Okay, so i have a lodger who owes me a considerable sum of money. I told him last week he had to leave by the 31st so two weeks notice. I've not given him an AST agreement or anything similar.
I was fully prepared to write off this moeny because i just want him gone but he now wants a weeks rent back so he can find somewhere else to stay.
Can i take this through the small claims court if it comes to it?
Hmm, I don't know all the details of this, but already I can see the potential for some serious trouble.
You know what my advice would be? Get a solicitor...
It could turn out to be less damaging in the long run, just to give him a week's rent and getting rid.
Best of luck; seems like a proper tricky one...
I am sort of tihnking of giving him the weeks rent then making a public spectacle of askign for the rent back.
Is there any reason i can't post "wheres my £x" on facebook every month?
Is there any kind of written agreement between you?
Thing is, he's probbly gonna have certain legal rights that you may not even be aware of. You may never be able to claim any of the money he 'owes' you. You'd be foolish not to get proper legal advice. Sounds crap, but there it is. Housing Law can be a minefield.
you are going to give a person who owes 'a considerable sum of money' more money? That doesn't make sense to me unless you knock it off the considerable sum but even so.
Lodger's don't have any statutory rights like tenants, so give him the 2 weeks notice in writing, and in 2 weeks time chuck his stuff outside and change the locks.
I realise housing laws are minefields...This is part of the reason im thinking it mya be worth paying him the £67.50 to leave early. I am favouring the facebook approach atm.
Are you bigger than he is? Chuck him out on the street. Liberal treatment of arses like that have made the society we're blessed with today.
"You owe me a lot of money"
"I want you to give me a smaller amount of money"
"Sure - you now owe me (large amount of money) minus (smaller amount of money), off you go"
haha i like cougars idea.
Lock changing is a fun idea but would cost more than wht he is asking for.
Given the current lack of money this person has. Lock changing may be advisable even if they leave amicably..
You would be well advised to change the locks anyway.
smash his face in 
get real advice. Lodgers can end up with rights in some circumstances I believe
Professional advise needed. I'm not sure about the "lodgers don't have any rights" statement. All sorts of people can have rights that all parties may not be aware of. I'd be worried about the Facebook thing, next thing you know he'll be suing you for harassment. And what do you think it will achieve? Can you be bothered to do it? Do you understand the pitfalls. Can you afford to replace windows? I sort of agree with the liberal treatement statement in theory but we are where we are and this could be more damaging to you. (S)He sounds like the sort of person who has no scruples so it will probably be you who will come off worse to a lesser or greater degree.
i had a problem lodger. i took his stuff and threw it into black bags then put it outside my house, told him he was no longer welcome in my house. it was problem solved.
just get all your money back, he owes you fair and square, get him out asap and ffs dont give him any more money!!!!! you paying his 1st weeks rent somewhere else when he owes you rent is outrageous!
if you have no agreement then surely he has no claim to actually living there? any legal hassle from him and its "sorry never heard of the chap, he's certainly never lived here?"
do as fatmutha suggests and you could end in jail.
Wait a minute,
Is this lodger a mate who's staying with you, rather than an official landlord / tennant sort of thing?
(does that affect rights?)
Yes cougar hes a "mate". Or was...
I have (he has) paid council tax for a 6 month period due to him living here hence why i want him out by the 31st to avoid paying it next month. His employee paid him on the 4th friday so his payment date moved from around the 23rd -> the 12th this month i believe. Hence why there is a 2 week discrepancy.
I had a mate who got rid of a lodger by getting a couple of very large blokes to give him a hand to move his stuff out (note they did not physically threaten him or verbally threaten him they just gave him a hand to move his stuff) although they did look a bit scary.
Liberal treatment of arses like that have made the society we're blessed with today.
Fantastic joke. Well done!
I'm not sure about the "lodgers don't have any rights" statement.
That's because it's legally ignorant. Unless someone here is actually a lawyer well versed in Housing Law, and can actually quote the Law for real, I'd still urge you to get proper legal advice. Especially, as you say, your lodger is registered for Council Tax. This may have significant bearing on things legally, I'm not sure.
