Advice on getting an additional contract with flatmates.

[Deleted User] · 05/12/10 - 12:42

Hi, I live in a three bedroom flat with two others. We rent from a professional letting agency. The way we pay the rent is that all of the rent comes out of one account and then the other twwo have to pay the first person back. The account it comes out of is mine. One of the flatmates is always late and dosent seem to understand that I am not the landlord. I always have to pay on his behalf. The same problem with bills. I wouldd like to draw up an additional contract just between us flatmates for my own insurance, does anyone know how I could go about this?

Keefy-boy · 05/12/10 - 12:49

If you draw up such a contract you are likely to further formalise your position as the de-facto landlord, you might even be technically sub-letting.

Having a contract in place will achieve what? It's unlikely to make him pay more reliably and to enforce it you would still have to resort to the Small Claims Court, an option which is probably open to you at the moment.

Are you all signatories to the lease or just you?

Frankly I would lay down the law with a view to getting rid of this person if they continue in this way and learn a lesson.

[Deleted User] · 05/12/10 - 12:52

Can I take him to small claims court?

All three of us are on the contract, but the money only comes out of one account.

I am concerned about the final month's rent mainly.

Keefy-boy · 05/12/10 - 12:59

As all three of you are on the contract you are all equally liable for the rent even if one of you defaults.

As a consequnce the landlord could pursue any or all of you for unpaid rent, however it is most likely to be taken from your deposit if it remains unpaid at the end of the lease.

It may be your best option not to pay this person's rent for the last month, make it clear to the agency who has defaulted, and try to have it deducted from his share of the deposit (assuming you all contributed equally!)

[Deleted User] · 05/12/10 - 13:03

We pay the rent as a lump sum. £500 for the three of us.

[Deleted User] · 05/12/10 - 13:11

Nothing-Special wrote: »

Can I take him to small claims court?

All three of us are on the contract, but the money only comes out of one account.

I am concerned about the final month's rent mainly.

If you look at the terms of your lease you are likely to find that the three of you are jointly and severably liable, meaning that basically it doesn't matter who pays it as long as one of you does. If you all fail to pay the landlord could go after just one of you for the full amount outstanding, or all of you.

Technically you could take him to small claims court
It's not a 5 minute process though and can take a couple of months from start to finish so wouldn't solve things immediately. Besides if he pays just a little late the sum you are suing over would be settled by the time it reaches court.

Have you asked why he habitually pays late? Is it to do with his pay date?

If he is paying slightly late is there any way you could change the dd date of the bills that leave your account to after the date he pays but not tell him you have done so? ie if dd is due on the 1st, he usually pays on the 5th, change the dd date to the 8th?

Have you considered creating a joint 'house account' that you each pay your share of rent and bills into and then everything is taken out of. I've done this before and it's worked really well.
We used to pay a nominal sum for bills into a joint account , for slightly more than the average direct debit a month in advance so that things were always covered. If someone moved out ot the account started to accrue a decent some of money we'd reconcile it and split the funds or treat ourselves to a night in the pub or takeaway from the proceeds.
Also it protects your day to day account from being hit by the guys late payment and if he knows that he won't be covered if he's a few days late you may find he starts to pay on time

Keefy-boy · 05/12/10 - 13:17

Nothing-Special wrote: »

We pay the rent as a lump sum. £500 for the three of us.

What I suggest is that for the final month's rent you cancel the standing order (presumably that is how it is paid from your account) and you and the other tenant write cheques for your third shares.

If the slow-payer doesn't want to pay his share at that time send your two cheques to the agent with a covering letter explaining the situation and requesting that the third person's rent is decucted from his share of the deposit.

It may work, it won't leave you in a worse position, and may save you having to take court action to recover the money.

The worst outcome is the non-defaulters may have to pay an extra £83 each for the last month and chalk it up to experience!

lil_boo · 05/12/10 - 14:11

I had a similar problem last month with a flatmate moving out and due to some disagreements he ended up not paying anything, our landlord only cared that the rent got paid and wouldnt get involved, so I would check with your landlord first to see if there can be any kind of additional agreement in your lease, or if you can trust the flatmate, come up with an agreement yourselves, though it wouldnt be legally binding
having a joint bill account is an excellent idea, and is something I have sorted out since this mess as it means everyone is jointly responsible for rent being paid and if someone doesnt pay, one person isnt liable for the bank charges or loss of money that may occur

[Deleted User] · 05/12/10 - 15:13

In our shared house we have a community account with HSBC (technically a business account I think) that we pay cash into regularly and all of our outgoings for bills etc. go from there, so one person's personal account doesn't suffer - could you maybe look into something similar?

Hey there!

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Advice on getting an additional contract with flatmates.

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