The subtenant won't pay rent, nor leave. Advice?

Landlord Discussion
1

Hi, guys I mean I’ve heard this is a popular problem, all my friends advised me NOT TO RENT MY ROOM TO A SUBLETTER! Nvm, I needed money, we had cutbacks even before the corona, and I broke up with my boyfriend, so I had an extra room that used to be his studio (hE wAs A cOnCepTuAl ArTiSt eyeroll), Long story short, this girl moves in, seems nice, can’t speak English, so we hardly talk, but like… not problematic. Now she doesn’t pay rent… First month goes by… says only tomorrow… another month goes by I hardly see her. All I hear is tomorrow tomorrow… I pretty sure that’s the only word she knows. What should I do??? My landlord says it’s my problem, if I don’t pay him, he will evict us both, and I can’t pay for 2 people till I die!!!

Do you know anyone who can help me? N I tried reaching few tenant NGOs but they only send generated emails that they will analyse my case, and they never write me back.

2

your friends were right !! Did you sign anything with her. Is she really a lodger? You can give the landlord notice and find another place. If it were me I know what I woulddo with the locks but I cannot tell you

3

Your Landlord is wrong, its his problem as well as your problem yet it would be you who has more than likely Breached your Agreement with your Landlord regarding sub-letting which is a separate issue to the fact that you presently have a tenant of your own with issues yet for us to better advise we need to know exactly what tenancy agreement you have issued to your tenant?

4

thats a good point Andrew8 has made You allowed a sublet, did you do it with the landlords permision, ? if so then he will have the problem. If you did it without permision you both have the problem.

5

I agree with the others, but that does not help. First, the legal bit:

  1. If you gave the other person the same level of detail in an Agreement similar to the one you have with your own landlord, and got her to sign it, then this is wholly your responsibility to sort out as you are her landlord.
  2. If your landlord did not know you sublet, and or the landlord did not agree to it in writing, then you are in breach of your Agreement with your landlord. The landlord can be nice and turn a blind eye to it, or ask you to leave because of it, but that is unlikely reading between the lines.
  3. In both the above cases, you as her landlord, and your landlord regarding your position as their tenant, are legally bound not to evict the tenant for at least three months, and in practice these two landlords (you and yours) may not get rid of their tenants for six months or more if the tenants (your and her) refuse to move.

Assuming she does have a signed agreement with you:
A) Tell her, each time in writing, that she has a legal obligation to pay and must do so by a specified date, or she will be evicted, and like G) below, give her three chances to comply then issue a Sect 8 notice of eviction, using the government website for the latest forms to use, and advice from your landlord, see https://blog.openrent.co.uk/how-to-serve-a-section-21-and-section-8-notice-of-eviction-to-tenants/

Assuming you do have a signed agreement with your landlord:
B) Check to see if you can sublet, and if you have to notify your landlord or not that you have done so, to give you peace of mind on breaking your agreement with your own landlord.
C) Ask your landlord if they will accept a reduced monthly payment from you for the time being until such time as your own tenant has been replaced by a paying tenant. You may have to pay the difference later when you can afford to do so. Have this in writing, e.g. email or letter. Also ask if your landlord will look for another tenant to replace your tenant as soon as she has left. You can do the same, but this time not sublet!
D) Of course you can look for alternative accommodation for her and you, provided you have less than two months of your fixed term left. You two need not live together. However, you will remain responsible for her unless your landlord agrees to take over your ‘landlord responsibilities’, even if you leave your current accommodation!

Assuming she has no signed agreement with you:
E) You could call the council for advice and to report her as homeless, as you have told her to leave for failing to share your costs. If they accept your position then it may take several weeks, perhaps two months, before they can find her alternative accommodation. My Council will only do this if children are involved, but there is no harm in contacting your Council.
F) Other than seeking legal advice, is to ask the police if they can remove her as she is trespassing, having failed to leave when instructed.
G) This is not nice, and may be too uncomfortable to do, with attendant risks of personal repercussions. At least you could go through the steps without acting out the final step, and that may be sufficient to get her to leave. Only do this if you have no written signed agreement with her: you can ask her to leave, or force it on her. I suggest you give her at least two written warnings to be nice, requesting she find alternative accommodation by a given date, unless rent is paid Give each warning about two weeks apart, then a final warning with a deadline. On deadline day, change the locks, give your landlord a spare key in case of emergency, and keep the old locks to replace the new ones when you eventually leave. On that deadline day, neatly pack her stuff and leave it in a safe dry place, or pack it sooner so that she gets the message before the deadline day. If left inside on the deadline day, you may have to let her in and tell her to leave, and possibly call the police to report a trespasser if things get heated, or at least the next time she leaves put her stuff outside. If left outside on the deadline day, leave a note that she has to find alternative accommodation and the phone number for the local Council to ask for help. She can have the Council and a Shelter telephone number in each warning.

