Rent a room scheme - lodgers

Has anyone had experiences similar to mine with lodgers - I'm beginning to feel jinxed. I've had two lodgers renting a room in my apartment. The first one, a female, was a OCD clean freak, she was rude, sulky, constantly giving out and complaining, demanding and I ultimately got rid of her when she kept paying the rent late and refused to pay certain bills.

The second lodger was a male who turned out to have an alcohol problem - he went on a bender, locked himself in his room with the curtains constantly closed and I didn't see him for days on end. There was a strong smell of spirits and pot coming from the bedroom. He claimed to have a job yet never left the apartment as far as I know, except to go to the shop. And he cooked stuff in the middle of the night and left dirty dishes and pots lying around. He also never paid me any deposit and didn't pay for any bills for the whole time he was living there. I asked him to leave after a week and a half of this behaviour and gave him 4 weeks to move out. So I had to put up with 6 weeks of him altogether. When he left I found badly soiled bed clothes (that I had provided as a courtesy) stuffed into the washing machine but unwashed. We're talking brown stains, probably diarrhoea and also spots of blood. I had to bin the lot. He never did a wash in the 6 weeks so he must have been lying on those stains! Also blood spots on the carpet. I spent hours scouring the room after him.

It's really put me off getting another lodger. However I have a lady moving in in April but I'm really nervous!!

Let's hope third time is a charm... sounds like a nightmare episode of Rising Damp.

I wonder if there's an online list out there of lodger tests... e.g. offer them a drink and see if they eye up the whole bottle...

Are you getting references? Employer / previous landlord?

Perhaps have someone with you when you meet prospective flat mates. Might help to weed out the ones you wouldn't get on with.

Yes I have become more strict re. references, am asking for two on headed paper, contact details etc. The alcoholic guy gave me a reference from a previous landlord who said he was wonderful. Then he claimed he had to pay the rent for the lodger as he had no Irish bank account yet he'd been living in Ireland for years. For his work reference he claimed they didn't do them so he could only provide proof of some training he'd done. I searched for a HR contact in the company involved but strangely I couldn't find any and it's a well known IT company. All very strange. I'm in the process of receiving references from new lodger and I have told her they will be checked.

Maybe its just me, but I would be very careful about who I let into my own living space. I know its hard to try and weed out the good ones from the bad ones, but I would definitely insist on
(a) a reasonable deposit - whether that be 2-4 weeks rent, it would be an absolute must before they moved in
(b) a work reference - some companies don't give recommendations, but all companies I am aware of will confirm the person is currently employed by the company (or has been employed from date x to y). What they normally won't do is say if they were any good or not
(c) a previous landlord reference, date they lived at the property, when they moved out etc.

Failure to provide those would be a basic no no... clearly state all references will be followed up on, without exception.

Assuming you are based in an urban area, I would also consider the Sunday evening to Friday morning let option - so you have the place to yourself at weekends. This works very well in London and surprised its not more popular here.

But once you have agreed for them to move in, you have to leave all the bad experiences behind and let them feel welcome in the apartment

I would agree with the reasonable deposit. It is not just financial protection, it also shows that the person is responsible enough to organise the deposit money.

I am less impressed by previous landlord references, if a landlord is trying to get rid of a tenant, of course they will give them a good reference, even if they are not, its nice to be nice, most landlords will not give a bad reference, so a good one proves little.

Employer references are fine to confirm tha a person has a job, but beyond that what value are they.

You need to meet the person and form your own assessment. From personal experience, the most plausible people are the ones to avoid, followed by the people with hard luck stories, even or especially where true, their difficulties will soon become yours..

You sacrifice your privacy for some income. Also, I understand you are entitled to an extra tax free allowance by letting out a room or two. A rental charge is helpful towards the mortgage. However, all the gains can be nullified by few uncaring tenants like in the original post here. You take a chance the second you let somebody inside the door. References are worth little; you need a hard cash deposit against breakages, damage, running costs. Deposits are refundable so it should be no big deal for a tenant to pay such. Your insurance cost increases too and if you have to claim against anything insurance companies can be slow enough to pay.

I'm a bit confused by the references you took up?

The previous landlord told you that your tenant didnt have a bank account?

