can't act reasonable, then your city should have a housing advocate office for tenants where you can get free legal advice how to proceed. I think legal advice is what you need right now. Good luck!

Edited April 6, 2015 by writergal

[Davey L]

If she doesn't return the deposit and rent owing take it to a small claims court. I've never tried this but a friend did when he had about £1000 owing to him. He didn't need legal help, he was able to do it himself. As a civil case he didn't need legal help, he was able to do it himself; it wasn't too hard. I won't give you details as it was a long time ago and rules may have changed but I'd suggest making notes of conversations, keeping copies of correspondence and records of your payments etc.

My friend is very logical and methodical rather than emotional and hysterical and this may have helped him as the other person was not like that. This may work in your favour here too as your landlady rather sounds as though she would be unable to present a logical and rational case herself.

You're not there yet, maybe she'll pay up with no problems, but be prepared.

[Mooncloud]

Thanks for the replies guys. Things seemed to have calmed down the last couple of days, we still haven't spoken face to face and are largely staying out of each others' way but we have communicated by text.

 

After I made it clear that I was happy to leave early if she reimbursed me the remainder of the months rent, she decided she couldn't afford it so she's willing to let me stay till the end of April as planned. She also claimed she would be returning my deposit with no issue as long as I clean the room which I would have done anyway, and I intend to take pictures on the day to prove the state I left it in in case she tries to pull a fast one.

 

I have looked up the local laws for renting in England and it's a gray area because I'm in what they'd class as an 'excluded occupancy' which doesn't give the tenant many rights, but there is a local housing association I can go to or there's the Citizens Advice Bureau.

 

I have historical statements of every payment made to her through bank transfer since I moved in, including two thirds of the deposit a month before, and my older sister was physically present when I paid the remaining third because she was temporarily loaning me the money herself. So I have back up incase things get really hairy, but we will see what happens now I guess.

 

On the plus side I've been offered a lovely room in a shared house with a group of girls I really get on with, and I think I'm going to accept, so fingers crossed happy days ahead!!

[rester]

Thanks for the replies guys. Things seemed to have calmed down the last couple of days, we still haven't spoken face to face and are largely staying out of each others' way but we have communicated by text.

 

After I made it clear that I was happy to leave early if she reimbursed me the remainder of the months rent, she decided she couldn't afford it so she's willing to let me stay till the end of April as planned. She also claimed she would be returning my deposit with no issue as long as I clean the room which I would have done anyway, and I intend to take pictures on the day to prove the state I left it in in case she tries to pull a fast one.

 

I have looked up the local laws for renting in England and it's a gray area because I'm in what they'd class as an 'excluded occupancy' which doesn't give the tenant many rights, but there is a local housing association I can go to or there's the Citizens Advice Bureau.

 

I have historical statements of every payment made to her through bank transfer since I moved in, including two thirds of the deposit a month before, and my older sister was physically present when I paid the remaining third because she was temporarily loaning me the money herself. So I have back up incase things get really hairy, but we will see what happens now I guess.

 

On the plus side I've been offered a lovely room in a shared house with a group of girls I really get on with, and I think I'm going to accept, so fingers crossed happy days ahead!!

 

Documentation is great to have. Good thing you kept all that. It sounds like she's being a bit more reasonable now and hopefully you will be done with the situation cleanly in only a few weeks.

 

As far as the new place goes, regardless of how well you get along with the new girls, I highly suggest you sign a written contract/lease prior to the commencement of moving procedures. You never know what will happen.

[Mooncloud]

Yes, I'm just hoping to leave with as little hassle as possible at this point so we can both move on with our lives. I've privately rented for a few years and am normally never this reckless about the paperwork to be honest, I've always been in a contract before but I guess I let my guard down on this one and am paying the consequences. Like you suggest I know now to definitely never let it happen again!!