Advice needed: rental property/belongings.
Discussion
Just looking some ideas regarding a situation. 4 people renting a property and one leaves suddenly. The others have her possessions and now refuse to hand them back. What are the options? Lawful options please.
She no longer has a key so cannot collect personally but was arranging a courier but flatmates are not handing over due to disputed bills.
She no longer has a key so cannot collect personally but was arranging a courier but flatmates are not handing over due to disputed bills.
elanfan said:
Stay out of it?
I've been on a fair few forums and never seen as many *&%* as there are in PH forums. OP as long as the individual can prove that those items belong to them there is no issue. I suggest a landlord call. However if the individual owes the landlord and not the other tennants then it may be a longer, harder process
I'm dad so unfortunately involved. She actually only stayed a week then shipped to hospital for covid then when off ventilator shipped home by me.
Contracts weren't fully signed but was told to move on in and sort contracts out later which never happened. Fairly expensive clothes/shoes/jewellery left behind. Other three flatmates keeping clothes because they had to pay her rent apparently although a fourth person moved in pretty quickly after she left.
Don't think police would be interested in getting her into property?
Think I g solicitors letter to tenants but not sure anything would happen.
Contracts weren't fully signed but was told to move on in and sort contracts out later which never happened. Fairly expensive clothes/shoes/jewellery left behind. Other three flatmates keeping clothes because they had to pay her rent apparently although a fourth person moved in pretty quickly after she left.
Don't think police would be interested in getting her into property?
Think I g solicitors letter to tenants but not sure anything would happen.
Get a third party to go and collect the belongings to avoid any conflict. Send someone who is polite and unlikely to lose their cool or be a dick.
Probably a woman over 60 would fit the bill. Whatever the dispute over the bills, the others won’t really want her possessions as they will be in the way and potentially stopping the room being rented out.
They are also unlikely to tell a little old woman they can’t have the girls tat she has left behind as most people talk the talk but bottle being tony saprano.
Disputes like this between people are really not worth any legal advice or someone quoting google legal cases.
Hope you get it resolved and whatever the reason for the quick exit wasnt too serious.
Edited - went to do something and didn’t see your post above.
Probably a woman over 60 would fit the bill. Whatever the dispute over the bills, the others won’t really want her possessions as they will be in the way and potentially stopping the room being rented out.
They are also unlikely to tell a little old woman they can’t have the girls tat she has left behind as most people talk the talk but bottle being tony saprano.
Disputes like this between people are really not worth any legal advice or someone quoting google legal cases.
Hope you get it resolved and whatever the reason for the quick exit wasnt too serious.
Edited - went to do something and didn’t see your post above.
Expensive clothes, shoes etc, so worth a couple thousand pounds? Versus a few hundred pounds in Rent at most?
Find out what they are expecting as an amount to hand back the personal effects. See if it's reasonable, haggle if need be and pay up.
Surely involving a solicitor will only benefit the solicitor and end up costing you more?
I hope your daughter is fully recovered from the Covid now?
Find out what they are expecting as an amount to hand back the personal effects. See if it's reasonable, haggle if need be and pay up.
Surely involving a solicitor will only benefit the solicitor and end up costing you more?
I hope your daughter is fully recovered from the Covid now?
PH_77 said:
Disputed bills are sometimes disputed for a reason. Perhaps look to resolve the dispute(s) in the first instance.
This.Resolve the dispute, pay what is due, collect belongings. The tenancy agreement I would imagine will say what happens for bills/rent etc if someone chooses to leave early.
My daughter did this recently. She found a new tenant to replace her from the day she left, paid all her share of the bills to the day she left, cleaned etc, got a new tenancy signed by all parties. No disputes.
Tell the person in question you can't just abandon an agreement leaving the others to pick up their share of the rent and bills. It ain't decent.
Love how people are just automatically assuming OP's daughter is the one in the wrong here.
OP has said they found another tenant in pretty short order so the reality is there's probably very little due.
The remaining tenants may have arbitrarily decided that she has to pay the entirety of the lease she committed to, despite having already replaced her.
It's not as easy as saying "just resolve it". If it were that easy it probably already would've happened.
OP has said they found another tenant in pretty short order so the reality is there's probably very little due.
The remaining tenants may have arbitrarily decided that she has to pay the entirety of the lease she committed to, despite having already replaced her.
It's not as easy as saying "just resolve it". If it were that easy it probably already would've happened.
NGee said:
How much rent are the other tenants saying she owes?
It doesn't seem unreasonable to me for her to pay, at very least, 1 months rent.
Maybe you can pay the rent arrears and collect the goods.
Failing that either send in the little 65 yr old lady, or just send the boys round!
I'd go with this^.It doesn't seem unreasonable to me for her to pay, at very least, 1 months rent.
Maybe you can pay the rent arrears and collect the goods.
Failing that either send in the little 65 yr old lady, or just send the boys round!
There was a commitment made through the contract she signed.
Circumstances change and sometimes through unfortunate reasons. However, just because your daughter didn’t make use of her share of the accommodation, doesn’t mean she shouldn’t pay her part of what she agreed to. She committed.
If someone has taken over her share, pro rata the time up to that point and offer to pay that.
That would seem fair to most people and hopefully resolve the situation.
Circumstances change and sometimes through unfortunate reasons. However, just because your daughter didn’t make use of her share of the accommodation, doesn’t mean she shouldn’t pay her part of what she agreed to. She committed.
If someone has taken over her share, pro rata the time up to that point and offer to pay that.
That would seem fair to most people and hopefully resolve the situation.
vaud said:
MikeStroud said:
Tell the person in question you can't just abandon an agreement leaving the others to pick up their share of the rent and bills. It ain't decent.
Tricky if you are on a ventilator.OP Just pay the outstanding rent/bills (assuming they are not a ridiculous amount), collect the clothes/jewellery etc and move on.
What can be done legally and what can be done in the real world are a lot of a money and a long way apart.
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