Deposit

Bob Z

If you get the keys pay the deposit to a place and 2 days later (before you have actually moved in) realise you can't move in can the the landlord rake any of the deposit? If he can't meet for a few days could he planning to take those days too

GerardKeating

Bob Z wrote: »

If you get the keys pay the deposit to a place and 2 days later (before you have actually moved in) realise you can't move in can the the landlord rake any of the deposit? If he can't meet for a few days could he planning to take those days too

If you have a signed lease, the landlord is more than entitled to insist that you keep the terms of the contract that you willingly entered into.

This means that you are liable to pay the rent for the entire period of the lease, so not only is the landlord entitled to keep the deposit and first month rent, they could ask for the other ten months rent (assuming a one year lease).

variety

GerardKeating wrote: »

[...]not only is the landlord entitled to keep the deposit and first month rent, they could ask for the other ten months rent (assuming a one year lease).

+1, but this assumes that the Landlord attempts to replace you with a tenant on the same terms and is unsuccessful for a whole 12 months. Unlikely.

The first thing you need to do is request permission from the Landlord to "assign" your Tenancy. This means you find another tenant who will take over your lease.

If the LL refuses your assignment, LL must return all funds to you, including the deposit, minus any deductions for bills, or damage to the property, of course.
If LL does agree to the assignment but does not agree to the new tenant (due to bad references, etc) then you are also free to move and have all funds returned to you.

If you do not request to assign the lease, then GerardKeating's comments are absolutely correct.

Learn your rights and responsibilities - there are many avenues you can view them, including www.prtb.ie and www.citizensinformation.ie.

silja

variety wrote: »

If LL does agree to the assignment but does not agree to the new tenant (due to bad references, etc) then you are also free to move and have all funds returned to you.

Really? So all a tenant needs to do to get out of a lease is find a horrible prospective tenant (say, someone unemployed, no savings, who was evicted from their last two properties and has a criminal record)- or indeed any one random person-, present that prospective replacement tenant to the landlord and if the landlord says "no", then the current tenant can break the lease without penalty?

Cathmandooo

A tenant isn't as easy to come by as you think! Even the bad tenants with no money and no intention of paying their rent.

HotDogger

When you give yer deposit, the landlord takes the property off the market and guarantees you the right to the place. Ya can't just expect the money back because you changed your mind. While he was holding the place for you, prospective tenants will have rented elsewhere. Duh.

That said, landlords are the scum of the earth and I hope you get your cash back etc.

Bob Z

HotDogger wrote: »

When you give yer deposit, the landlord takes the property off the market and guarantees you the right to the place. Ya can't just expect the money back because you changed your mind. While he was holding the place for you, prospective tenants will have rented elsewhere. Duh.

That said, landlords are the scum of the earth and I hope you get your cash back etc.

I did get my deposit back(luckily) but your comment was a bit harsh and seemed to condradict your first paragraph

HotDogger

That's why I started the second paragraph with "That said."

Merch

HotDogger wrote: »

When you give yer deposit, the landlord takes the property off the market and guarantees you the right to the place. Ya can't just expect the money back because you changed your mind. While he was holding the place for you, prospective tenants will have rented elsewhere. Duh.

That said, landlords are the scum of the earth and I hope you get your cash back etc.

Hmm if landlords are the scum of the earth, what should a person that is only starting out do? limited funds, they would hardly want to have anything to do with that kind of scum, better to sleep on the streets, what do you think or maybe your comment was a tad harsh?

HotDogger

Jeez. Allow me to unharshelize my first post:

Never pay your last month's rent. When they get in your face about it, tell them to take the deposit instead. When they get in your face about that, ask for an eviction notice, or just tell em to go f*ck themselves or whatever.

(Common knowledge for most I'm sure, but I'm currently being burned for 700. Pox be upon him).

Victor

HotDogger wrote: »

That said, landlords are the scum of the earth and I hope you get your cash back etc.

Perhaps you mean "some people ..."

