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Last year I started uni, in independent housing with a student lettings company and lived with 3 other people, one of which was the lead tenant, therefore in charge of our deposits.
At the start of July I had to cover the lead tenant's share of a gas and electricity bill of about £50, and she said she knew this fully well and that she needed to pay me back ASAP. She dodged my messages, calls and texts until late August when I got her guarantor (her dad's) phone number off the letting agency and spoke to her dad, and then surprised her when she answered another time and then said she'd pay me when the letting agency had processed our deposits, which took fracking ages because of her not providing proof of the ruddy cancellation of our broadband contract.

At the start of month our deposits were being processed by the letting agency, that should have taken 10 days at most. I should have it by now, and my bill money but she's dodging all contact again. I've just sent out a message asking for her new address to all of our mutual friends and am going to track her down tomorrow, but failing that, I guess it sounds like me and the one other ex-flatmate I still occasionally speak to are going to have to take her to small claims court...

I'm incredibly stressed out about this and can barely afford to juggle paying rent, bills, food, have a social life and hobby thanks to having to pay a load of rent in August and September that my deposit was supposed to cover 80% of out of my savings.

I'm not a confrontational person, I hate arguments and I find it hard to believe she'd genuinely be trying to rob me of over £400, but I can't help but feel like that's what's happening.

Then that's probably what is happening. I'd say be smart and get as much proof and witnesses as you can get together to prove your case. If it comes to court, be professional and if she interrupts you let her rant and just calmly give the judge your best annoyed face. This will only help prove you're there to prove you are wronged.

Good luck

You aint getting that money back buddy, chalk it up to experiance, small claims will set you back another couple hundred quid, then IF you win she will just pay you a pound a month as she is a poor student, all while flipping you off and walking away.

Harsh, but that's the way it is.

Just keep phoning her Dad?

If you don't get your money back resort to petty vandalism... (joking... maybe)

I have some experience of the courts and I have to agree with Formosa that, in all likelihood, you could end up spending more money than she actually owes you - the £50 for example, unless you have a text or e-mail where she states it was money she owed to you is gone basically, she could just deny she owes it to you.

You also have to keep in mind that we are nearing Christmas and it will be becoming increasingly difficult to get into court - lawyers love booking court around Christmas as it makes it most difficult for defendants, especially if they want legal council - getting advice over Christmas for a hearing on the 1st of January is not easy to do! It could take months to get a judgement and if she still doesn't pay you could have to spend more money for enforcement.

Its just money. move on and learn from it :/

That £50 for bills, I couldn't care less about at the moment, it's the deposit which I need to cover rent, which she's obliged to hand back to me as per the tenancy agreement we all signed.

If small claims court isn't worth it, I can always let her family (who seemed like pretty strict, decent people) and her friends know that's she's a thieving little donkey cave.

Also, it's not actually my money she's stealing, it's my mums, and she wouldn't take too kindly to that. We also have her home address away from uni, which is only a 40 minute drive away from mine...

Eurgh, this whole thing is driving me up the wall.

I should also emphasise, this property and tenancy agreement was set up by the uni, so hopefully I'll have some success contacting the student support services tomorrow. I just need to get some sleep and calm the frack down about it.

You would have to try getting the money back before going to court anyway. If you can contact her parents, explain her legal requirement to pay you the money, and the struggle you're having as a result of her keeping your money then they may well sort it out. It's worth a try and it won't cost you more money. Good luck, things like this are always hard to get your head around, especially when you did everything right.

Invest in a baseball bat. Offer to knee cap her if she doesn't pay up.

 trephines wrote:
That £50 for bills, I couldn't care less about at the moment, it's the deposit which I need to cover rent, which she's obliged to hand back to me as per the tenancy agreement we all signed.

If small claims court isn't worth it, I can always let her family (who seemed like pretty strict, decent people) and her friends know that's she's a thieving little donkey cave.

Also, it's not actually my money she's stealing, it's my mums, and she wouldn't take too kindly to that. We also have her home address away from uni, which is only a 40 minute drive away from mine...

Eurgh, this whole thing is driving me up the wall.

I should also emphasise, this property and tenancy agreement was set up by the uni, so hopefully I'll have some success contacting the student support services tomorrow. I just need to get some sleep and calm the frack down about it.

I'm assuming this is down at least 1.5 months rent and in the £1k to £2k range? If so court is worth it. Small claims track is not at all expensive, not complex, you just need to fill out a few forms. As a student it may cost you nothing at all, and either way it seems like a clear cut case so she will have to pay the costs in the end if you win.

Small claims court is not complicated or expensive. You don't need a solicitor or any legal training. Just fill out the forms.

This is what I recommend doing. Don't go slagging her off to friends and family, this will just cause more issues than it is worth.

I would start by calling her parents, polity explain that you would like her to contact you as she still has not given you back the £X from your deposit and you really need the money and please can they get her to call you today or tomorrow. Then leave a message for her saying the same. Give time limits.

If she does not get back to you within the two days then call both again and say that it is getting serious and you really need the money back immediately and she needs to get back to you today.

