Getting out of a renting contract?

Question

My friend rents a house with a couple, it is a two bedroom house. The couple split because the girl cheated on the guy. They are all contracted to pay a third of the rent, and all have guarantors.

The female who cheated has moved out and wants out of the contract, the landlord has said no. She wants to go to citizens advice to get out. Can they do anything? Will my friend have to pay more? She says she can just say she has to care for a sick relative (lie) and they have to let her out of it.

Answer 1

People like ruby tuesday give bad advice.

The landlord wants their rent.

If your friends have to pay the make up, they will have to sue the deadbeat who does not pay.

They should sue the co-signer.

Must of the time when a co-signer gets a call that this will go on their credit, they pay.

Citizens advice?

My advice is to honor a legal contract.

People, they always feel the landlord should suffer when they do not want to honor a lease!

Answer 2

A rental contract of this type is,of necessity,very explicit she can only get out with the agreement of both of you giving your agreement ,in writing, and the landlord,she has no chance.

Answer 3

Unfortunately if the agree does not have a break clause then it is the landlord's discretion to release them, if they have AST agreements Assured Shorthold Tenancies then they will still be jointly and separately liable for the tenancy. Alternative are limited in this, if one stops paying and there is a deficit the landlord has the right to regain that from the remaining tenants. the guarantor's only come in to play if the landlord so wishes to chase only one person for the rent or the full amount of the rent is not paid.

Unless there is a release clause there is nothing to get the tenants out of the agreement, they will have to stay the course and hope she keeps to her obligations.

Answer 4

She signed the contract for 12 months therefore she is liable. If she does not pay, then her guarantour becomes liable. There is nothing she can do, other than find another tenant to move in with the other two.

Some of this depends on the contract - if it is 'joint and several' the other two tenants (and their guarantors) are also responsible for paying the rent in full, including the cheater's share.  

Answer 5

The other two roommates will have to make up the difference and take her to court, or find another roommate to take over that share of the rent.

Answer 6

It depends on the contract.

If they're separate contracts with the landlord, your friend won't have to pay, and the girl who moved out will still be responsible for the payments. If it's true that she can get out of it (through Citizen's Advice, although I'm not sure it is), then the issue is between her and the landlord.

If it's a joint-tenancy thing signed between the three of them, the two remaining will be responsible for paying the full rent, and it's up to them how it gets sorted out. But to be honest it doesn't sound like that, and your friend problem has nothing to worry about. It's the other girl's problem.

Answer 7

Tell her to go through her contract really carefully. You can often find some tiny thing the landlord has neglected to do and you can argue that they breached the contract so it is void.

I did this for my friend when she wanted to leave her rented house due to a noisy neighbour. The landlord said it wasn't his problem so he wouldn't let her out of her contract. I went through her contract really carefully and we had the contract cancelled because the landlord had not performed a check of the gas appliances at all since she'd lived there. Her contract said he needed to do this every 6 months. It's tiny little detail like this that can render the contract void so it's worth checking. If she does find something and needs back up, the Citizens Advice Bureau were very helpful when I contacted them for my friend.

Good luck and I hope this helps!

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Answer 8

There will be no way out and she should have planned for unforeseen events before signing the contract.

I take it this was something like a 12 month lease? If so, the landlord could hold her, or her guarantor, to pay for any time remaining.

Answer 9

These types of contract would take a lot of money to be legally binding!

As far as I am aware if she is paying rent monthly, she is entitled to give a months notice.  This gives you guys a month to find a new house mate!

Answer 10

Your post is a bit muddled, can really understand who is who. I'm taking this as two bed house, single person and couple move in, all separate contracts. One of couple leaving.

If the landlord will not allow the person who left to get out the agreement (and why should he) then the rent will be recovered from the guarantor, that's what he is there for. The landlord can not be expected to to loose 1/3 of the rent just because one has left. The best thing is to speak to the landlord/agent, and they will be able to tell you the next step they will take.