Letting agent NIGHTMARE

eth0_

I've been in my apartment 6 weeks now and am having major issues with the (Supposedly reputable - Lowe&Assoc) letting agent.

Basically, the washer/dryer needs replacing, as does the fridge/freezer.

I informed him of this within about 2 days of moving in to the property.

He said he would get on to the landlord and get the two things replaced.

To this day, I have not heard from the landlord or from him. I ring the letting agency several times a week and am bullsh*tted, they tell me he's out on a viewing, or put me on hold for several minutes and then come back and say he's on a call, can they take a message. The receptionist sits right beside him (I know this from when I went to collect the keys) so it's pretty obvious he's telling her to fob me off.

He NEVER calls me back. On two occasions last week, he said "Oh i'll just ring the landlord now and i'll call you straight back".

I also have never received a copy of the lease I signed., which seems extremely dodgy to me.

Is there any ombudsman who deals with estate/letting agents? PRTB doesn't look like the right people to go to.

miju

get onto the PRTB www.prtb.ie they should be able to sort you or have a look at www.threshold.ie as well

if your there 6 weeks without having either problem resolved you'd prob have grounds to cancel lease without losing deposit

whats the actual problem your having with the washing machine and fridge by the way?

eth0_

miju wrote:

get onto the PRTB www.prtb.ie they should be able to sort you or have a look at www.threshold.ie as well

if your there 6 weeks without having either problem resolved you'd prob have grounds to cancel lease without losing deposit

whats the actual problem your having with the washing machine and fridge by the way?

Just old and damaged by previous tenents, for example the freezer door in the fridge is damaged and can't be fixed so the fridge gets icy.

My main concern though, is not getting a copy of the lease after all this time...

MGLman

Hi all,

I would to take some advice on the problem I have with the letting agent.

The Owner of the Dublin Letting (www.dublinletting.ie) showed me an apartment which was the sh*t hole. There was a gas leakage in the apartment because it was full of smell of gas and told him to fix and clean the apartment. He said yes yes, I will fix everything by the time when we move. and we agreed that we will move in about 3-4 weeks and haded the deposit of 300 euro out of 1250. By the time when we wanted to sign the contract (after 4 weeks), potentially he had not been to the apartment once, nothing had been fixed anf the gas leakage was still there. He apologized and promised to fix everything in 2 days. But after one day he told us most things will be fixed. What a responsibility, he just does not get the situation. So, we decided not to take the apartment as his performance is just not acceptable. Here the funny thing comes, he does not want to give me the deposit back as it is holding deposit and he will charge 50 euro each day. And he told me to contact PRTB in relation to the non refundability of the deposit.... What the f**k,...


Please, Please advice me what I should do....

foggy_lad

call the PRTB and get forms for the small claims court too and sue him for the deposit!

eth0_

Also call Bord Gas and let them know this guy has knowingly ignored a gas leak.

Are you entirely sure there is a gas leak? Because if it had been left to build up in an unoccupied flat then you're very lucky the place didn't explode when you turned a light on when you made your second inspection of the place!

soc

After being in the place for 6 weeks, you should have at least got a letter directly from PRTB, acknowledging that the landlord has registered the property as being rented to you. This letter also includes a reference you can quote back to PRTB should you have any complaints concerning your letting (as in your case, your landlord not promptly addressing your issues).

As a PP mentioned, get onto PRTB. While you're onto them, you can also confirm if the lease has been registered with them in your name.

Once you've got relevant info from PRTB, I'd personally call into the RE office and raise your issues face-to-face.

soc

Emerald Lass

bloody agents - they are all the same it appears. None of them know how to do their job right! makes me mad :mad: I think they get training in how to ignore/fob off customers. Yet none of them seem trained to know anything about the actual responsibilties of their job!

I would also be worried about the lease - you should have signed 2 copies - one you kept and one for the agent. I would ring PRTB and see if lease is registered. If not call agent, don't faff around waiting for him to call you back etc. Straight out say you are extremely angry, and are aware that the lease is not registered. Tell him in no uncertain terms that if he does not resolve the issues as a matter of urgency you will be reporting him to PRTB AND Revenue. Bear in mind the Landlord is paying him 5-10% of the collected rent to manage the property, so he is being paid and not doing his job.

I would also contact threshold for advice.

And if possible try to find out who the actual Landlord is - there may be a chance that he/she is a decent sort, and if so would not be happy to discover that the agent they are paying is not doing their job. There is a 'chance' I said, not a guarantee! lol

foggy_lad

also there is usually a clause in most leases where you can get the work done yourself on behalf of the landlord or agent and claim from them afterwards, but in this case you are probably not guaranteed getting anything back after paying for the work. and not getting a proper copy of the lease is very worrying. i'd be looking for somewhere else and getting small claims forms to get your deposit back!

Joey the lips

Write all your concerns down in bullit points and email them to the estate agent. Ask them to acknowledge receipt of the email.

Ask them to come back to you before the next rent payment and tell them if they dont it will be the last time you speak to them on the issue.

Then contact the relevent bodies above....

Best of luck.

MGLman

Thanks a lot for all the advices and apologies for late response. I was quite busy with this problem and finally ended up with suing him.

