Getting Evicted

gettingevicted

So yesterday I received a "Notice to Quit" from my landlord. I am being evicted for non-payment of rent.

Early April of this year I lost my job. I am 30, still young but I can get a new job. I send out hundreds of CVs a month. Recruiters won't even return my calls or emails and avoid me when I ring directly.

I work (worked?) in IT the last few years. There are no jobs out there for my experience level and when I try to apply for junior roles (at significantly less pay) I am told I won't be considered because I am "too senior".

More senior roles do come online but they look for experience or skills I don't have and again, won't consider me because I am too junior for these roles.

I've tried applying for jobs in other industries, even jobs in retail and food service. Right now I do just about anything if it was legal.

Anyway I am out of money. I have been told I am not entitled to receive benefits because I was self employed.

A mate said I could stay on his couch rent free, so I guess that's an option... but what if he changes his mind?

I am getting seriously depressed and contemplating suicide. I can't sleep at night and scour the internet for job adverts.

What are my options?

This Notice to Quit I have received, if I don't comply with it, what's the next step? Would I buy myself anymore time by not complying?

What about squatting? I know one can do this legally in the U.K. and Germany... do we have similar laws? Like can I just take up residence in a derelict property?

It's shocking to me that I am even considering these options but this is what I have been reduced to.

I never thought I would see the day when I was unemployable. I am healthy, intelligent, educated and some how that's not enough anymore. Healthy, intelligent, educated men are needed anymore.

Any suggestions regarding where to find work, accommodation or some other way to make social welfare give me benefits would be appreciated.

rhapsody

Hey dude,

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

I think at this stage there must be some sort of rent allowance you can apply for. I dont really know about that kind of thing, but a person as you describe yourself cant be let fall of the earth because of this.
I would recommend staying on your friend's couch, if only for a while. Surely squatting would leave you very isolated and that cant be good when you're feeling like this. I'm sure your friends would be glad to help in this situation.
I've seen other people on here suggest doing some volunteering- it'll keep your brain & body moving & it could lead to some sort of paid work, its all about who you know etc apparently.
Sorry I can't be more help. If I have any ideas I'll get back to you. Stay strong.

[BTW: you might want to post in:
1. Soc-> PI
2. Biz-> Personal -> State Benefits]

Agent J

1)Find your local CWO (Community Welfare officer) and talk to them. Bring that notice to quit as well. Benifits are being turned down to people but you have to push

2)Contact Threshold www.threshold.ie about getting evicted. They are best placed to give advice about accomadation. Forget about squatters rights etc... takes years.

Vodkat

If you decide to squat, its only downhill from there. Take your friend up on his offer to stay on his couch. Would you do the same for him? Good luck with everything!!

Xiney

gettingevicted wrote: »

I have been told I am not entitled to receive benefits because I was self employed.

If you are single, have no income or means and are habitually resident in Ireland, you are entitled to Jobseeker's Allowance despite having been self employed. You may need to wind your company up with revenue.

sesna

gettingevicted wrote: »

S
This Notice to Quit I have received, if I don't comply with it, what's the next step? Would I buy myself anymore time by not complying?

I have great sympathy for your situation. However, I dont think many here would advise you to drag out staying in a property without paying rent at the expense of a landlord who probably has a mortage to pay, not to mention these legal bills for eviction etc.

dangerus06

go.to.your.local.council.as.far,as,i,know.they.have.to.put.you.up.in.a.hostel.or.something.similar.but.you.need.to.sign.up.with.then.before.your.evicted

sesna

dangerus06 wrote: »

go.to.your.local.council.as.far,as,i,know.they.have.to.put.you.up.in.a.hostel.or.something.similar.but.you.need.to.sign.up.with.then.before.your.evicted

At least the OP's spacebar works!

Diabhal_Glas

Are these positions of any use to you? Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

D3PO

OP sorry to hear about your troubles.

You seriously need to start talking to people to try and improve your situation.

I suggest you start by talking your friend up on his offer. By contemplating squatting and by having not payed rent your putting somebody else into a financial hole which could ultimatly make them end up in a similar position to your own situation. Think how bad you feel right now do you really want to do that to somebody else ??

After this you need to go to your CWO and try and understand what kind of relief you can get including jobseekers allowance. Go to your local TD if your getting nowhere and dont take no for an answer everybody in this state has to get help in your situation.

