How should you deal with problem lodgers?

First – talk to your lodger

If you are unhappy about something, have a word with your lodger about it. For example, if he is not complying with your house rules, or is starting to pay rent late.

Bear in mind that it may be that your lodger is unhappy about something that *you* are doing, and this is the reason for his behaviour.

We all have irritating habits – your lodger may find your love of opera played loudly as annoying as you find his failure to wipe the kitchen surfaces down after use. If you are both reasonable people you should be able to sort something out.

Getting it out into the open so you both know what the problem is, will generally be better than letting things fester.

However, you should try not to get into an argument or say anything you might later regret. If you don’t think this is possible, it might be best just to write.

Although if your relationship with your lodger has deteriorated to the extent where you cannot have a proper conversation with them, you may prefer them to leave.

If the problem is about late payment of rent, there may be a reason for this – perhaps your lodger has had to take a cut in salary for example and is finding things difficult. It is better that you know this sooner rather than later.  For example, with a good lodger who you would be sorry to lose, you might consider giving a temporary rent reduction.

Or maybe change the date when they pay their rent in the month to the day after they get paid (so they are less likely to use the money for something else!).

Second – write a letter or note

If talking about the problem has not done any good, the next thing to do is to put it in writing. This may also be a good idea if your lodger is out a lot, and it is difficult to find a time to speak to him.

You may also find it easier to put your complaint in writing anyway, particularly if you get flustered and are easily intimidated by your lodger, or if you feel that he does not take any notice of what you say.

Your first letter need not be very formal. Just set out clearly and without using any language that might antagonise the things that have been concerning you. Don’t be too accusatory or say anything that you will later regret. Make sure you keep a copy and that the copy is dated.

Third – write a second, more formal, letter

If your chat and the first note don’t seem to have worked, you might want to try another letter. Or perhaps your lodger improved after your talk but has since slipped back into his old ways.

Make the second letter a bit more formal. You should also warn him that if things do not improve, you will be asking him to leave (assuming that this is, in fact, what you are thinking of doing).

Note that you do not *have* to do a second letter, and if you have already decided that you want your lodger to leave you can skip this stage and go straight to giving formal notice to leave (which is dealt with separately here).

Or if you are not going to ask him to leave, and think that he just needs a further reminder, you could do another informal letter, as discussed above.

The threat of being asked to leave may bring your lodger to his senses and hopefully you won’t have any more problems.

If none of these work

However, if your lodger takes no notice of your chat and letters and just carries on, then you should seriously consider asking him to go. 

This is after all your home. If your lodger is behaving badly or not paying rent, you should not be expected to put up with this.

The first stage of getting your lodger to leave is to give formal written notice, but this is dealt with separately here in the Ending section.