Merch

that doesnt make all landlords scum, just yours, although there are probably plenty like them, you should take him/her to the PRTB and you probably have a good idea if they were legitimate (in paying tax etc) so you have them over a barrel really, follow that up with PRTB and a letter to revenue if you suspect that also.
But I'm sure there are plenty of landlords that are reasonable people too.
Some tenants are scum of the earth but not all, same for landlords, lot of people are happy to get good tenants and will do anything to keep them, maybe your landlord is trying to encourage you not to go lol

cozzie55

I have had mixed luck with my last two landlords.

The first was one of the nicer landlords, he lived next door and even brought us over dinner a couple of times. He only asked us to pay half the last months rent aswel saving us €1000.:o

The next fella was awful. We only met him once and he was impossible to get in contact with other than that. So much stuff broke in the house during our tenancy and he never fixed them. eg the heating last november and the water during the cold snap. I had to fix them myself. Now he is refusing to return the deposit because he claims the house was left in a terrible condition and that the keys were not returned to him on time so he couldn't re-let the house. The keys were not returned for 2 weeks after the lease was up cause he would not return our calls or emails till then. I would advise never dealing with him again. Currently have a solicitor on to him about it and he is now claiming other stuff is wrong so no end in sight. :mad:

Why can't we set up some form of a forum for prospective tenants to read feedback left by previous tenants of the landlords. Something like the feedback section left on ebay. That way people would have some idea of the guy they are renting from. could also work the other way round aswel.

A piece of advice given to me by my solicitor was to ask for references from the landlord. They ask you for a reference so why shouldn't you. Its another way to find out what the previous tenants thought.

Anyone who does not get their deposit back within a month should contact a solicitor as most landlords who haven't returned it by then won't bother returning it.

Merch

cozzie55 wrote: »

I have had mixed luck with my last two landlords.

The first was one of the nicer landlords, he lived next door and even brought us over dinner a couple of times. He only asked us to pay half the last months rent aswel saving us €1000.:o

The next fella was awful. We only met him once and he was impossible to get in contact with other than that. So much stuff broke in the house during our tenancy and he never fixed them. eg the heating last november and the water during the cold snap. I had to fix them myself. Now he is refusing to return the deposit because he claims the house was left in a terrible condition and that the keys were not returned to him on time so he couldn't re-let the house. The keys were not returned for 2 weeks after the lease was up cause he would not return our calls or emails till then. I would advise never dealing with him again. Currently have a solicitor on to him about it and he is now claiming other stuff is wrong so no end in sight. :mad:

Why can't we set up some form of a forum for prospective tenants to read feedback left by previous tenants of the landlords. Something like the feedback section left on ebay. That way people would have some idea of the guy they are renting from. could also work the other way round aswel.

A piece of advice given to me by my solicitor was to ask for references from the landlord. They ask you for a reference so why shouldn't you. Its another way to find out what the previous tenants thought.

Anyone who does not get their deposit back within a month should contact a solicitor as most landlords who haven't returned it by then won't bother returning it.

you're wrong, wrong to get a solicitor that is, waste of money, its a solicitor free zone, just get onto the PRTB, unless your landlord has proof the accomodation was in a better condition then they will lose in any dispute resolution with the PRTB, Im sure a solicitor will be happy to take it on and get paid, but will come down to a prtb decision and they dont sound like they are prtb reg'd maybe not even tax compliant, so you had them over a barrel and didnt even know it.

Bob Z

cozzie55 wrote: »

A piece of advice given to me by my solicitor was to ask for references from the landlord. They ask you for a reference so why shouldn't you. Its another way to find out what the previous tenants thought.

Its a good idea but i would think most LL would take offence.

cozzie55

Merch wrote: »

you're wrong, wrong to get a solicitor that is, waste of money, its a solicitor free zone, just get onto the PRTB, unless your landlord has proof the accomodation was in a better condition then they will lose in any dispute resolution with the PRTB, Im sure a solicitor will be happy to take it on and get paid, but will come down to a prtb decision and they dont sound like they are prtb reg'd maybe not even tax compliant, so you had them over a barrel and didnt even know it.

no the reason i got a solicitor was that he sent me a solicitors letter first saying he wasn't returning the deposit when i asked for it. So I got on to my solicitor and they returned a letter to him. It only cost €30 for the letter, apparently it costs way more in dublin about €100 plus i knew the solicitor.

you can bring a solicitor with you when you go infront of the PRTB.

