Has she broken a contract with me?

[Valrie]

I live in a Guiness Trust (a charity) rented accommodation - it is a 2 bedroomed flat and it is now a little small since my boyfriend moved in. A woman over the road aproached me and asked me if I would like to swap properties with her. She has a 3 bedroomed house (same landlord). We looked round each others property and agreed we would swap. She said she had arrears on her rent and would swap when these were paid off. In October I loaned her �200 towards these rent arrears. It is now almost March and I have not received any money back from her and I am still living in my 2 bedroomed flat. I have since found out she has agreed to swap with several people and never has. Was a contract formed between us and can I do something about this? Thanks

[dzug]

You <probably> have a contract, but without an agreed definite time period in which it is to be fulfilled ('when arrears are paid off' could go on indefinitely without the contract being broken).

Enforcing it is another matter. Your best bet is to ask her to carry out the swap on a definite date or give you your loan back.

[dollydoo]

If she has agreed to swap with others and is taking money from them also towards her rent arrears, then you should report her to the trust. They would then have to investigate further and she could end up being evicted.

[Valrie]

Thanks for your responses. I am not sure she has taken money from others - they're probably not as naive as me!! With regards to the timecale she did tell me November 2006 and then said it would be after Christmas. I am going to wait until the end of this month and then go to see her again. I do not have a lot of money and really do need the money back but if I thought I was moving in to her house soon I would probably cut my losses with regards to the money.

[WendyS]

Write her a formal letter asking for a return of the �200 loan you made to her to pay off her arrears and give her a deadline.. Keep a copy of the letter. If she is taking money from other people as well on the promise of swapping with them she may well be taking money under false pretences which is a crime.
I would be very wary of loaning money to other people in future, however reasonable the need may seem at the time.