Basically my friend (let's call her J) wanted to rent a room in a house she owns. Her mortgage provider is aware and so is the council tax. She had a response to her advertisement from a girl in her late 20. The girl (let's call her N) viewed the house and room on more than one occasion and said she wanted to rent the room. At this point N is aware that J has pets in the form of a golden retriever a king Charles cavalier and 4 cats. At the prospect of 4 cats N looked alarmed and I explained that other than the 1 cat the other 3 mostly remain outdoors other than when they get fed at which time they come in through their own window and get fed on their own surface which is high up out of the way of the dogs. N still wanted the room and asked if she could start moving stuff over a bit at a time and pay the deposit in a week and a half when she got paid. J agreed to this. N then started crying about the holding fee and deposit. £100 holding fee + a months rent deposit for the room which afterwards would be paid for weekly. N was upset because her ex partner owed her a lot of money which he has just been taking as he liked and spending which was why she was leaving him and needing somewhere to rent asap. Feeling for the girl J said that just the £100 holding fee would be fine. N then said that her washing machine was broken and she was running out of clean clothes and would J mind if she left some washing. J agreed and even did the washing for her. No fee was charged for this. 4 days (cont)
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