What can this landlord do to recover her property from her violent daughter?

This is a question to the blog clinic from Sheila, who is a landlord in England.

I let my daughter and her boyfriend live in my new home.  It’s been 2.5 years, and they’re refusing to move out. There is no rental lease.

They pay no rent, they fight and have changed locks on the door. The police have come several times for verbal disturbance and for neighbours calling because they set off firecrackers. There are strange people coming to my door for them. The boyfriend smokes marijuana and ignores me, saying not to. I’m afraid and intimidated by them.

I’m 58 and disabled. My daughter has hit me, but she’s a nurse and I don’t want her in trouble I just want her to leave

Answer

If your daughter pays no rent, then is it arguable that this is not a tenancy and that your daughter would have no defence to any legal proceedings brought to evict her.

However, I do not think this is something you should handle yourself.  You need to instruct solicitors.  It may be that if they serve notice on them and your daughter and her boyfriend know that you have instructed solicitors, they will move out of their own accord.

Otherwise, if they are still unwilling to vacate the only legal way to remove them is via possession proceedings through the courts.

I  suspect that you may not be in a position to pay substantial solicitors’ costs.  Here are some options for you:

• You could ring Landlord Action who specialise in eviction work and who will normally give a certain amount of free advice – scroll down to the bottom of this page.
• If you can afford £130 then our Landlords telephone advice service can be found here.  All of the solicitors there are specialist landlord and tenant firms who can advise on possession issues.
• Finally, there is a page here on our Renters Guide site which is intended for tenants but some of these organisations may be willing to help you in view of your circumstances.

And finally

To anyone reading this, this is a classic example of why it is often unwise to allow family members and friends to stay in your property.  All too often, it leads to problems.

Have any readers had experience with this sort of situation?