Flat Mate Problem

david1982

I was wondering if anyone can help ?

So my partner and i decided to rent out our spare room to generate a bit of extra cash as i was let go from my job. We put an advertisement on daft and a girl (24 years old) answered and moved in . She is originally from Co louth and worked at home at weekends so it suited us as it ment we would have the place to ourselves at the weekend.

Anyway it was all to go horribly wrong...

We Have a small dog and she had no objectiobs to her at all when moving in.

Anyway the long and short of it is soon enough her friend also moved from louth and she Text my partner to say she was thinking of moving in with the friend . My partner text back and said thats fine so do you want to take the next four weeks as your notice and she agreed so it would give time to look for a new place. that was around the 23rd of April this year. Then she told us she had a viewing on the 30th of April and it was ready straight away and if she was to find someone to move in could she move out on the 4th May and let the other girl move in. My partner agreed and told her only if we met the new girl, interviewed her and all got along would this be ok . She agreed and we organised to meed the new girl while she was looking at her apartment - her viewing was at 6 pm and we were seeing the other girl at 7 . She rang us at 6.45 and said that the apartment she was loking at was now not available untill the 10th May - My partner told her this was not acceptable because we were going on holidays on the 8th and didnt want people moving in while we were not there . She told us she understood and would inform her new landlord that she would stay with us untill her 4 weeks notice had expired and not move into the new place untill then.

Over the next few days she totally changed . she began leaving the main hall door to our apartment unlocked and basically just being a bit of a bitch. She informed my partner she would now be leaving on the 4th and was going to stay with a friend untill the 10th so she could move into her place on time. My partner told her she would not recieve her already paid rent but would get her deposit back minus utilities. She said oh well if im not getting my rent returned i may as well stay so i dont loose any money.

The next day she sent my partner a message saying - in future will you take down the rubbish in the morning when you leave for work because the smell of it is disgusting in the mornings -- the bin is inside a press and has a lid so my partner came home from work and knocked on her door and she told him to come in - he told her that she was being petty and he didnt want bad relations in the last weeks..


on the 4th of may she arrived with her boyfriend and moved all her stuff out and left a note saying she was leaving because my partner had verbally attacked her and left her shaking and scared . she said she had been to the students union and they told her not to return to the apartment

anyway now she is demanding her rent back and her deposit which is over €760. she has said that if she does not get the full amount she will bring us to small claims court . ive offered her the deposit minus esb which is €411 but she says its the full amount of its small claims court for us . Her partner is training to be a solicitor so im guessing its him giving her the advice



Any advice would be appriciated ..

Thanks

Aka Ishur

Questions:

1) When did she move in?
2) How long did she agree to rent the room?
3) Is anything written down?

If I understand she is breaking the lease early in which case she has little or no recourse and you can pursue her for rent for the remainder of the contract.

cookie1977

let her try to take you to court, as in call her bluff. And how did she run up an esb bill of 411 or is that accumulated over a few months?

david1982

She moved in in January
It was no contract just month by month but she had paid up untill the 23rd of may but wanted to get out early and get her money back

She told us she would be taking us to small claims but that was in May and we havent heard a thing from her since

How long do these things normally take ?

david1982

her deposit was € 550 and and she owed 96 esb for 2 months and we agreed that because she was moving out in may when the next esb was not due untill june she would pay 46 as this is half of what she would have paid for the previous 2 months -- so 550 - 96 -46 equils 411 if ive done my sums right . i hope ive articulated that clear enough its a bit of a mess i know .

the_syco

david1982 wrote: »

So my partner and i decided to rent out our spare room

david1982 wrote: »

It was no contract just month by month

She won't be seen as a tenant in the eyes of a court, and thus has very little rights. Have a read of this.

david1982

the_syco wrote: »

david1982 wrote: »

So my partner and i decided to rent out our spare room

david1982 wrote: »

It was no contract just month by month

She won't be seen as a tenant in the eyes of a court, and thus has very little rights. Have a read of this.

Do u think she is just bluffing. I don't understand why she just didn't take the €411. Her last email (back in may ) said we would be hearing from her representatives shortly. When I got that e mail I had to laugh I just pictured a whole MR Burnes size legal team.

AnonoBoy

Call her bluff. She hasn't a leg to stand on.

murphaph

In law she was just a guest (licensee maybe) in your home, not a tenant. There was no landlord/tenant relationship.

She ws a silly girl not to take the fair offer of the 411 to be honest.