As for getting a job what area of IT are you in ? Dell have lots of open positions right now, I know people who got jobs in Google and Microsoft in Dublin in the past 2 months aswell so theres definatly hope for you.

shoegirl

OP, I can sympathise with you as I could so easily have fallen into the same situation. There is a real problem in IT at the moment with people with a few years experience, with few or no qualifications, but too senior for starter roles. Basically I started looking the day I was told I was probably being laid off and after 3 months I'd only had 1 interview. I wasn't in Dublin and my rent was too high for rent allowance, and very unlikely that the landlady would reduce my rent by 25% to qualify. I figured if things hadn't drastically improve I needed to give up my tenancy, move in with family or friends and reconsider.

Have you family? I moved back in with my family. This worked well for me as they are in Dublin so since coming back I've got loads more interviews and call backs as there seems to be much more work in Dublin?

Don't write off social welfare. Even if you were self employed you are entitled to JSA. Put in an application and go to your CWO and explain the situation. You will be means tested but sounds like you would qualify.

Put together your rent receipts for the last 6 months as you might be able to find a smaller place you can afford.

Lastly, talk to Threshold, they will be able to help with the eviction situation. Talk to your landlord also and explain that you have no income. It might be possible to come to some arrangement.

Finally, talk to Fás - they put me onto a couple of MCPs which might help. I am getting interviews but I haven't had an offer so far but the hope from getting interviews is keeping me going.

Now that said, I've a fractitious relationship with my family but it has enabled me to keep my head above water during this tough time.

charlemont

get yourself a telescopic rifle , black khaki clothes, a map and take up a spot on a rooftop, then when the fat bastard cowen appears, squeeze the trigger..

fat bastard cowen can be substituted for any member of the government..

how come the "brave men" who shoot soldiers ordering pizza and murder a police officer havent got the balls to start a campaign against fianna fail ?




your situation is cruel, you did everything they asked of you, now they dont wanna know yoyu, thats ireland 2010

The_Conductor

charlemont wrote: »

get yourself a telescopic rifle , black khaki clothes, a map and take up a spot on a rooftop, then when the fat bastard cowen appears, squeeze the trigger..

fat bastard cowen can be substituted for any member of the government..

how come the "brave men" who shoot soldiers ordering pizza and murder a police officer havent got the balls to start a campaign against fianna fail ?




your situation is cruel, you did everything they asked of you, now they dont wanna know yoyu, thats ireland 2010

Banned.
This is not After Hours.

Regards.

SMcCarrick

useruser

gettingevicted wrote: »

I never thought I would see the day when I was unemployable. I am healthy, intelligent, educated and some how that's not enough anymore. Healthy, intelligent, educated men are needed anymore.

You are not unemployable. Like many others you just can't find a job at the moment. As with everything else, this too shall pass. Sleep on your friend's couch, take some crap shelf-stacking/cleaning jobs in the meantime if you can get them and bide your time until things pick up a bit. If there's one useful piece of advice I can give for IT job hunting it is to rewrite your CV every time to suit the job, the recruiters/HR people are just looking to tick boxes so make sure you tick as many of them as possible.

Treehouse72

gettingevicted wrote: »

Anyway I am out of money. I have been told I am not entitled to receive benefits because I was self employed.

This is almost certainly not true. My understanding is that Jobseeker's Allowance should be available to you, as should immediate financial help from your Community Welfare Officer. I would call the CWO tomorrow and arrange to get some money and - more importantly - ask them to put you in touch with a health professional about your mental condition. Dude, please, you cannot contemplate suicide when there is financial and accommodation assistance available from the state and mental healthcare services there to help you get better. Make that call tomorrow morning and by tomorrow evening you might have a few quid in your pocket, you might have spoken to someone who'll make your mood lift and you'll have the process in train towards getting a roof over your head. That would be a damn good day - in 24 short hours things could look a whole lot better. Give it a week and maybe a job will crop up. Suicide is not an option with all this going for you. Good luck, and report back here on how you get on. Would be most interested on hearing your progress because there are a lot of people in your spot and it is very possible to turn it around.

amdublin

I am sorry to hear you are in this situation.

Please take your friend up on the couch offer. It is not fair to the landlord not to comply with the notice, plus I think it will just add to your stresses and feeling low etc.

