Tenant not paying

Jaysoose

How much more slack do you expect the landlord to give? People take the piss if given a chance, OP needs to nip this in the bud and give the girl her 2 options.

1. Pay the rent
2. Move out

No two ways about it, life is hard etc buy you have to pay your bills.

marmalade3

Uh, yeah, coz that's really going to get him his back-rent isn't it?

OP's first posting says she cooked the odd meal and always asked if anything was needed in the shop etc., she didn't have to do this. My instinct is that this girl is ok and would pay up if she had the funds to do so - most people are like that.

She HAS lost her job and she DID pay 400 so she IS trying.

AARRRGH

marmalade3 wrote: »

My instinct is that this girl is ok and would pay up if she had the funds to do so - most people are like that.

My experience renting would tell me otherwise! I've found most people will do anything to avoid paying their bills or their rent. That's why I would have a slightly harsh view on this topic. I accept though that maybe I've just been unlucky and have gotten a series of very immature, irresponsible flatmates.

Snazzy_Chazzy

thabnks for the replies
her situation is she if from outside europe and not entitled to any benefit and is awaiting a "job" which MIGHT be starting in January. And me having other properties is irrelavant. She is already eaten into her deposit and now 2 months behind and not paid a single bill ! i think im being fair. Sob story after sob story from her every 2 weeks. she hides in her room allday.

AARRRGH

Snazzy_Chazzy wrote: »

thabnks for the replies
her situation is she if from outside europe and not entitled to any benefit and is awaiting a "job" which MIGHT be starting in January. And me having other properties is irrelavant. She is already eaten into her deposit and now 2 months behind and not paid a single bill ! i think im being fair. Sob story after sob story from her every 2 weeks. she hides in her room allday.

So if I understand correctly:

• She is unemployed
• She is waiting for a job which MIGHT start in January
• She has already used her deposit to pay a months rent
• She owes two months rent
• She has not paid any bills
• She keeps making excuses

She has to go. And the lesson you need to learn is you kick tenants out immediately (in accordance with their rights, of course) if they can't pay their rent.

analbumcover

Yeah, okay... well regardless how nice she is and regardless of her circumstances you can not afford to support her any longer... and this is essentially what you are doing.

I feel for you and her, the recession sucks. However, you've done all you can at this point. She needs to get a loan from her parents, or friends and start paying you what she owes.

If you own the property she resides in then she is a licensee. If you are the lease holding tenant then she's the license. The residential tenancies act does not cover licensees. So basically she has no rights, you could kick her out tonight... not that you should.

If I was you, I would be decent and give her three days to pay what she owes, that's more than enough time to arrange a loan from a friend or a relative. This also gives her time to contact an agency like Focus Ireland who might be able to put her up somewhere.

However, if you put her out it's going to be nearly impossible to get the money you are owed back but this will allow you to rent to another licensee and stop the financial hemorrhaging.

AARRRGH

analbumcover wrote: »

If you own the property she resides in then she is a licensee. If you are the lease holding tenant then she's the license. The residential tenancies act does not cover licensees. So basically she has no rights, you could kick her out tonight... not that you should.

I think you have to give licensees "reasonable notice"?

analbumcover

AARRRGH wrote: »

I think you have to give licensees "reasonable notice"?

yes you do, but define "reasonable notice". Reasonable notice is undefined in the wording, it's subject to interpretation. She owes two months rent at this point so she's had well over two month's notice. Everyone knows that eviction is the result of not paying rent.

I think three days is more than reasonable considering he's been waiting two months for rent. He's not her keeper, the original poster has gone way above and beyond his obligations.

She gave him €400 last week...

Original Poster: work out a weekly payment plan with her, and let her know that if she breaks her commitment in anyway that her stuff will be in the hall. Sit her down, and speak calmly, but let her know you're serious. Whatever is going on with her financially is none of your business and it's no concern of yours, don't let her make it a concern of yours.

Jaysoose

marmalade3 wrote: »

Uh, yeah, coz that's really going to get him his back-rent isn't it?

OP's first posting says she cooked the odd meal and always asked if anything was needed in the shop etc., she didn't have to do this. My instinct is that this girl is ok and would pay up if she had the funds to do so - most people are like that.

She HAS lost her job and she DID pay 400 so she IS trying.

Coudlnt disagree more, your instinct tells you she is ok? lets stick to the facts shall we, the tenant has not paid is unemployed and is spoofing her way through every rent day or attempt by the OP to get the money owed. Unfortunately i think this is going to end in tears.

stepbar

Snazzy_Chazzy wrote: »

thabnks for the replies
her situation is she if from outside europe and not entitled to any benefit and is awaiting a "job" which MIGHT be starting in January. And me having other properties is irrelavant. She is already eaten into her deposit and now 2 months behind and not paid a single bill ! i think im being fair. Sob story after sob story from her every 2 weeks. she hides in her room allday.

It would have helped if you had mentioned this from the start.......

AARRRGH

AARRRGH wrote: »

I have to disagree.

We all know she could get the rent from somewhere, whether this be a loan from her parents, or a withdrawal on her credit card. Therefore - because she isn't doing this - it is fair to say she thinks it is ok to not pay her rent.

I've lived with people for 12 years and I've seen this 5 or 6 times. What the OP is seeing is just the beginning...

That's just not true. I was recently in a situation where I couldn't pay my rent. My college funding was late because of an error on their part. My parents couldn't lend me anything, my boyfriend either, I don't have a CC or an overdraft. Luckily my landlord was understanding - I tried to make it clear that it was a once off and once it was sorted, this wouldn't happen again. But not everyone has a 'back-up'.

convert

Unfortunately I've come across this situation before during my time sharing with people. The most recent one ended in tears for the landlord, who ended up having to fork out almost €350 in bills owing by a tenant who was also 5 months behind on their rent. This was despite the fact that the tenant in question was receiving job seekers' allowance plus rent allowance, none of which was used to fund the day-to-day costs of living, such as bills and rent.

