How do you serve notice on your lodger?

You have decided that you are absolutely fed up with your lodger and you are going to serve a notice to quit on them (as discussed here). You have written it all out. How do you go about serving it?

As you share a house with the lodger, you don’t want to put it in the post (and posting notices isn’t advisable anyway as it is impossible normally to prove that it has been delivered).   

There are a number of possibilities:

• handing it to them
• leaving it on their bed
• leaving it on the table in their room
• sticking it on their door

Personal service (handing it to them) is generally best.  Also, you can arrange for someone else to be present with you, so that if your lodger is minded to lie and say that they have never had it, you will be able to prove otherwise. 

Indeed, the very fact that you had someone there will often mean that the lodger will know that this is not something he can do.

However, happily, not all lodgers are liars. In many cases, you will prefer not to risk a confrontation and will just leave it in his room.  You can still have someone with you when you leave the notice on the bed (or wherever) to be a witness just in case.

Finally, make sure you keep a copy of the notice or letter, and keep a careful note of the date and time that you served and how you served it. 

You can get your witness to sign and date this also.  Hopefully, your lodger will leave as requested, but it is as well to keep a careful record just in case.