Go back to the Social Welfare!!! You are entitled to JSA.

This will not be forever. You will get through this. Good luck to you.

Ps. The people on the Social Welfare forum and the Personal Issues forum on boards may be help/support your more - please post there also

amdublin

gettingevicted wrote: »

I am getting seriously depressed and contemplating suicide. I can't sleep at night and scour the internet for job adverts.

Please please please talk to your doctor if these feelings continue.

Or the Samaritans
Or a friend
Or a family member.

I am hoping things improve for you soon dude.

Regards
Amdub

gettingevicted

Thanks everyone for your sympathy and suggestions.

Things have improved drastically. A couple of days after I posted this I got a call from a recruiter asking if I wanted to work a 1 month contract to cover another contractor's holiday leave. Of course, I said yes. After I accepted this I started getting calls from recruiters for other opportunities and was offered a full time job for €22,000. Keep in mind I used to be on €50,000 so this was a real drop in salary but I wasn't complaining... it was a job! I was over the moon, it meant I was going to be homeless... and that's awesome.

Well a couple of days after that I was told by the team manager where I was working currently that there were going to be some reorganizations and that there was possibly going to be room on the team for another person. Two people were moving off the team and were joining another team. This was great news because I love working there and the people are great. I, of course, said I'd love the job and would be very excited about working there permanently. They offered and I accepted, the rate of pay is about €30,000 per year but the work is easy and there are direct opportunities for promotion ahead. This didn't come as a huge surprise because I have been working very hard and people have been emailing my team leader to say how helpful and professional I was.

After I accepted I discovered that the guy who I was covering for was going to be let go. I thought I was an addition to the team, not a replacement. I felt really bad about this. They said they were letting him go because his job performance was bad, he was getting complaints, and worst of all his punctuality has been really bad, showing up as much as three hours late with out notice and in some cases missing full days. He was given two warnings and then decided to go on holidays for nearly a month, this after only being in the door for two months himself. As he was a contractor as well he should know they don't have to give you any warning whatsoever, they can just tell you not to come back. He's been taking the piss, and I feel sorry for him, but it's his own fault. I have heard rumors they are going to bring a another contractor in to make up the numbers.

My accommodation situation has improved as well. Since I got the eviction papers I have been getting weekly calls from the landlord threatening me and generally being abusive. This hasn't helped things at all and I told him this. I explained that I had finally gotten work and would be happy to work out a payment plan with him. He wouldn't consider anything but all the money at once and yesterday. I told him I didn't have it and would only have some of it by the end of the month. He was being a real jerk, I could understand why he was upset but at the end of the day I was going to be homeless and jobless and he was only going to be out a couple of thousand euro. This is the same guy who owns several apartments and businesses. He is immensely wealthy. I couldn't believe after all the years I've paid rent on time and in full that he'd treat me like this. Like being threatening and abusive was going to solve anything. I called threshold and they contacted the PRTB. They got on his case and told him to stop threatening me and warned I could take legal action against him should he try to illegally evict me.

All this **** was a bit too much so I made the decision to get out as soon as possible. Luckily a friend of mine was looking for a new room so we decided to pair up and we got a really nice place, much nicer and bigger. We got a great deal and got in without a deposit! As I was moving out the old landlord contacted me apologizing and offered to let me stay and work out a payment plan. This just days before I was to move out. I told him that I had made other arrangements and that I didn't fancy living there after everything that went down. I said I would pay what I owed and any spare income would go t paying the debt down. I should have it paid off in the next three months. What really gets me is he couldn't have cared less when I lost my job or what i was going through and he dealt with the problem like a spoiled bully. I didn't quit my job, or was fired; I was laid off. I had been looking for work for nearly 4 months until I lucked into where I am currently working. My point is if he would have offered to work things out previously it would have made everyone's lives much easier and he'd still have a tenant paying rent. When bad things happen home owners are given amnesty and reduced mortgage payments... they aren't put out of their homes.

Anyway, everything worked out.

The_Conductor

Well done- its nice to hear of things working out for folk.
Best wishes,

Shane

tara73

hey,
thanks for that update. it's great to hear things worked out so well for you and it's good to write it down here as it can give so many people in the same situation hope.
congrats again!!!

Samba

gettingevicted wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your sympathy and suggestions.

