Guest refusing to leave

It isn’t totally clear that the guest left a review already or that the 14-day period has expired. Still, a bad review probably isn’t a priority at this point.

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Take it back then, She is trespassing, she is not a tenant.

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How good to wake up this morning to find that there is nothing further I can add! You’ve had some very good advice on how to get this wretched woman off your property.

For our non British friends, policing in the UK is very different to most jurisdictions, particularly the US. In addition, over the past decade all forces nationwide have suffered huge budget cuts, like all public services. Even with the additional funding from central gov’t, once the pandemic hit, budgets are nowhere close to what they were in 2010. They are stretched beyond imagining.

Thus the Police would not welcome being asked to deal with this, unless the guest became threatening, or a violent incident took place. Until then, it would be viewed as a civil matter, not criminal. Trespass and evictions are for the UK’s Civil Courts, not the police.

@Wellness, I will be thinking of you at 11 a.m. and hope all goes to plan. If you have further problems with your guest, you could at least seek advice from the police, or get in touch with your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

Or PM @JohnF for his Wythenshawe mates!

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@Wellness, did she leave at checkout this morning?

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Yes it would be great to have an update @Wellness do hope you got them out smoothly.

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So long story short - she is out!

I ended up going to the property and she wouldNt answer the door or her phone, And my key would not work on the door.

Called a lock smith as i thought she had changed the locks - turns out she was sleeping and the key was in the other side. After an hour of refusing to leave and lots of sob stories she has finally gone. The keys have been changed and the property is in major need of a clean but im very greatful for tge tough love and borrowing somebodies hosting hat as i feel so mich better than i did yesterday.

One thing i noticed, she has had mail delivered to my house in her name - her bank account- and she left the statement woth it on in the flat. Has anyone ever had this happen to them?

Im going to contact her bank and explain she never ever lived at that address-but i can honestly say i have never been more shocked by people than i have been with this woman

Tha ks again to everyone for your support

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Well done you!

With regard to her using your address, and the bank statement, did she leave this opened? In any event, re-seal it in an envelope, send it back to the bank marked “never resident at this address/not known at this address”. Apparently (according to Mr Joan who works in banking IT… so not a complete banker), this will stimulate a specific process to follow and check up on her antics.

What may be of concern is if she has used your address for other stuff, including purchases, or even mandated a redirection of post to your property. If this proves the case, the Post Office may be able to advise you, although data protection will probably kick in.

If anything looks fraudulent, I would seek the advice of the Police, and keep doing so until you find someone who will help. In my own experience, some have higher levels of interest than others, if you get my drift.

We once had a builder who was working on our house and stayed there whilst we were travelling for six weeks. He used our address for receiving post, without our permission, and we started getting letters from debt collection agencies. We just kept sending the letters back as not known/never lived here until they stopped coming.

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My last dreadful long term tenant still had mail coming to the house for months afterwards. Had great pleasure in scrawling EVICTED - return to sender across the front of the envelope. Particularly the window faced ones :smiley:

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Good on you! Looks like you rid yourself of a very problematic individual. If allowed, this would likely have gone on and on until she had whatever is your Brit version of tenancy rights. Was her name “Bartleby” by any chance?

Well done! Apologies for the tough love but I guess it worked. :crazy_face:

As an aside, avoid letting guests use your address for receiving mail - it could lead to all sorts of unpleasantness.

I read somewhere once that we learn a lesson with every guest (I know that I do after all these years) so rest assured that you’re now a better host and business owner. :slight_smile:

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I would not expect someone that should be actively looking for work and a permanent place to live would be sleeping in the daytime with phone turned off.

A sign that she did not appreciate her situation and your generosity for not forcing her to vacate several days before.

I don’t know anything about UK law, but this actually could be a move to prove tenancy/residency. Nevertheless, it is an indication that she didn’t plan to leave soon.

I really think you avoided a catastrophe by getting her out sooner than later.

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Mail delivered?! The nerve of this woman! Wow - you dodged a bullet getting her out asap. This was clearly her intent all along, to have mail delivered so very quickly into a stay.

The advice from others, to have the mail returned to sender seems prudent. You do not want her to have any legal recourse. Hopefully this is over!

Good on you!

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Great news. @Wellness

So it sounds like she lied to you as she wasn’t working then.

Did you get the two nights payment she owed before she left?

I am not sure you should contact her bank as you shouldn’t be reading anyone’s mail but if further post comes just send it back ‘unknown at this address - return to sender’. I have it in my house rules that guests aren’t allowed to use my place as a mailing address.

Make sure you follow proper guidance for cleaning the flat during Covid and leave adequate time inbetween her vacating and you having the flat cleaned.- some good advice on Airbnb’s covid section on cleaning regime.

Good point with the covid19 situation. The post was already open and left on the side so i will return it in the envelope and allow them to do with it what they need to do.

I did manage to get money out of her for the final two nights but even when i was telling her she had to leave she still kept questioning why she could not stay any longer.

I think that i have definitely learned much more about hosting through this event and when the covid situation is over i will be A better host for it

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Wow, Wellness, you are miles ahead of many other hosts who post with sticky situations and simply want to be told whatever they are doing/feeling is correct!

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On another topic in your post - You say you couldn’t use your key because she had her key in the lock on the other side.
In NY, these double-sided key locks are illegal for safety reasons - you don’t want to go looking for a key while your house is on fire kind of thing.
But also, as you learned, you can’t use one key if the other key is in the lock on the other side.
Lots of people posted about lessons learned (and boy can we relate to that!). So it looks like this is one more :slight_smile:
Sounds like it was quite a ride, but glad it all worked out in the end!

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You wouldn’t generally need to open someone’s mail to get the info on where it was sent from- it would have a return address on the outside of the envelope.

Mr Joan locked me in the other day, by accident of course. He’d gone for a walk, locked the door from the outside and toddled off for a couple of hours, . Cue much panic whilst he searched himself, until asking me to look to see if the keyhole was blocked. It was; keys left in the door.

I think @Wellness told us that the woman had left the letter/bank statement opened and visible???

Yes, but I was responding to Helsi cautioning that Wellness shouldn’t contact the bank as she shouldn’t be reading someone else’s mail. That letter could just as well have been sealed and Wellness would likely have seen the bank name and address on the outside of the envelope, and called the bank to say that this person has apparently registered that address with the bank, but that no such person resides there.

Hello John. I wonted to ask if you or anyone know actual law procedure if guest refuse to leave after cancelation.
I assume you can tell guest to leave and call police but if they will not go and police can’t remove them what is the law ? And how Airbnb or any other platform support hosts. ?
Any special
Lawyers who can help evict guest and if that fall s under regular Landlond tenant law ? In USA. New York. And Connecticut.