I went to all possible bodies to get an advice and to get it sorted out. PRTB was not right place, because, I had not signed on the contract as I was waitng him to finsih all the work and then sign the contract. PRTB deals with problems between tenant and landlord not with the potential tenant. Threshold basically told me that it was my bad, his luck because there is no contract and the something so called 'holding deposit' is non refundable and usually the agent wins in this case. Then I went to citizen information centre, luckily they told me that I should go to the small claim court as it is a matter of them. Also, took legal advice from the solicitor and I was also adivced that he has no right to keep the money under current circumstances.

Also, I found out that 'Dublin letting' was their trading name and their actual business name is 'Digital accomodation and rental engine'. What F*** is that. They are really jokers. Trying to attract more people using the name of other well established company Dublin letting agent (which I rang first time and found out that that was complitely different company).

What kind of company is that. I do not think they show their faces to the tenants once the property is rented out.

eth0_

I hope you mean you took him to the small claims court rather than sued him. Who in their right mind would sue over 250 euro - the legal costs would be far greater than monies you were trying to recover?

MGLman

Apologies for misleading info. Yes, it is a small claim court.

MGLman

MGLman wrote: »

Thanks a lot for all the advices and apologies for late response. I was quite busy with this problem and finally ended up with suing him.

I went to all possible bodies to get an advice and to get it sorted out. PRTB was not right place, because, I had not signed on the contract as I was waitng him to finsih all the work and then sign the contract. PRTB deals with problems between tenant and landlord not with the potential tenant. Threshold basically told me that it was my bad, his luck because there is no contract and the something so called 'holding deposit' is non refundable and usually the agent wins in this case. Then I went to citizen information centre, luckily they told me that I should go to the small claim court as it is a matter of them. Also, took legal advice from the solicitor and I was also adivced that he has no right to keep the money under current circumstances.

Also, I found out that 'Dublin letting' was their trading name and their actual business name is 'Digital accomodation and rental engine'. What F*** is that. They are really jokers. Trying to attract more people using the name of other well established company Dublin letting agent (which I rang first time and found out that that was complitely different company).

What kind of company is that. I do not think they show their faces to the tenants once the property is rented out.

Today was the last of 6 weeks that dublingletting was given by the small claim court to respond to may complaint and they had not responded. I was told that they will be ordered to pay the deposit that they hold from me. Again they will be given 2 weeks to pay (actually they will be given 4 weeks).

Does anyone know what happens if they do not pay? Will gardai come and force them to pay or will there be a court date?

penexpers

MGLman wrote: »

Does anyone know what happens if they do not pay? Will gardai come and force them to pay or will there be a court date?

I think this is explained in the small claims court documents. I think if they don't pay, you have to engage the Sheriff who will seize assets to the value of your claim.

potoftea

Hi MGLman. I'm dealing with these jokers at the moment as well. The person you're talking about sounds exactly the same. Does yours, by any chance (apart from always agreeing to do everything) also constantly keep telling you "I won't lie to you" and "I'm not just telling you what you want to hear". I've never met such a fibber. I was thinking about going into their offices. Have you been? I wondered if it's even a proper office or some fictitious address. I'm still in the house. I'm this close to getting onto Joe Duffy at this stage. So frustrated.

MGLman wrote: »

Hi all,

I would to take some advice on the problem I have with the letting agent.

The Owner of the Dublin Letting (www.dublinletting.ie) showed me an apartment which was the sh*t hole. There was a gas leakage in the apartment because it was full of smell of gas and told him to fix and clean the apartment. He said yes yes, I will fix everything by the time when we move. and we agreed that we will move in about 3-4 weeks and haded the deposit of 300 euro out of 1250. By the time when we wanted to sign the contract (after 4 weeks), potentially he had not been to the apartment once, nothing had been fixed anf the gas leakage was still there. He apologized and promised to fix everything in 2 days. But after one day he told us most things will be fixed. What a responsibility, he just does not get the situation. So, we decided not to take the apartment as his performance is just not acceptable. Here the funny thing comes, he does not want to give me the deposit back as it is holding deposit and he will charge 50 euro each day. And he told me to contact PRTB in relation to the non refundability of the deposit.... What the f**k,...


Please, Please advice me what I should do....

MGLman

Hi Potoftea,

Souds like him. He also told me that 'I know wear and tear, I only charged the other guys this much (so little for so big messes)'. Yes, I've been to their office. It is in Smithfield. But dot get fooled with their name, there is another Dublin Letting which is well known letting agent located in Rathgar. I rang up to that office in Rathgar to make a complaint and I found out that what I was dealing with was not that agent but those f****rs. They seem like they do not care about the people and once they have the money in hand, I do not think they will show their faces again and if they are called into court they will just give their money back. Can you imagine how many people really go to court (small claim) out of how many?

So, my advice is not to deal with them, stay away and spread the words to all.

trad

Ask the letting agent has the property got a BER Cert and to show it to you . If it hasn't both he and the owner are committing a criminal offence so if you haven't been shown one, ask.

paddyc

go down and sit out side the office hes in, wait till he comes out and see what car he drives, cycle past the next day n throw brake fluid on it.... It wont resolve your problem but damn it feels good


ps if you are a lettig agent and this happened to you... it wasnt me