I'd advise you to sit down with your tenant, explain that she is now 2 months behind in her rent (ex deposit) as well as in her bills. You have 2 options after this: A - give her 14 days in which to pay you all she owes you in rent and bills. If after this time she hasn't paid up, you give her 28 days notice to leave the house (as far as I remember, this is what is stated by the PRTB and when a tenant has signed a lease). Option B - you agree upon a payment plan with her and say that if she misses a payment she will be asked to leave.

I've heard so may sob stories in the past from housemates as to why they can't pay bills, rent, etc. and how they promise that they will pay next week. Unfortunately, next week never comes and the landlord and other tenants are left with outstanding bills when the non-bill and rent paying tenant leaves.

eth0_

I thought it was just a couple of weeks behind but 2 months is taking the mick.
Tell her she cannot possibly expect you to wait until she "might" have a job in January to receive money from her at the END of January - and think how far in arrears she will be by then, her first pay packet might not even cover it.

stepbar

Ok, here's where I'm at the moment. If the OP had posted the info he posted at the start my opinion would have differed. I think that the tenant should be asked to leave. I would be inclined to seek proposals after month 2 (and serving notice) and if on month 3 none are forthcoming I would be evicting her.

analbumcover

convert wrote: »

Unfortunately I've come across this situation before during my time sharing with people. The most recent one ended in tears for the landlord, who ended up having to fork out almost €350 in bills owing by a tenant who was also 5 months behind on their rent. This was despite the fact that the tenant in question was receiving job seekers' allowance plus rent allowance, none of which was used to fund the day-to-day costs of living, such as bills and rent.

I'd advise you to sit down with your tenant, explain that she is now 2 months behind in her rent (ex deposit) as well as in her bills. You have 2 options after this: A - give her 14 days in which to pay you all she owes you in rent and bills. If after this time she hasn't paid up, you give her 28 days notice to leave the house (as far as I remember, this is what is stated by the PRTB and when a tenant has signed a lease). Option B - you agree upon a payment plan with her and say that if she misses a payment she will be asked to leave.

I've heard so may sob stories in the past from housemates as to why they can't pay bills, rent, etc. and how they promise that they will pay next week. Unfortunately, next week never comes and the landlord and other tenants are left with outstanding bills when the non-bill and rent paying tenant leaves.

She is not covered by the private residential tenancies act because the landlord lives in the home with her...

Oroel

Hey, just thought id give a snippet of my story;

i moved into a house my dad owns and had moved out of (hes not a landlord, it was supposed to be just for me to move in) in june or july. Because i felt the need to take care of the girl i was originally living with (long story), i invited her to move out with me. she was very excited.

at NO POINT did i guarantee that my dad would sort a lease for her, do the rent allowance thing, i told her many times she would have to talk to HIM and NOT ME if she wanted any of these things.

She should have sorted a lease with him before moving. i was in the middle of organising myself to move to a different country and kept telling her to talk to him herself, and that it was between them, not to do with me.

so i moved to a different country after living there with her for a couple of months. I have to point out that we were on the same social welfare amounts in our last house, she got rent allowance, i didnt, yet i was able to pay the rent on time every time. when she first moved in she was broke (as usual) and asked if she could pay the deposit in bits. i thought that would be fine, but it ended up with me worrying and thinking about it all the time, and constantly having to ask her for it, it took MONTHS to get the whole thing from her.

I moved away, and she had the entire three bed house in a beautiful area with a big garden, with more than enough mod cons all to herself while i was gone. She told me she has changed all the bills into my name, but she hadnt done anything, ESB direct debit was taken from my account in September, as well as constant messaged from NTL asking for their payment. very annoying. i emailed her and still got nothing, it went on and on, she never said sorry that she couldn't pay, her emails got more and more abusive to the point that i have blocked her email address. She was blaming me for my dad not getting a lease sorted out. Her emails were full of bitching and moaning about how expensive it was (she agreed to live there knowing the price though? which is 450 for an entire house!)

She was always late with the rent, but was never honest about it, always saying next week or tomorrow, and he wouldnt get it for weeks. my dad is so lovely and generous and big hearted but has finally asked her to leave. she only paid him 200 for the last month. i'm pretty angry because my dad could be making a lot more money from the house from someone who deserves it. it was my fault for being overly generous and taking care of her so much. Now she has revealed her true colours of being so bitchy and underhanded and sneaky (she told me the house was broken into and a bag with 2000 euro in it was taken, then she changed her story twice, didn't tell my dad or the police about it!)

The major lesson i learnt here is, other peoples problems are not my problem and it doesnt matter WHAT is going on in someones life, it is not YOUR problem to fix. I have no income whatsoever here, and that ESB money she owes me i really depended on, it was just over 100e. it was her attitude of 'well im broke and dont have a job and couldnt be bothered finding one and i have personal problems right now and i dont have a lease so why should i pay you the money i owe you?' that was the problem. in the last email before i blocked her she told me she had seen her 'legal advisor' and she doesnt have to pay anything until she gets a lease.

the lease has nothing to do with the bill she owes. i have learnt so much from this. She would always borrow my stuff or clothes without asking, now she is in my home, with all of personal things and equipment, and i have no idea what shes going to steal break etc etc. scary.
sorry for the length of this, feel free to give out to me!

jenny487

hi, my friend has tenants who won't/can't pay rent.

what can she do?

jenny