Things have improved drastically. A couple of days after I posted this I got a call from a recruiter asking if I wanted to work a 1 month contract to cover another contractor's holiday leave. Of course, I said yes. After I accepted this I started getting calls from recruiters for other opportunities and was offered a full time job for €22,000. Keep in mind I used to be on €50,000 so this was a real drop in salary but I wasn't complaining... it was a job! I was over the moon, it meant I was going to be homeless... and that's awesome.

Well a couple of days after that I was told by the team manager where I was working currently that there were going to be some reorganizations and that there was possibly going to be room on the team for another person. Two people were moving off the team and were joining another team. This was great news because I love working there and the people are great. I, of course, said I'd love the job and would be very excited about working there permanently. They offered and I accepted, the rate of pay is about €30,000 per year but the work is easy and there are direct opportunities for promotion ahead. This didn't come as a huge surprise because I have been working very hard and people have been emailing my team leader to say how helpful and professional I was.

After I accepted I discovered that the guy who I was covering for was going to be let go. I thought I was an addition to the team, not a replacement. I felt really bad about this. They said they were letting him go because his job performance was bad, he was getting complaints, and worst of all his punctuality has been really bad, showing up as much as three hours late with out notice and in some cases missing full days. He was given two warnings and then decided to go on holidays for nearly a month, this after only being in the door for two months himself. As he was a contractor as well he should know they don't have to give you any warning whatsoever, they can just tell you not to come back. He's been taking the piss, and I feel sorry for him, but it's his own fault. I have heard rumors they are going to bring a another contractor in to make up the numbers.

My accommodation situation has improved as well. Since I got the eviction papers I have been getting weekly calls from the landlord threatening me and generally being abusive. This hasn't helped things at all and I told him this. I explained that I had finally gotten work and would be happy to work out a payment plan with him. He wouldn't consider anything but all the money at once and yesterday. I told him I didn't have it and would only have some of it by the end of the month. He was being a real jerk, I could understand why he was upset but at the end of the day I was going to be homeless and jobless and he was only going to be out a couple of thousand euro. This is the same guy who owns several apartments and businesses. He is immensely wealthy. I couldn't believe after all the years I've paid rent on time and in full that he'd treat me like this. Like being threatening and abusive was going to solve anything. I called threshold and they contacted the PRTB. They got on his case and told him to stop threatening me and warned I could take legal action against him should he try to illegally evict me.

All this **** was a bit too much so I made the decision to get out as soon as possible. Luckily a friend of mine was looking for a new room so we decided to pair up and we got a really nice place, much nicer and bigger. We got a great deal and got in without a deposit! As I was moving out the old landlord contacted me apologizing and offered to let me stay and work out a payment plan. This just days before I was to move out. I told him that I had made other arrangements and that I didn't fancy living there after everything that went down. I said I would pay what I owed and any spare income would go t paying the debt down. I should have it paid off in the next three months. What really gets me is he couldn't have cared less when I lost my job or what i was going through and he dealt with the problem like a spoiled bully. I didn't quit my job, or was fired; I was laid off. I had been looking for work for nearly 4 months until I lucked into where I am currently working. My point is if he would have offered to work things out previously it would have made everyone's lives much easier and he'd still have a tenant paying rent. When bad things happen home owners are given amnesty and reduced mortgage payments... they aren't put out of their homes.

Anyway, everything worked out.

I'm delighted for you and your story should serve as an example. No matter how dark things can appear to get, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel!

I understand your frustration with regards to your landlord but your situation could have also put him in a bad spot and perhaps he made a knee jerk reaction to try and get someone in asap to cover the rent, perhaps he was getting pressurised from the bank?

Anyway don't dwell on this, you've got some great positives to look ahead to and the best of luck to you with what lies ahead.

D3PO

I'm glad things worked out for you.

your old landlord sounds like an idiot. Losing a good tennant due to stubborness can only be laughed at.

Blackjack

Samba wrote: »

I'm delighted for you and your story should serve as an example. No matter how dark things can appear to get, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel!

I understand your frustration with regards to your landlord but your situation could have also put him in a bad spot and perhaps he made a knee jerk reaction to try and get someone in asap to cover the rent, perhaps he was getting pressurised from the bank?

Anyway don't dwell on this, you've got some great positives to look ahead to and the best of luck to you with what lies ahead.

+1