Lodger not returning keys! HELP!!

[tommygirl3]

To cut a very long story short:

Very difficult lodger - loud, uses everyone else's things and generally thinks she has more rights than the landlady (me)!

I've decided to sell my flat - as I can't cope with this difficult lodger - who seems to have taken over my home.

I gave her a letter of notice on 29th Jan 07. Giving her one month's notice, citing her last day is 28 Feb 07.

She has now moved her possession out of the flat 8 Feb 07 giving me a day's notice before she moved out, but not given me a forwarding address to send her deposit cheque.

She has refused to return the keys and says she wants her deposit money and any rent she has paid in advance, saying she will 'exchange keys for her cash at the local tube station'.

She's entirely unco-operative and will not meet around my work hours.

I don't want to give her cash as knowing her being a problematic person, she will claim that I've never given her the money back, etc etc. She has refused to sign an acknowledgement to my letter of notice.

I've done everything through tht eirght channels, and now I'm very annoyed. She keeps on claiming she has rights. But if she doesn't bother contacting me, I don't know where to give her back her money!

Where do I stand legally? Can I get the police to force her to give me the keys back? As she still has the keys, she can pop in at any time! I'm afraid she might trash my flat!

HELP!

[CheekyChops]

Use her deposit money to change the locks!

If you don't want to give her cash because she won't sign anything and can turn round and say you've never paid her back, you can turn it against her and say that you have - transaction done in cash, no receipt.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

change the locks, and tell her you have, and no monies willl be returned unless she meets you on your terms and time,tell her to keep her keys as a momentum,she will soon come round to your way of thinking

[joko]

change the locks - then say no more about it.

you have made an effort, she has not.

she is the one that stands to lose out, not you, as i would guess her deposit cost much more that putting a new lock on.

if you do send her any mail - get it recorded post.

explain that she should have put the key through the letter box when she left - she has no right to still have it.

as a result you will be charging her for having the locks changed - as she has caused you to feel unsafe due to her hostility...and she could have made copies!!

as i say the onus is on her to get her deposit back - let her make all the effort.

regarding the rent - months notice is a months notice - if she has chosen to leave before her time was legally up - that is not your problem - you have not asked her to leave before her paid rent is up.

[Berta Mason]

I agree that you should change the locks if only for your personal safety. What if she walks back in while you're at work? Then you could put the money into a building society account and take advice from a Law Centre whether you have to return the deposit or are entitled to keep all or some in lieu of notice. Your local CAB should be able to direct you to a law centre.

[themas]

Presumably she paid the February rent in advance and thinks she is entitled to some of it back because she moved out early. If the contract was for rent monthly she is not entitled to it.

She is entitled to her deposit, less any expenditure for dilapidations such as decorating, repairs, carpet cleaning etc. if these are needed as a result of damage she has caused. Insist on paying this by cheque.

Get the locks changed and deduct the cost from the deposit, but this might not stand up in Court if she went so far as to make a claim against you - depends what attitude the judge adopted and who he/she believed.

[flyciderman]

Al this is very good but I think you want an end to this. Why not agree to met her but a) write out an invoice with the deductions (keep a copy) b) Keep the months rent and the balance of the depoist less the cost of the keys c) take somone with you.

Simply hand over the money and the invoice and walk away, mark and post as "return to sender"

Try and avoid any conflict and treat your self to a good night out on the deposit money