Shared House - One person refusing to pay in full

Bicycle

Hi folks,

Some help would be appreciated please.

Basically a bud of mine is living in shared accommodation. There are four of them including my bud. All four have their names on the rental book, all four paid their deposits separately to the landlord. It was initially agreed that all would pay €75 per week.

So, on moving in, Person A decided that because they had a smaller room they should pay less rent and that the other 3 should subsidise them. Furthermore, Person A also decided they were spending less time in the flat as well which they believed was supporting their argument. So rent that was €75 per week per person will drop to €66 for Person A and rise to €78 for the others. My bud and the others are disputing this issue. Person A has threatened to walk.

What is the legal situation? If Person A walks out on the other 3, what happens my bud and her flatmates? Is the landlord liable to cover the lost rent and get another person in to share or are my bud and her flatmates liable for the rent and to get another person to share?

As background each person in the house pays for a different bill (i.e. Gas, Electricity, Cable etc) and the others contribute each week.

Any advice or guidance or recommendations or observations would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

drunkmonkey

Anywhere i've rented the person with the biggest room especially if they have an en-suite pays the most, that's only fair.

Bicycle

There's no en-suite.

Tigger

i always paid equally

looking back a shared room should cost less than a single, i'd have paid more to have a single, one time i was expected to pay double for a single and so i moved out (the rational that i could share but id say never move in with a couple was the moral there

needs clear agreements but i'd say call the bluff and see what happens next

Good loser

Offer to swop rooms.

si_guru

Good loser wrote: »

Offer to swop rooms.

I like your logic!

gozunda

si_guru wrote: »

I like your logic!

Swap the rooms quarterly so there is no arguement...room rotation if you will, so all fair in student land...:)

Bicycle

Thanks.

They offered to swap rooms but Person A doesn't want to.

And just to clarify - each person has their own room.

ravendude

Very bad form on his part.

He knew exactly what was involved when he signed up to the agreement. That was his time to speak up if he had concerns.

He's signed up now, so if he doesn't like it he should stop whinging and go.

Now, if he didn't see the room at the beginning, or if people ran in and grabbed rooms before he had a chance to look, - then that's a a different story.

Also, how long or often he's there is irrelevent. The fact is that he has the use of the house at his convenience and that's what he's paying for. How much or little time he decides to spend there is his own business. It's not a rent by the hour motel, is it ?

TouchingVirus

It's a very strange agreement with the bills anyway - surely the person with the gas and ESB gets the short end of the stick from October-March. Split each bill 4 ways, do not take into account if somebody isn't there all the time because that's their problem; They didn't sign a part-time lease.

As for the rooms, it should have all been decided before signing the lease who was going to pay what. I'm in a house and I've got the "smallest" room but it's still a double like the others and we pay the same amount.

I don't believe the three others in the house are liable for the rent if Person A leaves because you each had your own agreement with the landlord by paying your deposits separately but either way you need to be given notice if they leave and have time to find another person to fill the room.

Knasher

Bicycle wrote: »

What is the legal situation? If Person A walks out on the other 3, what happens my bud and her flatmates? Is the landlord liable to cover the lost rent and get another person in to share or are my bud and her flatmates liable for the rent and to get another person to share?

It depends on the lease, if the lease isn't a joint lease then A can move out and the rest shouldn't be effected in any way. Unfortunately joint leases seem to be the common approach in Ireland so it's probably joint. In this case, legally speaking, the landlord doesn't assume any liability if one of the people move out, neither for lost rent or to get another person.

Normally though I'd actually agree with A, a noticeably smaller room should warrant less rent than larger ones. That being said, she was aware of the rent when she moved in so if she had an objection she should have raised it then.

28064212

Bicycle wrote: »

Furthermore, Person A also decided they were spending less time in the flat as well which they believed was supporting their argument.

Tell them that's fine. Tell them that it's fine so long as they have all their stuff out of the room everytime they leave it so it can be short-term rented out to other people, no problem

quinnie123ie

Bicycle wrote: »

Hi folks,

Some help would be appreciated please.

Basically a bud of mine is living in shared accommodation. There are four of them including my bud. All four have their names on the rental book, all four paid their deposits separately to the landlord. It was initially agreed that all would pay €75 per week.

If they made seperate agreements with the landlord, let him leave and everyone else pay 75 a head... or why dont they look for somewhere and leave him up sh1t creek...

Chuck Stone

Look for someone else.

He sounds like a pedant and if it starts off like this it'll probably be just as bad when it comes to getting money off him for bills.

Victor

Bicycle wrote: »

Basically a bud of mine is living in shared accommodation. There are four of them including my bud. All four have their names on the rental book, all four paid their deposits separately to the landlord. It was initially agreed that all would pay €75 per week.

Do they have a lease? How many names on the lease? Do they have separate rent books?

If there is one lease with all their names on it, i.e. they are renting the whole property as one, they are all responsible to the landlord together. The landlord will only accept the €300/week rent. It may be somewhat unfair for everyone to be paying hte same rent if there is a big difference in room size.

If there are individually renting rooms, then they are individually responsible to the landlord. The each have to pay €75/week to the landlord, no more, no less. The person with the small room presumably knew what they were signing up to.

derekoshea

I shared rent in quite a few houses in my life and it has been the case that you paid less if you got the box room or what seemed to be a much smaller room. Ye should have come to an agreement at the strat.

Derek.

Liamario

He shouldn't be expected to pay the same for a lesser room. On saying that, he must have been aware of this before he signed the lease; so he's got nothing whatsoever to bitch about.
With regard to his statement that he won't be there as much as everyone else; he's talking out of his arse. Does he want a clock-in system or something?! Whether he's in the house for any period of time is his own look out.
I would try and negotiate the reduction of his rent with him, if you really want him to stay. If that fails, try and call his bluff. Finally, if all else fails, help him pack. :cool: