Resolved Question
Lodger moved out owing us money but left all his belongings.?
18 months ago a lad turned up at the door ( a friend of a friend) asking if he could rent a small barn conversion we have in the garden just for a couple of weeks. we agreed he would pay £100 a week and we would cover all the bills for him. He basically never moved out and we have had this arrangement for the last 18 months. no formal agreements. 6 weeks ago he went on holiday to india and his parents are now telling us he is not coming back and they want to come and collect all of his belongings. (laptop, printer, clothes, weights etc). we have told them he owes us rent for the last 4 weeks (he was only going on holiday for a couple of weeks but says he is not coming back until his visa runs out in may and will then not return to us. they have said they will not cover his rent but want to collect all his stuff. where do we stand with letting them take everything whilst still owing us money? thankyou
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
Sorry about the situation.
Basically there is a legal and non-legal approach you can take to this. The former is costly, the latter is not so expensive.
- Legal
You take civil proceedings against this lad in the county court for the debt you allege is outstanding. Before taking civil proceedings you should seek legal advice. You need to make sure you've done everything you can to get in contact with the lodger and notify him of the debt outstanding.
If that is not successful, you need to go to court to claim the debt (it needs to be a specific amount claimed) and seek a declaration that you can keep the property until the debt is paid. This is a declaration for a legal lien. You won't have any rights of sale over the property - you cannot sell any of the property. The court has discretion to require that certain steps be taken to protect the lodger's property until the court action has concluded.
If the debt is proved outstanding and the lien is legally recognised by the court, then you retain the property until the debt is paid. You can try to claim a stronger interest in the property such as an equitable lien over the property which may entitle you to sell the property and recover the monies but, again, you need to seek legal advice over it if you wish to pursue this.
Remember: civil proceedings are costly. Additionally, you would have to prove that you had this arrangement to receive £100 per week when it is not a formal arrangement and orally agreed only. Additionally, the lodger is not in the UK and unable to answer any legal action. Also, it is not like you cannot recover monies from the lodger except other than by the lien over the lodger's property.
- Non-legal
You can negotiate with the parents and say that the property will remain at your home unless you can all agree to accept a small amount in settlement of the debt outstanding. Say you are prepared to accept any reasonable amount as settlement given you are storing his property safely. You should be open to accepting any amount as settlement because you may not recover any further monies going down the court route. Given this is a very informal arrangement you should be very flexible. You want this to settle and you want the property out of your converted barn so you can advertise it again for lodging.
If you get offered 50% of the debt that is excellent but I would be prepared to accept much lower (10-30%) as: the lodger is in India and not actually occupying the home for the last 4 weeks the debt is allegedly accrued; it is difficult to assess the likely success of the claim; non-occupation is not costing you any heating or electricity costs; he is only storing property and this doesn't seem to be too much hassle; and this is an informal arrangement (friend of a friend). Do this as a one-off.
- Obviously if the parents tried to forcefully enter your property this would be trespass.
Basically there is a legal and non-legal approach you can take to this. The former is costly, the latter is not so expensive.
- Legal
You take civil proceedings against this lad in the county court for the debt you allege is outstanding. Before taking civil proceedings you should seek legal advice. You need to make sure you've done everything you can to get in contact with the lodger and notify him of the debt outstanding.
If that is not successful, you need to go to court to claim the debt (it needs to be a specific amount claimed) and seek a declaration that you can keep the property until the debt is paid. This is a declaration for a legal lien. You won't have any rights of sale over the property - you cannot sell any of the property. The court has discretion to require that certain steps be taken to protect the lodger's property until the court action has concluded.
If the debt is proved outstanding and the lien is legally recognised by the court, then you retain the property until the debt is paid. You can try to claim a stronger interest in the property such as an equitable lien over the property which may entitle you to sell the property and recover the monies but, again, you need to seek legal advice over it if you wish to pursue this.
Remember: civil proceedings are costly. Additionally, you would have to prove that you had this arrangement to receive £100 per week when it is not a formal arrangement and orally agreed only. Additionally, the lodger is not in the UK and unable to answer any legal action. Also, it is not like you cannot recover monies from the lodger except other than by the lien over the lodger's property.
- Non-legal
You can negotiate with the parents and say that the property will remain at your home unless you can all agree to accept a small amount in settlement of the debt outstanding. Say you are prepared to accept any reasonable amount as settlement given you are storing his property safely. You should be open to accepting any amount as settlement because you may not recover any further monies going down the court route. Given this is a very informal arrangement you should be very flexible. You want this to settle and you want the property out of your converted barn so you can advertise it again for lodging.
If you get offered 50% of the debt that is excellent but I would be prepared to accept much lower (10-30%) as: the lodger is in India and not actually occupying the home for the last 4 weeks the debt is allegedly accrued; it is difficult to assess the likely success of the claim; non-occupation is not costing you any heating or electricity costs; he is only storing property and this doesn't seem to be too much hassle; and this is an informal arrangement (friend of a friend). Do this as a one-off.
- Obviously if the parents tried to forcefully enter your property this would be trespass.
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Other Answers (3)
- I'd say what stuff? He didn't leave any belonging here, we found the place empty! What are they gonna do about it? It's your word against his and besides, poession is 9/10's of the law here! If they can afford for him to go back and fourth to india, they can afford to pay his rent, so now they can afford to buy him a new laptop, printer and clothes! No reason you can't play the same game they are!0% 0 Votes
- Sell his ****!!!!!!!!0% 0 Votes
- I think you would be more likely to be on a sticky wicket legally if you DO give his stuff to them.
Who is to say he actually wants them to have it?
Your agreement whether written down or not, was with him.
And it is with him that you need to settle.
If they come with a letter with his recognisable signature, AND the rent HE owes, then they can legally require that you hand over the property, which otherwise they have no legal right to.
They personally HAVE NO LEGAL CLAIM to HIS property.
You may want to contact CAB for info on what you can do with it should he not return/how long you are required to hold onto it etc.0% 0 Votes
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