You couldn't or didn't follow up on the employer confirmation?

I'm not surprised you had problems.

Lesson learned, be more thorough.

First of all, I should have insisted on a proper work reference with the last lodger but I was having problems getting someone so I just accepted the training certificate as proof that he worked there. I later tried to find a HR number but couldn't find one on the website.

Secondly, companies generally don't give character references but proof that they are employed full time means they should be able to afford the rent. Nevertheless the person could forge the letter so you may need to ring the company to confirm that they actually sent it but you usually have a sense of whether the person is genuine. I had an uneasy feeling about my last lodger from the beginning.

Thirdly, you have to take them at face value and make your mind up pretty quickly as you only meet them for 10 minutes while they're looking around your place. You ask them a few questions and that's it - very difficult to get a handle on someone in that short space of time. After the strange and weird people I'd shown my apartment to previously, this guy seemed 'normal'.

Also you can't expect to get a deposit before they move in - they don't get it back from their landlord until after they vacate his premises and he has checked the place. I ask for the same amount as the rent for a deposit plus one months rent in advance and that's standard.

If you impose too many strict conditions nobody will apply. It's a delicate balancing act.

Marcia said:

Nevertheless the person could forge the letter so you may need to ring the company to confirm that they actually sent it...

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No may about it, you should always check.

Marcia said:

Also you can't expect to get a deposit before they move in - they don't get it back from their landlord until after they vacate his premises and he has checked the place.

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You can and you should, never give anyone a key without having the deposit in your hand.

When advertising for a lodger, are you allowed to specify things like:
Must have job, must be single, no kids or pets allowed, non smoker, specifically male or female, not on welfare and so on?
Or is this considered discrimination?

If you are resident in the property and this is a 'rent-a-room' arrangement, then the lodger has the legal status of guest and you are allowed choose who is a guest in your house without let or hindrance.

Having said that I would make sure that any written advertisement is in line with the equality act and could not be interpreted as discriminating on any of those grounds.

Thirsty said:

If you are resident in the property and this is a 'rent-a-room' arrangement, then the lodger has the legal status of guest and you are allowed choose who is a guest in your house without let or hindrance.

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So does the same concept apply if its not working out and you want them to move out? With reasonable notice of course, but are there any chances the "guest" has rights that do not allow you to get them to move out?

That would be a concern for me, if I got stuck with somebody where we did a 12 month contract but I discover after a month that I cannot live with them.

any chances the "guest" has rights that do not allow you to get them to move out

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None.

Edit to add: this assumes you are not in a relationship with the lodger.

In the rent a room scheme, the lodger (they are not tenants) has absolutely no rights at all. It is actually an act of good will that the owner (they are not landlords) gives 4 weeks notice to move out etc. I checked this with the Homeowners Association. There is no law to protect lodgers, unlike tenants who are renting a whole house.

I always organise the deposit on the day the lodger moves In, give them my bank details etc. It's not practical before that. The last two lodgers lived down the country and would have to travel back to Dublin again to get my bank details as I'll only hand them over in person. If you start demanding that for rent-a-room for a year, people will back out and look elsewhere. It's not worth the hassle to them. It's different if you're renting your whole house out. I tried to introduce all these strict conditions like payment by Direct Debit only and the deposit in cash on the day they move in etc and the enquiries went to zero! If you look at it from their point of view, they just want a room for a year, easy and hassle free. There's plenty of other places besides mine. And it's very easy to say people should check references - when it came to the crunch with my current lodger I couldn't ring the company. I didn't know what to say and I didn't want to offend anyone. I did say in the ad that they would be checked though.

"I didn't want to offend anyone."
Thats what you need to get over.

Here's the thing...

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always had.

If you're happy with that, grand.

If not, then take the advice offered.

To quote Sr. Michael "it might be time to start wising up"

Just out of interest - have you ever posted a cheque to someone?

I came across this thread whilst looking for information on advising Revenue re renting a room. We are on our second lodger and both have been great. We put a very clear ad on Daft and then weed out the responses. We have gone with non native Irish with strong focus on study/work & have had no issues.

I hope the OP has a good experience next!

Do you get a 'rent a room' lodger to sign any kind of contract re house rules, rent etc.?

It's up to you.