Should I pay difficult lodger to leave?

Hi, my partner and I own a two-bedroom flat in Scotland and have decided to rent out one of the rooms for £550 a month (which is an excellent price for where we live). It is our first time letting a room.

So our lodger has one dog staying in our property full time, a hamster who she has moved in without permission and a son that stays on weekends. She never remembers to turn the oven off, constantly eats my food, has caused trouble with the neighbours due to parking on their drive, (we have received a strongly worded letter) doesn’t clean up after herself and doesn’t take proper care of her dog.

I have had to bathe the dog twice, once she left her dog in the house after it had rolled in fox faeces, she does not take the dog on enough walks/pee breaks leading to the dog having multiple accidents in the house, including on our speakers and remote.  I have asked her to close the door so the dog doesn’t pee in the living room with expensive equipment that my boyfriend has been saving for about 3 years to acquire, but she said “Dogs have accidents and you should have expected that, since you knew I have a dog.”

I have found multiple empty alcohol bottles that she appears to be trying to hide. She has also admitted to shoplifting numerous times while she was drunk. Also, they have caused water damage in the bathroom, warping and bubbling of floorboards due to leaving the floor wet without mopping, or even opening a window or using our dehumidifier.

I know I’m rambling so far but I’m deflated and stressed, she has threatened to sue us and bury us in legal fees, which I think is an empty threat but I am still stressed at the possibility. She has ongoing legal issues with others and she said she has a lawyer ready but she has lied before.

She says she will leave tomorrow if we give her the full month’s rent money and deposit. We typed out a contract and stupidly believed her when she said she would sign it later, so I’m not sure if there’s much I can do. Police have said that we cannot take any action to remove her without going through court which will be a long and stressful process.

I don’t think we can ever feel comfortable renting the room again. We only agreed to let her move in so quickly without signing a contract because she said she needed to escape a domestic violence situation. I don’t want to let this situation make me bitter and cold but I’m infuriated our kindness has been taken for granted. My partner only accepted her and the dog because he believed she was in danger.

Should I:

A) Give her the money so we can have peace.

OR

B) Try and fight this.

I don’t know if I can do anything and I’m so exhausted I almost feel lobotomized. Maybe I should somehow find a way to get evidence, I didn’t think it would be so difficult to remove someone from my own home so I wasn’t collecting evidence. She has just told me today that this isn’t the first time she has taken a landlord to court and won and I have noticed she has been much kinder over text than she is in person and its starting to feel like we have been conned.

It feels like an enormous injustice to pay her but I want to feel comfortable and safe in my own home. I know I have been incredibly naive and stupid but can I do anything?

Thanks,

Emily

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