Psycho Neighbour from Hell

BloodRedStag

Love any advice from anyone on this.

Living in a detached house in County Limerick and my sister's detached house is right next door. Long story short, she rented it out last year to a guy living on his own.

All went well initially and it was like something from The Waltons (for those elder lemons). Last few months he has just stopped paying rent and the law being as it is...we can do nothing about it. He can stay there til the end of his contract, which is January 2010.

He has done far too many psycho things to mention but one example is that he screams at my wife any time he sees her. Unfortunately, my wife is quite ill and this guy is just ruining our lives.

Basically, I want some payback. Sounds chldish but this guy is making our lives a misery. Within the law...does anyone have any ideas how we can annoy this guy? There are other houses close by so noise isnt a great option.

Thanks guys.

Jumpy

BloodRedStag wrote: »

Love any advice from anyone on this.

Living in a detached house in County Limerick and my sister's detached house is right next door. Long story short, she rented it out last year to a guy living on his own.

All went well initially and it was like something from The Waltons (for those elder lemons). Last few months he has just stopped paying rent and the law being as it is...we can do nothing about it. He can stay there til the end of his contract, which is January 2000.

He has done far too many psycho things to mention but one example is that he screams at my wife any time he sees her. Unfortunately, my wife is quite ill and this guy is just ruining our lives.

Basically, I want some payback. Sounds chldish but this guy is making our lives a misery. Within the law...does anyone have any ideas how we can annoy this guy? There are other houses close by so noise isnt a great option.

Thanks guys.

Its 2009. I assume you meant 2010.

D3PO

why do you think you have to wait out the contract ?

if hes not paying rent raise a dispute with the PRTB assuming the tennancy is registered.

Follow this up by starting eviction proceedings. The PRTB will help you will all aspects of this.

BloodRedStag

If we try to get rid of him, he can launch a complaint with the PRTB which could take anything up to three months to get to arbritration. PRTB advised us off the record to just leave him there.

He owes several thousand and the PRTB said they dont have the resources to chase him for the money yet if we put one foot wrong, the PRTB can fine up to €20k

RasTa

Can't you just change the locks next time he leaves? If he kicks the door down then call the police.

BloodRedStag

Love to RasTa. He still has rights until his contract is up. Isnt the law unbelievable? Even though he has broken the contract by not paying rent, the tenants body, PRTB, still protect the moron.

RasTa

BloodRedStag wrote: »

Love to RasTa. He still has rights until his contract is up. Isnt the law unbelievable? Even though he has broken the contract by not paying rent, the tenants body, PRTB, still protect the moron.

Surely there is something in the contract that states it's void if he doesn't pay the rent?

emty

Sorry to hear this OP but very impressed by your lack of a "rant". If the guy is doing this there will be other things in his life that he is doing i.e claiming dole while working or some other welfare scam.I'm sure the SW would be interested to hear this.Also,more importantly if he is harassing your wife get an order of protection against him and have him arrested when he breach's it.

BloodRedStag

Interesting one Empty.

Yeah, its tough to be restrained. Believe me, I've sat here seething.The odd time he drives past our house and spits at the entrance. Went to go after him once but had to take a deep breath as he just wants a reaction.

geem

BloodRedStag wrote: »

Interesting one Empty.

Yeah, its tough to be restrained. Believe me, I've sat here seething.The odd time he drives past our house and spits at the entrance. Went to go after him once but had to take a deep breath as he just wants a reaction.

Take photographs of him doing this and also film any abuse. Contact community police-man and discuss it with him. They are usually very helpful with anti-social behaviour type problems but you may have to chase one down at first. I wouldn't wait for PTRB I would contact solicitor and move to evict.

The_Conductor

Regardless of PRTB arbitration- you should immediately commence eviction proceedings. If you imagine he is going to magically leave as soon as his contract is up- unfortunately you're dreaming. You have to be 100% certain that you are keeping within the letter of the law at every step of the way- and when serving written notice- make sure its by registered post- or by some manner that you can prove he received the notice. Have a look at the 2004 Residential Tenancies Act- at how to serve notice, and follow it to the letter- do not deviate.

BloodRedStag

Thanks for the advice guys

Victor

RasTa wrote: »

Can't you just change the locks next time he leaves? If he kicks the door down then call the police.

The courts really don't like illegal evictions.

D3PO

smccarrick wrote: »

Regardless of PRTB arbitration- you should immediately commence eviction proceedings. If you imagine he is going to magically leave as soon as his contract is up- unfortunately you're dreaming. You have to be 100% certain that you are keeping within the letter of the law at every step of the way- and when serving written notice- make sure its by registered post- or by some manner that you can prove he received the notice. Have a look at the 2004 Residential Tenancies Act- at how to serve notice, and follow it to the letter- do not deviate.

