House Mate Advice

LegacyUser

Hi there,

Would appreciate any advice on the below situation. Will try and be brief.

Basically I rented out a room in my house to a stranger. Nice girl and all that paid her rent and went about her own business. We'd chat her and there and I knew she had some issues in her personal life.

Basically I noticed I hadn't seen her in a while and thought about texting her to make sure she was ok. I was quite stressed with my own stuff at the time also. Rent was still being paid so thought she must have gone away for a while. I did send a couple of emails to the address I had and no answer. I also sent a few texts which did not go through and when I tried to call phone was off. No other contact details.

So it's basically its a few months and no contact. Her stuff is still here and she has keys. We had no lease just a 30 day notice clause so she could have left at any stage. Then the rent stopped being paid so I had to cover the mortgage on my own (just lost my job too) and I again tried phoning. Sent a few texts that did go through. She did reply saying she would pay the rent (which she did) and would get her stuff out of the house by the end of the month.

I was very nice (well I thought so) saying I hope she was ok etc and was genuinely worried about her. The texts I got back were very snotty though.

So basically I am wondering if I did something wrong here? Shouldn't I be the one that's snotty? Also, there have been bills over the past few months which she has not paid. She will be looking for her deposit back. What should I do? Should I subtract bills and pay her the rest?

Any advice?

shebango

Hey OP.

Obviously she has a lot going on in her life. I wouldn't take it personally at all.

She's paid her rent in fairness and will be moving her stuff out.

I'd subtract the bills from the deposit and when giving the remainder back to her, i'd explain the deduction.

That's it. Start advertising for someone new and hopefully you'll have a better experience next time.

astra2000

Not sure about the bills, if she hasnt been in the house the last few months do you want her to pay a share for services she hasnt been availing of?

tinkerbell

astra2000 wrote: »

Not sure about the bills, if she hasnt been in the house the last few months do you want her to pay a share for services she hasnt been availing of?

I don't think it matters whether the girl has been there or has not. She entered into a contract to rent at the house and pay X in rent, and Y in bills. Regardless of whether she is there or not, she still has to pay the rent and the bills.

Things like phone / tv / internet all have fixed charges pm regardless of usage.

Getting there

I think You have done all you can in looking out for your housemate. A lot more thaan others would have tbh. I have seen one instance where the AWOL housemate things were put into black bags and another moved in.

I think it would be fair to deduct fixed bills like internet etc but not the ones which she didnt contribute to while she was missing like heating. But in the end, as the landlord, its up to you.

curlzy

Hey OP,
I would contact the Private Residential Tenancies Board or Threshold to ask what are your duties and entitlements are as a landlord. That way you can be sure that you are acting correctly, best way to deal with these things is by the book I find, that way it can't come back to bite you in the ass.
Best of luck.

pollypocket10

Hi OP the PRTB doesn't actually cover owner occupied homes where you are just renting a room. If it did however, deducting the bills from the deposit is perfectly acceptable. I am a landlord myself so I was actually just checking this issue with regards to deposits earlier today.

I think you've been very reasonable all in all though. Nothing for you to fret about imo.

LegacyUser

OP here,

Just wanted to say thanks to those who took the time to reply and for your sound advice.