As a complete irrelevant aside, the reason i am up at this time (3am) i am baby feeding. It isnt a joyous bonding experience at this time! I am actually a (very tired) solicitor- however, i have no clue on housing law whatsoever!! I do "catastophic injury claims". If anyone ever needs some basic free advice on Personal Injury "stuff"/ insurance law etc, please give me a nudge/link and im happy to go and reciprocate on here.

Incidentally, i am the "other family member" she left went to live with

thanks for your help! I might aswell tell the "whole" story seeing as people have been so helpful (which i really appreciate). My daughter found out she was pregnant in march (age 16), insisted she wanted to move in with boyfriend after GCSEs finished. They found this flat which was in a terrible condition as the previous tenants had trashed it, walls scribbled on, holes punched in walls, no carpets, damp etc. The landlord advertised it at £90/wk, and when they went to visit he said they could have it for £400/month and only £100 deposit on the proviso they did all the repairs and decorated. Boyfriend asked about damp as he has asthma- landlord said it had just been damp proofed. They signed tenancy agreement 1st June, and he said he would put £95/wk on tenancy agreement instead of £90, so they would get more housing benefit (this was all done without my knowledge). They then asked him to take boyfriend off tenancy agreement as he works nights, and was only at the flat for weekends, spending rest of time at work/ his dads, so she could claim £60 wk towards rent (this is the maximum here as she was 16) They spent £300 on paint and carpets and repaired the flat so its habitable, and he paid the extra rent. Except he started asking for it to be paid earlier and earlier saying i was every 4 weeks. Meanwhile, it became clear there was a very bad damp problem, and a couple of times i was called out at 3am, as there were slugs on the bedroom floor, a kitchen cupbaord fell off the wall and smacked daughter on head, the side of the bath fell off, toilet seat was still broken etc Early September, daughter and boyfriend had a row, he broke a panel in back door window and the neighbours upstairs called the landlord to complain. Landlord told my daughter they had to get out immediately, and boyfriend wasnt allowed in flat. She rang me in hysterics- so i rang him (from work- hence reason he has my work number) and said she didnt want to get out, although boyfriend was gone. He insisted it was better she left, and i suggested if he could give her 2 months to find somewhere then we could sort it out. LL said she either got out within the week, or he wouldnt agree as it would be hard to re let in Nov/dec so we said we would get back to him. Oct 4th she went into early labour, had a premature baby, and was in hospital for 2 weeks. only 2 days earlier she had stood on a slug in the bedroom (again), so after the birth, i rang LL and said i was bringing them both home and she would be moving out on 6th Nov, and we would pay rent up til then (as i was helping out with the extra) He sent me a snotty text saying she was behind with rent, and that rent was due from 26th Sept, not 6th Oct, and if she wanted to move he would require all rent paid til january, and that the offer of getting out 2 weeks earlier was no longer open. As i disliked his attitude (putting it mildly), i moved most of her things out on 7th Oct, and said she was prepared to pay until 6th Nov only, but she wouldnt settle up until it was agreed. Technically rent is therefore outstanding from 6th Oct. However, he has now sent me an abusive letter at work demanding £1400 to january, changed the locks so we cant get in to get all her documents such as passport, and last bits of furniture, and is ringing my work every hour and slagging me off to my work colleagues. Its all becming a bit "much" especially as out lovely premature grand son is waking us every 2 hours lol. Anyways, i would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who has responded. We are all tired here, and normal coping mechanisms and logicality seems to go out the window!

a deposit of £100 was paid only. In fact- its quite a complicated story on the whole, particularly as we went round tonight to collect her remaining bits and pieces (including passport), and the locks have been changed, despite the fact she isnt due to move out until 6th nov!

I wont- he has already sent a "heavy" to my former address thinking i live there. But i dont want him to keep contacting me at work either, particularly as i work at a firm of solicitors!

Great, thanks v much for the help. I will use the template letter and hopefully he will stop harrassing me!

Thanks. I thought a 17 year old couldnt legally enter a contract either, but then discovered there is an exception, namely for "life essentials". When she entered the agreement, he asked for a guarantor, i refused and didnt sign anything. He is now writing to my work demanding payment as he doesnt have my home adress!

My 17 year old daughter left home to live with her boyfriend in July. They rented a private flat (tenancy in her name alone) then split up, and she left the flat owing one months rent, to live with another family member. The flat had quite a few problems including slugs, dampness etc and she didnt want to stay on her own with a new baby. Im aware the landlord can pursue her for the debt as although she is a minor, it was incurred as a "life neccesity". However, he is pursing me instead on the basis i am her legal guardian and thus responsible. I refused to act as guarantor, didnt sign anything, and cant see how i can be liable as i am not a party to the contract. Am i right, or is the landlord correct in saying as her guardian he can pursue me? Any help appreciated, as he is harrassing me constantly, ringing me at work, texting and being generally abusive.