If that does not work write her a letter (or an email will work), keep a copy, send a copy to her and a copy to her parents address marked "Urgent" on the front. Something along the lines of:

"Dear XXX,

Despite my repeated attempts to contact you, you have not repaid the £X due to me for the refund of my deposit or the £50 for the electricity bill. Please make immediate payment to me for this amount. Please let me know if there is any reason this has not been paid to me."

If this does not work then I would write again saying:

"Dear XXX

Unfortunately I still have not recived the outstanding amount of £XXX. Please make immediate payment to me for this amount. If I do not have payment within 7 days of the date of this letter I may have to take legal action to recover the debt."

If there is still no reply download the court forms, complete them, and post them to her. Don't do anything further, this will often get a reply as people then know you are being serious.

If there is still nothing then you may have to go to court. Hopefully not, but it is not complex or expensive, but may take a little time. In the unlikely event that she still does not pay then you get to the difficult bit, but don't worry about that for now.

 Gogsnik wrote:
I have some experience of the courts and I have to agree with Formosa that, in all likelihood, you could end up spending more money than she actually owes you - the £50 for example, unless you have a text or e-mail where she states it was money she owed to you is gone basically, she could just deny she owes it to you.
.

The £50 might be gone but the deposit money seems quite clear. There is a contract in place and she would have to prove she had paid it back.

My current rent is £350 a month, the deposit is about £450. I've got relatives who know this kinda stuff and would help if it came to that. Together with my other ex flatmate that's over £800 that's missing....

One of our mutual friends spoke to her and she said to him that she has 'no time' to do it and hasn't even repaid my other ex flatmate who she still lives with. How on earth does a 2nd year uni student have 'no time' to go to a bloody bank and do some transfers?

She doesn't even need to go to the bank necessarily. If she has online banking it would take less than 10 minutes.

Yep... Which is why it's a joke. It's comforting knowing the other ex-flatmate who she still live with hasn't had hers yet though. There is hope.

I think I must have lost several thousand pound over the course of my 20’s thanks to mooching deadbeat flat mates who pleaded poverty when the bills arrived. They always seemed to have plenty of cash for socializing though.

Moral of the story is choose your flatmates carefully. If you’ve got that one mate who is a brilliant laugh to hang out with but completely unreliable life/job wise then for goodness sake don’t get into any sort of finical arrangement with them. You will end up picking up their slack.

In fairness, it's easy to ask for money when you don't have the same problems as them which is why I'm usually cool with it unless it's a lot of money or they're taking the piss. In this case it's both.

 Medium of Death wrote:
Just keep phoning her Dad?

If you don't get your money back resort to petty vandalism... (joking... maybe)

Do not even joke like this.

Dakka Dakka in no way supports that kind of behavior.

To the OP - best of luck with getting a resolution here!

I would just keep going after her dad because she seems like a hopeless case. If he is a hopeless case too, then yeah, chalk it up to experience because it won't be worth your time. I lost thousands of dollars to high school friends and post high school friends. Even 4-7 years later they never seem to have the money to pay me back, but I still consider them friends. I'm a softy I guess.

These kinds of people are usually not successful in the end anyways. The people that "borrowed" from me and never paid me back are working measley jobs or not working at all. Just forget about it, keep your head high and keep moving forward.

Never go into a flat share when you are not paying the deposit directly to the deposit protection service or to the letting agency.

 Lt. Coldfire wrote:
I would just keep going after her dad because she seems like a hopeless case.

While it's certainly worth approaching them you'd have to be careful about keeping on bothering her parents, She's an adult and as such her debts are her own,

If the parents could potentially end up with a case against you for harassment which is not what you want

bah

I think a single, politely worded but firm (purely in the sense of letting them know how this has effected you - you are a student yourself away from home after all) to her parents at his stage would be both sufficient and warranted.

After all, if they offer to pay on her behalf and she can pay them back even if only over time) then that has to be better for all concerned than all the hassle and recrimination of the courts. That said, I guess you have to weigh up whether living with her following anything like this would be awkward? It might also be worth looking into alternative accommodation if it's at all possible regardless of how you proceed.

Best of luck mate, hope it goes well - makes me glad I stayed at home for my Uni days now!

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:

 Lt. Coldfire wrote:
I would just keep going after her dad because she seems like a hopeless case.

While it's certainly worth approaching them you'd have to be careful about keeping on bothering her parents, She's an adult and as such her debts are her own,

If the parents could potentially end up with a case against you for harassment which is not what you want

Maybe. She's an adult by age only. If her parents care about her then they will help the OP. Maybe she's crafted in their image and won't help, but it's certainly worth a try. Harassment is taking it a bit to the extreme and not what I had in mind.

Well, my male ex flatmate managed to get hold of her after getting one of her friends to mention we were debating taking her to small claims court. She said she's transferring the money when she goes home this weekend and that she's been 'too busy' as she's 'at uni all day everyday and the banks are shut on the weekend' (even though they're open on Saturdays!?). Fingers crossed I get my money.

Even if she isn't robbing the money, it's a d-baggy thing to have just not kept us updated us at all and clearly avoided our attempts to contact her.

Try fluffing up your feathers in a diplay of dominance. It works for turkeys and peacocks so there must be something to it.