Good luck.

6

Good advice from the last responder. I guess you don’t have a contract and as she is a waste of space who has never had any intention to pay I’d kick her out straight away/at the end of lockdown as it might not be easy to do before then. You’ll never get your money back so why let her stay a single day longer than you have to? She’s a degenerate. When she leaves the flat call an emergency locksmith (ring days beforehand to get a sense of whether the locksmith does emergency appointments in your area etc) and then do as suggested already and bag her stuff and put it out in the communal area before she returns. If there is no contract and never any payment then she is just a shatter in your home. Get her out ASAP. Good luck.

7

I very much doubt you are legally advised or qualified to issue legal advice John as I can see as much as on the face of your Context It seems reasonable then it is most definitely not, I shall not be going through it all as I don’t have time however just to cover the very first points you raised I can assure you beyond any doubt that it is not the sub letting landlords responsibility solely it is always jointly, so just as an example in both situations one of which being the original landlord or should we call him the head landlord knowingly allows his tenants to let out classified as subletting or not knowingly allowing so is completely irrelevant on most counts if not every count as if he knows he is responsible and if he doesn’t know he is further responsible I can assure you without any doubt that this is the case. I understand why you may believe it’s not the case because your statement seems to make sense but you have to appreciate that the law does not always make logical sense.
For instance the head landlord might be completely unaware which they usually are when their tenant start subletting the property out and as a result the head landlord may have a mortgage or buildings insurance or public liability or all three and as a result more likely than not all of those three factors would be rendered invalid and this is without me even discussing anything about local authority licensing being needed or not.

So just to summarise for you John the fact is no matter what you think the head landlord is always responsible for what their tenant does or does not do in respect to any contradiction in terminology of documentation which the head landlord already has in place.
However in reality it is usually the tenant which is subletting which is immediately legally liable however if that said tenants which is subletting knows the law and wishes to push their own landlord being the head landlord then the head landlord would land himself in an awful lot of bother also unless he could demonstrate and prove beyond any reasonable doubt that he knew nothing about it and possibly had no control over anything to do with it and even then he could still be held responsible on many counts.
Regardless to the point the fact is that these kinds of situations are not the kind of situations that should be dealt with on forums such as this as they are very complicated complex cases which need to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis by seeking out the correct legal advice for the singular and particular case in question and the sort Of advice that you seem to be giving is strongly implied to be good sound legal advice which can only but mislead somebody towards acting in a way they might otherwise acted this is why you should only give legal advice if you are legally qualified to do so and I know you are not otherwise you would not have given this incorrect advice.of advice that you seem to be giving is strongly implied to be good sound legal advice which can only but mislead somebody towards acting in a way they might of otherwise acted this is why you should only give legal advice if you are legally qualified to do so and I know you are not otherwise you would not have given this incorrect advice.
I hope this helps, thanks

8

I agree with you Andrew8, when it comes to practicalities, and you agree with me when it comes to the legal position of the prime tenant, as you said: “in reality it is usually the tenant which is subletting which is immediately legally liable”.

angeli_11 asked for our help, “What should I do???”: I gave it, as none had been provided, otherwise why have this forum.

angeli_11 then said, “My landlord says it’s my problem, if I don’t pay him, he will evict us both, and I can’t pay for 2 people till I die!!!”

  • First, the head landlord is legally correct.
  • Second, in practical and moral terms, the head landlord has a problem and needs to help and support their tenant with this sub-letting issue, not threaten eviction and leave it to the head tenant, angeli_11 , to sort out alone. But they need not help, as it is not their legal responsibility, but they do have a double problem because of the subletting, so it is in their best interests to help. Evicting the head tenant does not evict the sub-tenant!
  • Third, I implied that the head tenant should seek legal advice when I wrote “Other than seeking legal advice”, which should already have been sought, but as often happens in these forums, advice is sought first from those who have the experience, such as yourself Andrew8, and
  • Finally, you don’t know me, so you cannot make claims about me.

I responded to a plea for help: I just hope it helped!

I do appreciate your comments on many things, as I do of others. Keep helping, as our combined knowledge and experience is more useful than any one solicitor can provide. At the end of the day, the person asking for help has to make their own decisions, and usually does. Hopefully, they have the sense not to blame their advisors if they follow any advice given.

9

I read what you wrote twice but remain a little lost may i say & im rather confused. However i did understand the part saying you were merely advising on a forum as one should yet some advise should be left for those qualified to advise especially in complex situations.

I have most certainly never made any claims to knowing you John45 as this would go against the grain of my underlined beliefs and principles so im not sure why or how you may of perceived such as i have never said such a thing, I’m merely inputting data herein in response to text i read on a computer.

I like to be objective rather than subjective.