flatmate from hell

ck100

hi guys not sure if this is the right forum but ill try anyway..
ive been living in an apartment for a year now with my flatmate. when we moved in for some reason i paid the deposit and first months rent myself. and then for the procedding months i handed her the cash for the rent each month. we moved in in december 05, in may 05 i came home to find a business card left in my laptop telling her to contact him as soon as possible (at this point ill say i never signed the lease because i was working the day they signed it) I rang the agent to find out what was going on, the rent was in substancial arrears. i confronted her and she assured me that it was going to be paid the next week. I asked the agent to keep me informed. I never heard back from him. from the point onwards i paid my half of the rent directly into his account.
fast forward 6 mths and on xmas week the landlord turned up aty the door looking very peed off. My flatmate had managed to let the rent get into arrears of 7000euro (she never once paid a penny rent since she moved in) and gave the landlord excuses like her dad died, then said i was really ill (imagine my reaction when he told me he was glad to see im back on my feet again) then, my favourite her dad was selling his house and giviing her money (despite saying 5 mths previous he died.) The landlord understood totally my position as i picked myself up from the floor with shock. he recognized i had paid. he agreed to let it rest until after xmas. later that night i got panicky and looked for esb bills. it was agreed that she would cover the cost of the esb as she owed me for the deposit, and since we still had electricity i presumed she did pay. Wrong. On ring them i find she ammased a lovely bill of 1000 euro and gave more patetic lies along the way. They were also planning on cutting the power that week too. I had to beg them not too and paid 500 euro right then to them so i could have lights as my son opened his presents on xmas day.
Yes, i am a prize idiot for trusting her. shes my cousin, i used to have faith in ppl esp family, not anymore tho

The landlord, an absolute gent, has given eviction notices to us (which is fair enough) but has allowed me to stay for a while till i find sumwere else. I dont have savings and wnt get my deposit back so i have no deposit to move anywhere else. (and as ive a child my expectations are pretty high which means money i dont have) my flatmate seems to have dissappeared of the place of the planet. and the esb are insisting i pay her debt (once again the bill was in her name only)
It looks like i might stay on if i pay the full rent myself. (i wont get someone else for personal reasons)

my question is can the esb sue me for what is owed to them and can the landlord sue me too in worst case scenario? and can i sue her or sell my exflatmates stuff to get some of what im owed too?

yes and i know im a pillock for letting it get like that.

useruser

From what you say, the contract/lease/bills are in your flatmate's name. My understanding is that you could not be held liable for the arrears and I would definitely suggest you do not pay them. You acted in good faith, it is your flatmate that is liable.

dumbyearbook

If you havent signed the lease and bills are in your ex-flatmates names then you dont owe anything technically,

but the landlord knows you were resident there and Id say that you are obliged out of common sense (no offence like) to check that your bills/money are being paid at some point, you might have seen the odd reciept? Its strange for someone to have total trust in someone that turns out to be such a disaster, the flatmate must be some actress! lying for so long:eek:

Dont meen to go on but its difficult to imagine such a large amount of cash being paid out and you never suspecting a thing? like what she do with the money? I know your landlord believes you but you might have been in on it and just be pretending now? -Which is nt a the case i know !!

Best of luck you need to ask a solicitor and get a proper solution. Best of luck

ck100

hi guys thanks for the reply
i did ask and she'd say she did pay it, i took her at her word. stupidity of the highest order.

stepbar

Yeah where has the money gone? Have it out with your cousin, as loud as you like....

ck100

thats the question, shes done the gutless thing and dissappeared. no one knows where she is

pjbrady1

Go straight to your cousings Parents and immediate family. You are owed the money full stop. Your cousing has virtually bankrupted you. Don't have any consideration for your cousin, she choose this path not you. Don't have any apologies for seeking your rightful entitlement to your money.

You would need to get one of your other trusted cousins to help track her down.

Ballyman

Regarding the ESB bill, let them cut it off. Ring them back then and open a new account under your name. You will have top pay a connection fee but it will be much much cheaper than paying HER bill.

Let the ESB chase her. She will end up on the credit blacklist. Her own fault. Don't be worrying about her.

Also, I can't believe the landlord would allow the rent to lapse so that you owe €7K????

Whether he likes it or not, he's going to have to write this off as a bad debt. You can't afford it so can't pay it to him. If you move out, then he'll never get it either. Make him aware of this as he knows that you were a good tenant and if he has any brain he will go down the bad debt route.

