Hello folks!
Firstly I am sorry if this is in the wrong section.
I have signed a Lodger Agreement with my landlord who certainly does NOT live here (but does store stuff here) but I am very suspicious.
Truth be told, I am new to all this renting stuff and I have not been the smartest about it...
I signed the contract but only scanned over it.
I only realised a few days later that I have a "Lodger Agreement" and not a tenancy contract, and as far as I can see, I have no rights and if the washing machine breaks for example, I have to pay for a fix/new one myself... which is the opposite of what I thought I was getting. Even my deposit isn't legally protected as a lodger and this is very concerning since they now seem shady.
I paid £500 as a deposit and £500 upfront for 1 months rent, but the thing is, my landlord is insisting on cash, even when I expressed that this was bothersome.
As I was in a tight spot, with nowhere to live in 3 days, I let it go.
She is giving a receipt but while it has my name, date, and amount on it clearly, their signature is scribbles.
Is this even legitimate? (I have attached a picture of it to this thread)
I want to rent a place as a tenant... simple as that!
I am afraid that if I pull my landlord on this, they will just tell me to leave.
(The lodgers agreement says: EARLY TERMINATION - any party may at anytime end this agreement earlier than the end of the term by giving to the other written notice of 1 month)... if this is not a lodgers agreement since she does not live here, is this still valid? I'm worried because 1 month is not enough time for me to find a new place and accumulate another deposit in the event she doesn't give me this one back in full.
Can someone please help me?
I would be very grateful!
As I said, they do not live here.
It's a 2 bed apartment with me staying in one room, and currently a guy who is moving out in a few days in another.
There is another person moving in the day he moves out, so both rooms are being rented by people who are not the landlord.
I have an app on my phone that records my calls (I turn it off for friends and family), so I have all of our phone conversations recorded.
I'll need to go through them to know exactly what I have her saying, but I know a few of them are her talking about me moving in... me bringing the months rent when I pick up the key... about the guy moving out of the other room and the new person moving into it. So considering it's a 2 bed apartment, she cannot successfully claim that she lives here.
She is storing some stuff here though and I wonder if this is a way around the requirement of her living here? Does this have any significance?
I also have her on recording saying that there is no bed in my room yet, but will be one in a few days. I asked her about this bed when I collected the key and she acted as if she never said it. But I certainly have her recorded as saying it.
The lodgers contract also says that it's for a room in a furnished house... but my room isnt furnished and neither is the living room (apart from an oven, a washing machine/dryer and a fridge.
There's no cutlery, cups, couches, microwave, or table and chairs...
There is a office chair and a desk in the living room though, but since I just moved in today and my temporary house mate is away, I dont know if this is his or the landlords...
I took a video recording of my room and other parts of the house, including marks on the wall and a small burn in the living room carpet. Hopefully this stands up if she tries to be sneaky and say I did it.
In sum,
- Am I a lodger or a tenant since she does not live here?
- Should my deposit be protected?
- Can she kick me out if I pull her up on all this? Or is it a matter of 1 months notice or 6 months as per the stated term length?
- Should there be more furnishings?
- Are her receipts legit?
- If I take a picture of the receipts and upload them to cloud storage for safe keeping, are they still legit?
As I said, I needed to take this place as I was in a tight spot.
Ideally I would just like to make everything legit here and be a tenant with rights...
Thanks in advance for your help and if you need any other info, then if I have it, I will provide it.
PS: The term on the contract is 6 months.
Firstly I am sorry if this is in the wrong section.
I have signed a Lodger Agreement with my landlord who certainly does NOT live here (but does store stuff here) but I am very suspicious.
Truth be told, I am new to all this renting stuff and I have not been the smartest about it...
I signed the contract but only scanned over it.
I only realised a few days later that I have a "Lodger Agreement" and not a tenancy contract, and as far as I can see, I have no rights and if the washing machine breaks for example, I have to pay for a fix/new one myself... which is the opposite of what I thought I was getting. Even my deposit isn't legally protected as a lodger and this is very concerning since they now seem shady.
I paid £500 as a deposit and £500 upfront for 1 months rent, but the thing is, my landlord is insisting on cash, even when I expressed that this was bothersome.
As I was in a tight spot, with nowhere to live in 3 days, I let it go.
She is giving a receipt but while it has my name, date, and amount on it clearly, their signature is scribbles.
Is this even legitimate? (I have attached a picture of it to this thread)
I want to rent a place as a tenant... simple as that!
I am afraid that if I pull my landlord on this, they will just tell me to leave.
(The lodgers agreement says: EARLY TERMINATION - any party may at anytime end this agreement earlier than the end of the term by giving to the other written notice of 1 month)... if this is not a lodgers agreement since she does not live here, is this still valid? I'm worried because 1 month is not enough time for me to find a new place and accumulate another deposit in the event she doesn't give me this one back in full.
Can someone please help me?
I would be very grateful!
As I said, they do not live here.
It's a 2 bed apartment with me staying in one room, and currently a guy who is moving out in a few days in another.
There is another person moving in the day he moves out, so both rooms are being rented by people who are not the landlord.
I have an app on my phone that records my calls (I turn it off for friends and family), so I have all of our phone conversations recorded.
I'll need to go through them to know exactly what I have her saying, but I know a few of them are her talking about me moving in... me bringing the months rent when I pick up the key... about the guy moving out of the other room and the new person moving into it. So considering it's a 2 bed apartment, she cannot successfully claim that she lives here.
She is storing some stuff here though and I wonder if this is a way around the requirement of her living here? Does this have any significance?
I also have her on recording saying that there is no bed in my room yet, but will be one in a few days. I asked her about this bed when I collected the key and she acted as if she never said it. But I certainly have her recorded as saying it.
The lodgers contract also says that it's for a room in a furnished house... but my room isnt furnished and neither is the living room (apart from an oven, a washing machine/dryer and a fridge.
There's no cutlery, cups, couches, microwave, or table and chairs...
There is a office chair and a desk in the living room though, but since I just moved in today and my temporary house mate is away, I dont know if this is his or the landlords...
I took a video recording of my room and other parts of the house, including marks on the wall and a small burn in the living room carpet. Hopefully this stands up if she tries to be sneaky and say I did it.
In sum,
- Am I a lodger or a tenant since she does not live here?
- Should my deposit be protected?
- Can she kick me out if I pull her up on all this? Or is it a matter of 1 months notice or 6 months as per the stated term length?
- Should there be more furnishings?
- Are her receipts legit?
- If I take a picture of the receipts and upload them to cloud storage for safe keeping, are they still legit?
As I said, I needed to take this place as I was in a tight spot.
Ideally I would just like to make everything legit here and be a tenant with rights...
Thanks in advance for your help and if you need any other info, then if I have it, I will provide it.
PS: The term on the contract is 6 months.
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