As for the Keyboard Warriors preferred method of 'kick him out on the street', or the more cowardly 'get a couple of mates round' type approach; not only could it land you in a whole heap of trouble with the Law, you have to bear in mind the evictee may well be the type to seek 'revenge'. What if you turn up with a couple of big mates, then he calls round a couple of his own even bigger mates, with heavy/sharp objects?
There's some useful advice here, but it's only guidelines, as you've not revealed all the details of the arrangement with your lodger.
Throw him out on his ear tonight, change the locks & deny any knowledge of him ever being a lodger
http://www.lodgers.com/lodgers-rights2.html
I'd still throw him out though 
send in an ugly bastard at midnight with a baseball bat and do him proper!
or perhaps that should read "own him with bombers" either way he needs it.
Hang on. Council tax! You say he pays council tax and fred has alluded to him being named on the council tax. I have a question to both of those points;
Why?
Why has he been made Joint & Severaly liable on your council tax and also why is he paying it?
You should have lost your 25% single person discount because this guy lives at your property but under the heirachy rules, as you are resident in the property and your lodger has no financial interest in the property he shouldn't be named on the council tax.
Having said that, he has no extra legal rights to remain in the property just because he's been made liable.
send in an ugly bastard at midnight with a baseball bat and do him proper!
See these ideas are just stupid. What if the lodger defends himself, as he is legally entitled to do, and the ugly bastard ends up dead, having been stabbed in the eye with a letter-opener? Cue one dead ugly bastard, and the LL being done for conspiracy to murder. Possibly.
Advocating breaking the law by using threats or violence is worse than withholding payment of rent, every time. It's obvious those coming up with such wild ideas watch too much TV and have little or no idea of real violence. Just internet posturing. 
Repeatedy tea-bag him for the next two weeks, he will get the message.....or he may start enjoying it.
If I was you I'd just find out the right legal route to get him out, i.e 1 months written notice or whatever it is, send it recorded delivery, witnessed by a legal type. Just saying "I want you out by such n such" in a conversation means diddly squat.
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/renting_and_leasehold/sharing_and_subletting/lodgers
He would appear to have very little rights
Ah yes, but:
By accepting rent the landlord may be admitting that the person has a right to live in the accommodation. This is a complicated area of law so get advice if you are in this situation.
I refer the OP to the second line of my first post above....
Using violence and/or threats is a criminal offence. That bit is pretty clear.
I'd just give the weeks rent and be done with it. Bye bye. If the guy is a psycho, or really clued up, could just be a world of hassle. I think it just comes with the job, you get good ones you get bad ones? Does he owe you loads in arrears? how come you've left it so long?
there is a real load of nonsense posted on this thread. but in between some of the bilge the real answer lives.
Your tenant has few rights.
he has right to reasonable notice.
You have the right to change the locks, at the end of that notice.
You must not use threats or violence to remove him from your property.
thats about it.
as for the money. you can take him to court using the small claims track; google small claims track and follow the cab guide if thats what you want to do.
happy to discuss further, but you'll have to mail me. Or you can find all the correct answers if you click my name
If you can afford it and don't want any hassle; 'help' him on his way to the next (ex) friend - otherwise it's either legal advice or big mates.
If you can afford it and don't want any hassle; 'help' him on his way to the next (ex) friend - otherwise it's either legal advice or big mates.
Although this would leave a bitter taste in your mouth, it does seem the best solution unless you really are prepared to get heavy and chuck the guy out. It will cost you a weeks rent (plus the rent you have written off) to never see him again. How much would it cost to engage a solicitor? as some are suggesting. If he's broke, you're not going to get any money back anyway.
My initial reaction is as per most above - tell him to pack up and f off. However, a hell of a lot easier to hand him £67.50 and then tell him to pack up and f-off. And get him to sign some kind of receipt acknowledging receipt of the money and terminating his rights of occupation.
If it only costs £67.50 to solve this problem, then I wouldn't bother with a solicitor as £67.50 won't even get one to answer the phone. And you've already effectively written off the previous sums owed.
Hand him the dosh in return for something in writing and make sure he vacates on Sunday.
If it comes to a legal argument later, you can demonstrate that you have acted reasonably at every stage.
PS speaking as a surveyor with a large portfolio of residential tenants.
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