Difficult Tenancy Advice Req'd

[Champagne]

A friend of mine recently broke up with her boyfriend whom she was living with. Unfortunately this break-up took place before the 6 month tenancy agreement expired. With things turning very ugly in the relationship, she now wants to get out of the flat but it committed to this agreement.

Her ex is becoming more and more unstable and she is now fitting the perfect role of 'victim'. Last month he didn't pay his share of the rent so she had to pay the lot. This month he is saying that he will be taking over the full rental of the flat so that she can move out, but this is very unlikely to happen (he has no proof of a regular income so the letting agents are unlikely to accept him as sole tenant).

Does anybody know of a way she can get out of this?

Main issues are as follows:-

- committed to further 3 months of rent payment at current property
- she can't move out unless she can rid herfself of paying the rent
- ex won't move out, but at the same time can't actually afford to sustain the flat by himself, even though he is saying he will
- agents are saying they can't cancel the agreement unless she was to find replacement tenants
- ex is growing increasingly unstable and bullying

Thanks in advance.

[Eve]

Could she get the agents to actively market the flat and could she do it herself personally to see if they can find some replacement tenants?

Is there anyone she could move in with on a short term low cost basis while she pays the remaining part of the rent so she is away from him?

Is there anyone she could borrow the money off to pay off the outstanding rent to get herself free of the tenancy agreement?

Could she get her ex out of the flat if he has been physically violent or similar?

[stonekicker]

my hubby is a housing officer (local authority of many years)and offered the following advice to your chum:

*if the ex is bullying or violent, she can contact the police and have him removed from the property and report any violence, threatening behaviour or language - no 'proof' required necessarily, but bear in mind that this route could also inflame the situation. this is to prevent violence occuring or a breach of the peace. technically he has the right to return to the flat as a tenant, but once he has been removed and details of incidents recorded etc. it will be easier to do so again

*she can seek advice/support and potential housing for domestic violence from the police, women's aid and her local authority housing advice service and anyone else she can think of or gets suggested to her if she contacts one of these agencies

*she should check her tenancy very carefully to check if there is a clause to enable her to give 1 months notice at any point of the contract (despite what the agents may say, especially if it is a standard assured shorthold tenancy - most of them do somewhere in the small print) - if there isn't it is tough, but she should learn from this and never sign another tenancy which doesn't give her this option in the future

[stonekicker]

* in terms of walking away from the tenancy now, if she has somewhere to go she should simply hand in her keys to the agents, explain why she is walking away and inform them the boyfriend is staying. if she doesn't tell them where she is going - how can they find her? even if they do have guarantor details or other means of catching up with her, it would have to go through the small claims process which is costly, time consuming and rarely actioned - even when talking of thousands of pounds worth of arrears. landlords/agents also always should have insurance against rental debt so will get their money somehow and anyway, she has enough on her plate to worry about so should not take on board the 'problem' she thinks she may causing to others by walking away

*if she is worried about future references etc she can always explain the situation to future landlords or stay somewhere temporarily for a couple of months for support(like mum/dad's, friends etc) and get one off them. people who behave abysmally get tenancies in the future, so there is no real reason why this will affect her badly or make her stay in such a crappy situation

*this is not strictly the legal way of going around doing things, but after a decade of housing work, my hubby has never known a women be penalised for leaving a violent or abusive relationship under the above circumstances

[stonekicker]

*if she does decide to move out immediately, try to ensure when she removes her belongings from the flat and vactes properly that she has a few very large blokes doing this with her. it will offer her moral support, get the job done more quickly and if the boyfriend hasn't hit her yet may stop this occurring if he thinks she really isn't going to move out. be very careful though, to give them strict instructions not to talk to him during this process, get verbal or physical in any way. if things do get tense at this point, telephone the police, stay out of the way until they get there and ensure they supervise the removal of her belongings to keep the process under control

tell her to leave now - there is no reason to put up with so much stress and a d!ck that you have described. it is never worth it and the longer she remains in that situation, the more likely it is that she will stay, feel stuck and fully complete the transition to victim of domestic violence properly. good luck and wish her well from us x

[Champagne]

Hi Jenna, all very valid questions. Answers in order are yes (probably), no, maybe, I think so.

And excellent advice from stonekicker (& hubby).

I'm trying to help my friend feel more confident about her situation. She does need to toughen up and stand up for herself through this. Initially she was hoping for a nice amicable break-up but this clearly isn't an option anymore. It is a horrible situation to be in, but if her ex does carry on bullying her the way he is then she MUST call the police on him. First and foremost is her safety.

I have forwarded on your advice to her so hopefully she will take it on board.

Thanks again. xx

[themas]

As well as trying to deal with the present problem, she needs to look carefully at her tenancy agreement, and find out what happens at the end of the 6 months. It is quite likely the agreement could continue on as a periodic (i.e. from month to month) agreement unless it is terminated. She may therefore need to make sure she writes to the agents (recorded delivery, keep a copy) giving the necessary notice (probably 1 month) to terminate at the end of the 6 months. This will ensure that any liability she still has will end then & - if she has paid a deposit - she should be able to get it back.

[stonekicker]

reading on from your reply - if things really are that bad then she needs to go now. support her as much as you are able and go get her stuff with the big burly blokes suggested. she has the right o be housed and protected if a victim of domestic violence, but i can see that she may need persuading that she is this (as most victims do not percieve themselves to be so). even if that means kipping on someone's sofa for a couple of days while she goes to the council/women's aid for housing help - she can sort this mess out. well done you for being such a good friend - keep it up!

[Peter Pedant]

excellent reply from Stone kicker just in case no-one has noticed.

All the short hold assured tenancies agreements I have seen have at the end of the document, that the tenant can leave with notice of one months rent (or the rental period which is usually a month) In fact I usuallly poinnt it out to tenants - they can end it early and the landlord usually can't.

[Twenty20]

I hope your friend sorts it out Champagne. She should get out if there really is a problem, but she will still be liable for rent up until the end of the tenancy (another 3 months?).

I know some of the other replies are made in good faith, but I have to contradict them. It would be VERY unusual for an initial term of an AST (tenancy agreement) to have any sort of get out clause for the tenant. If it continues after this initial period (usually 6 months) then yes, it would be more common and certainly if the tenancy is periodic. But it would just make no sense to have a clause such as this where the tenant could just walk away in the initial term.

I would advise her to tell the agent or the landlord the situation and tell them she's getting out, but to offer to pay half of the rent for the remainder of the term - possibly 3 months. Legally, this wont put her in the clear as she will be jointly and severally liable for the whole rent, as will her partner, but if she does this then the agent/landlord will most likely chase her partner for the remainder. Just running off and hiding, as was suggested, wont work. It's very easy to track people down and its actually quite cheap to take them to court for rent owed. So, be upfront about the situation with the agent/landlord. If the agent wont listen, go directly to the landlord - legally you have to be supplied with their name and address if you ask the agent.

Technically you dont have to give notice to vacate at the end of the fixed tern, but its common practice to do so. She should do so now to reinforce the point that she's getting out.

And, yes, contact the police if she feels it warrants it.

[themas]

Escellent advice from Twenty20. I've never come across an AST that allows the tenant to terminate during the initial fixed term.

[Champagne]

I will ask her to scrutinize the tenancy agreement, but I'm sure she's tied in for the whole 6 months.

Thanks everyone for you advice. Much appreciated.