Do not worry about any bills that were not in your name. Bin them and open new accounts in your own name. Let her fight her own corner when the debt collectors come calling!!

Any phone call or letter you get regarding bills she owes should be re-directed to her parents house. This is NOT your problem. Make everyone aware of that when they call, including the landlord.

Zambia

Excellent advice Ballyman

Think your being a bit hard on yourself OP. You had no reason not to trust her , she does however sound like a poisonous cow in hindsight. Fact is she took money from you and did not pay your rent that is at worst theft at best fraud.

I am fierce curious to know was there any sign of this wealth she was using , just so everyone can see what to look for.

Excessive nights out , Constant take aways , Holidays , weekends away. Constant shopping sprees. No job but still spending ?

seamus

Ballyman wrote:

Regarding the ESB bill, let them cut it off. Ring them back then and open a new account under your name. You will have top pay a connection fee but it will be much much cheaper than paying HER bill.

In the event that the OP is staying put, then he will have to pay any arrears on ESB to get reconnected. The ESB will not open or transfer an account on a property unless all previous bills on that property have been settled.

Let the ESB chase her. She will end up on the credit blacklist.

Bills don't affect credit ratings in this country, FYI.

Also, I can't believe the landlord would allow the rent to lapse so that you owe €7K????

Yeah, he definitely can't be short a penny if he'd let it go that long.

Do not worry about any bills that were not in your name. Bin them and open new accounts in your own name. Let her fight her own corner when the debt collectors come calling!!

Again if the OP is staying where he is, then all bills will have to be settled before service will be restored.

OP, it's unlikely that the landlord will sue you for rent. If your name wasn't on the lease, then you are not liable for any rent monies which your flatmate owes. You are probably however still liable for your own unpaid rent, lease or no lease.

I would echo the above and advise that you go to her family and explain the situation. In the event that they're as bad as their daughter, then you may have to bite the bullet and get a loan from your own family to cover the deposit.

I know hotels have the right to seize/withhold tenants' property which is in the hotel in lieu of unpaid rent. Maybe landlords have the same right, and the landlord can take and sell anything your flatmate has left behind. You definitely cannot, as it's not your property.

I am fierce curious to know was there any sign of this wealth she was using , just so everyone can see what to look for.

Excessive nights out , Constant take aways , Holidays , weekends away. Constant shopping sprees. No job but still spending ?

There could also be very untangible things such as gambling debts which would quickly eat up €7k. I think it would be easy enough to conceal/piss away €7k in this day and age.

Ballyman

Hi Seamus,

They must have changed their policies then since my student days, which ain't too long ago!!

The ESB, Eircom, NTL, TV Licence etc, were cut off on a regular basis when I was a student only to be reconnected when a phone call was made to them declaring that I had "only just moved in"

Once connection fee and deposit were paid all was reconnected. Every single time. I believe what you say may be correct when the same person on the bill tries to reconnect a service. If the name is changed though, so is the account and as such you start with a clean slate.

As you can imagine, as a student living in Dublin, money wasn't easy to come by and if you don't have any moral issues then above as I have described is an easy solution.

It's up to the individual whether they wish to pursue this line!!

Most important thing here though is that all letters addressed to her are put back into a postbox and marked as "Person not at address. Return to sender"
Also, all phone calls that are received, it should be made clear that this person is no longer at this address and forward them to ther parents phone number.

seamus

Ballyman wrote:

The ESB, Eircom, NTL, TV Licence etc, were cut off on a regular basis when I was a student only to be reconnected when a phone call was made to them declaring that I had "only just moved in"

Strange. I've heard plenty of stories of people who declared that they only just moved in, to be told that previous tenant had arrears on the account and they wouldn't be connected until the arrears were paid. It may depend I guess on who the account holder is or how it's set up.

Zambia

seamus wrote:

Strange. I've heard plenty of stories of people who declared that they only just moved in, to be told that previous tenant had arrears on the account and they wouldn't be connected until the arrears were paid. It may depend I guess on who the account holder is or how it's set up.

Ok it makes no sense for the ESB to tow this line. They cant force one person to pay the bills of another. I suspect the story is on the CRM system and target chasing credit controllers are behind this stance on paying. You can not make a contract with a piece of property. I currently owe the esb €24 from my last property. The tenants there will never be denied electricity due to this bill. They have switched the account without hassle.