SMS is spot on here, you have to start eviction proceedings. Im shocked that the PRTB have told you not to :eek:

antoinolachtnai

It is time to see a solicitor for sure. This is a very serious situation. If the PRTB told you those things, they should not have.

You will end up having to go back to PRTB, and if necessary, appealing the PRTB finding to the courts. You just have no other choice.

You also have to work to find out this guy's context in the community. Is he having difficulty at work or with his family life? Is he under a doctor's care? Has he come to the attention of the Garda? It may be that the most straightforward way to sort this out is to get him back on track, so he can sort out his life and leave you alone.

Kipperhell

As he is just a neighbour to you, it could be possible to get a restraining order for his behaviour. I doubt he has a TV licence either. You should not get involved in what your sister is doing regards the eviction. It would not be hard for a judge or anybody else to assume your entire family are intimidating him.

Get your sister to follow the eviction procedures as stated.

godtabh

Cant your sister move back in and get rid of him that way?

PullOutMethod

Some direct action suggestions:

- Cut off the electricity and water

- Phone him all hours of the night. Sleep deprivation is a powerful tool. Pay kids to do nic nacs.

- Failing that a mate of mine hired a guy (apparently an ex-garda) to evict a tenant in similar circumstances.
He acted entirely legally but kept calling to the house and eventually the tenant left.

Amhran Nua

Are there not provisions for immediate eviction in the case of violent behaviour within the law?

D3PO

PullOutMethod wrote: »

Some direct action suggestions:

- Cut off the electricity and water

- Phone him all hours of the night. Sleep deprivation is a powerful tool. Pay kids to do nic nacs.

- Failing that a mate of mine hired a guy (apparently an ex-garda) to evict a tenant in similar circumstances.
He acted entirely legally but kept calling to the house and eventually the tenant left.

you do realise cutting off electricity and or water would constitue an illegal eviction right ?

OP DO NOT do any of this unless your sister wants to for out a large sum of money to to tennant for evicting illegally.

Phoning all hours of the night . Well obviously they could unplug the phone and if they wanted to they could get a restraining order against you. Do you really want to end up in jail ?

the_syco

kearnsr wrote: »

Cant your sister move back in and get rid of him that way?

Pretty sure you can give 30 days noticeif you're moving a family member in :cool:

The_Conductor

the_syco wrote: »

Pretty sure you can give 30 days noticeif you're moving a family member in :cool:

Correct.
Having the sis move back in- is a valid reason for terminating the lease (as is non payment of the rent). Key to all of this is valid notice being served in a proper manner.

ztoical

D3PO wrote: »

SMS is spot on here, you have to start eviction proceedings. Im shocked that the PRTB have told you not to :eek:

+ 1 Me too, while I'm sure you'd like the money owed I'd say you'd be happy to just get him out and be done with him and if you wait until the contract is up you could be stuck with him for another 3 or 4 months or even more. Start eviction now and he'll be out by the time the contract is up and make sure to record everything you do....register post any and all letters, if he is abusive get it on tape if you can, have a notebook and right down time and date of any interaction with him, phone calls, letters sent, abusive actions towards you or your family and talk with your local community police-person, if you keep a really clear record you should cover your/sisters ass from fines and also if he becomes violent you've a clear record of his attitude and actions for the courts.

funkydunkey

Also, fyi, on the cutting off elec etc. if your sister did, she would be liable in the event he "fell down the stairs" because he had no light!
I knew a landlord one time that had a tenant evicted because he felt renovations were neccessary to maintain a high standard for the house and he wasnt comfortable leasing it in its current state. got the tenant evicted and never did a thing thereafter! I would recommend though, either pick one route or the other and commit totally (legal or illegal) because to do anything that could be seen as harassment will harm the legal side. and if you intend to go the other route and actually harras him til he leaves youd best not bring any attention to that.

BloodRedStag

Thanks again for all of the assistance

~me~

just follow the advice given on here and good luck! (i quite like the idea of paying kids to do nic nacs although it wont make him leave!)

funkydunkey

christ i dunno about that "gettin the kids to go over and annoy him" approach, if the fella is nuts, keep the kids well away from him, especially if he's already after giving your wife abuse. who'd want to expose kids to anything like that. if he needs confronting, man up and do it, face to face! dont send children over.

Boomtastic

If you are going to send him an eviction notice by registered post don't send it in an envelope typed up and official looking. Send it in a big brown box with handwriting. Make it look like it's something nice!

delop

Keep the head,

And keep a diary of every incident

DO0GLE

Not 100% sure but I think putting the house up on the market for sale is enough reason to have him removed

The_Conductor

DO0GLE wrote: »

Not 100% sure but I think putting the house up on the market for sale is enough reason to have him removed

You still need to serve notice.