Housemate/deposit issue

Placebo

Basically, me and my house mate moved into a house in October or so, but only he signed the lease, [for a year] so i just transferred money to his account. After that 1.5 months ago, i gave him over one months notice of me moving out, he agreed but by the end he couldnt find anyone to move in so he had his parents pay my side of the rent and said he would give me my depsoit on finding another person,
while he has been some what looking, i dont think anyone has moved in yet, if he fails to find anyone, he will probably move out losing his deposit [which means i would lose my money] , he's ignoring my calls etc, next months rent would be required on the 25th.

Where do i stand legally here? i havent notified the landlord [its actually a small company] that i've moved out, sure my name wasnt on the lease?
Also he owes me money on bills.

sorry if this is in the wrong section.

Otis Driftwood

If you havnt signed anything and didnt pay a deposit to the landlord/rental company then I dont think you have a leg to stand on.

Max Power1

nedtheshed wrote: »

If you havnt signed anything and didnt pay a deposit to the landlord/rental company then I dont think you have a leg to stand on.

Exactly, im afraid.

Just take this as a lesson for the future OP, always get financial and/or property agreements set in stone!

Placebo

Placebo wrote: »

Basically, me and my house mate moved into a house in October or so, but only he signed the lease, [for a year] so i just transferred money to his account. After that 1.5 months ago, i gave him over one months notice of me moving out, he agreed but by the end he couldnt find anyone to move in so he had his parents pay my side of the rent and said he would give me my depsoit on finding another person,
while he has been some what looking, i dont think anyone has moved in yet, if he fails to find anyone, he will probably move out losing his deposit [which means i would lose my money] , he's ignoring my calls etc, next months rent would be required on the 25th.

Where do i stand legally here? i havent notified the landlord [its actually a small company] that i've moved out, sure my name wasnt on the lease?
Also he owes me money on bills.

sorry if this is in the wrong section.

You're both in a bad way regarding the deposit, him as much as you. Why do you think he alone should stump up for yours and be out the full amount himself because you decided to move out? His parents are paying for your side of the rent now, hardly fair seeing as you both moved in at the same time, only he was stupid enough to put everything in his name and in doing so vouch for someone as unreliable as you.

If you were my friend I'd tell you to get a ****ing grip.

Also you say HE couldn't find anyone to move in? Why weren't you trying yourself? It's what "friends" should do when they're leaving their mate in a horrible situation like that.

Seaneh

To be honest he should have made you sign an agreement that said if you moved out you have to find your own replacement.

Placebo

Rojomcdojo wrote: »

You're both in a bad way regarding the deposit, him as much as you. Why do you think he alone should stump up for yours and be out the full amount himself because you decided to move out? His parents are paying for your side of the rent now, hardly fair seeing as you both moved in at the same time, only he was stupid enough to put everything in his name and in doing so vouch for someone as unreliable as you.

If you were my friend I'd tell you to get a ****ing grip.

Thats not how it is,
-he asked me to move out, so i gave him 1.5 months notice [legally its only 1 month] he failed to find someone, thats his problem, he asked me to move out , so even after giving notice on the 15th of april, i payed for mays rent, i didnt leave him in any situation. He still hasnt found anyone, he should have thought of this before asking me to move out really.

Placebo

Placebo wrote: »

Thats not how it is,
-he asked me to move out, so i gave him 1.5 months notice [legally its only 1 month] he failed to find someone, thats his problem, he asked me to move out , so even after giving notice on the 15th of april, i payed for mays rent, i didnt leave him in any situation. He still hasnt found anyone, he should have thought of this before asking me to move out really.

After that 1.5 months ago, i gave him over one months notice of me moving out, he agreed

hmm. No mention of that in the first post.

Rebelheart

Seaneh wrote: »

To be honest he should have made you sign an agreement that said if you moved out you have to find your own replacement.

Spot on. A similar situation happened to me where my flatmate wanted to move out but I was the only one whose name was on the lease. I got somebody else and that person gave him his deposit back. I really shouldn't have been so nice. He broke our agreement - in fact he was the one initially pushing for it.

By right he should have forfeited his part of the deposit or got somebody to take his place.

zxcvbnm1

ok - so basically athough this person is yourfriend you are hoping to get out on a technacility because your name wasn't on teh lease ya?

Ya - that's petty underhanded by you.

Yes - only he signed the lease - but i presume he did that because he assumed you wouldn't be getting all legal on teh whole thing.
And given that you are such a stickler for teh law given that you didn't sign anything he is not legally entitles to give you teh seposit back.

You either are going by teh letter of the law or teh spitrit of teh agreement you had with yourfriend.
Eitherway - you shoudl still lose teh deposit.

You seem to want to cherry pick parts of teh law that suit you.

Not nice.

Edit : I've just seen your post that he actually asked you to move out. If that is teh case then yes he should definitely give you back teh deposit.

suspectpackage

OP, you don't have a leg to stand on here and if he is ignoring your calls its pretty much certain that you're not getting any money.

Take this as a harsh lesson. I think its something we all have to learn when living with people.

Don't leave yourself open to being screwed for money. I got burned a few years ago and it wasn't plesant. Be careful who you trust, especially when money is involved.

Learn from this and be more careful about your money in the future.

Good luck.

The_Conductor

The situation is worse than is being suggested- if a 1 year lease was signed- it is a legally binding agreement to lease the property for 1 year. The notion of 1 months notice etc- only refers to a Part 4 tenancy as defined under the 2004 Residential Tenancies Act. Legally the landlord can enforce the terms of the lease- which will specify a set rent and a payment schedule, along with the rights and obligations of both tenant and landlord.

That your friend is not accepting your calls- is a blessing in disguise- its quite possible that he is being chased by the landlord for the whole of the rent- and will continue to be, until the term specified in the lease expires.

S.

CDfm

Thank your lucky stars - i have read somewhere that landlords are taking legal action against tenants in the PTRB and having judgements listed makiung it impossible for tenants with problems to rent.

You may actually be in the better position and he was stupid not to get you to sign a sharing agreement.

LegacyUser

if you have evidence of money transfer you might be able to get some back

if he asked you to move out he should give it back

small claims court! at least you know where he loves! definately chase him,call around day after he gets paid tell him you need your money,

Xiney

The OP was not on the lease, he was under license agreement. He doesn't have the same responsibilities (or rights) as the lease holder.

Basically, he is entitled to his deposit back, since he didn't sign a 12 month contract, and gave sufficient notice to the lease holder.



Legally, that is. From a friendship point of view, this is all different.