He didn't give me rent books or a copy of the lease either so she said he hasn't a hope.

Merch

whatever works for you, might not be prtb reg'd or tax compliant either.
I believe prtb will look for evidence such as photos to prove the property was in the order he claims.

While I am all against landlords doing this without cause (and Im not saying this next bit is relevant to your situation) but have come across people that have clearly damaged the property they were in and then aghast that their deposit is being witheld, either partially or wholly and were up in arms.

Seen tenants that wrecked a place (am ashamed to say I knew them) so there are two sides to this.
while your landlord may be a cnut there are some that are alright too,

cozzie55

Merch wrote: »

whatever works for you, might not be prtb reg'd or tax compliant either.
I believe prtb will look for evidence such as photos to prove the property was in the order he claims.

While I am all against landlords doing this without cause (and Im not saying this next bit is relevant to your situation) but have come across people that have clearly damaged the property they were in and then aghast that their deposit is being witheld, either partially or wholly and were up in arms.

Seen tenants that wrecked a place (am ashamed to say I knew them) so there are two sides to this.
while your landlord may be a cnut there are some that are alright too,

I can see your point and agree with you totally but believe me most of the problems were there when we moved in.

The letter he sent us included pictures of the "dirt" left in the house. one picture had a piece of onion peel and the other a dead fly. The the solicitor laughed when she saw these.

He also claimed the lawn had to be reset because it hadn't been cut since we moved out. he sent pics of ragwort a metre high. Ask my brother who has a degree in Ag Sci about it and he said it would take two years for ragwort to grow that much.

HotDogger

Merch wrote: »

you're wrong, wrong to get a solicitor that is, waste of money, its a solicitor free zone, just get onto the PRTB, unless your landlord has proof the accomodation was in a better condition then they will lose in any dispute resolution with the PRTB

So in the case of the auld landlord ignoring me and not giving my deposit back, what does the PRTB do? (Their site confuses me).

Merch

HotDogger wrote: »

So in the case of the auld landlord ignoring me and not giving my deposit back, what does the PRTB do? (Their site confuses me).

You mean if you challenge him using the PRTb and he doesn't acknowledge it?
or if just ignores any correspondence.

I believe they will arrange a dispute resolution and see both sides of the case

I'd say if he is not reg'd then they(he/she/the landlord) prob would ignore it, I'd use that to my advantage, if you dont know if he is regd then check on the prtb website or if you simply never received a confirmation then that is almost enough to suggest they didnt bother reg.
You could use that against them by sending a letter or text although probably better to be able to have this chat in person (assuming you have already sent a letter by registered post asking for your money back)
Offer him to give you your deposit back or you will take him to the prtb, tell him (assuming he listens or you actually get to talk to him) that if he does that you wont bother going to the prtb, if they find out he is non reg A he will lose a dispute resolution and B he will be fined, think its around 3 grand, also it is then likely he is not reg-ing as he hasnt paid the nppr and is being tax incompliant.
Tell him you are willing to just take the deposit back and if he messes you about anymore it will end up being worse for him (assuming its a him) tell him not only can you not afford to take that kind of hit, that you are annoyed over the whole thing and intend following it up to the very end!

Assuming of course he didnt make any reasonable deductions in the first place (you know, damage beyond normal wear and tear)

if they are completely ignorant, aren't reg'd with prtb then they will lose in a dispute resolution, if they ignore that, then I would go small claims court, I have no experience of how that situation would work out but I find it highly unlikely that if they ignored turning up at a prtb dispute resolution or ignored its result, then I find it unlikely a court will take a differant view, especially if they have not complied with the law already by being regd with prtb, it may take a while and I can say I dont know how long.

HotDogger

He said he'd give me my deposit back "first thing in the morning" a couple months ago. Now he ignores all emails and calls. How do I check if he's registered?

Merch

first if you as a tenant or a houshold of tenants never received a letter from the prtb saying your tenancy was registered then its likely he didnt reg the tenancy

it may have been lost in the post so, check the prtb website

its is a bit of a messy site to me but between the forms and dispute resolution button there is a button called tenancy registration
click that
go to the bottom of the page on go into the published register
click on your county and look for your address

not there? not regd, then call him private number and tell him you have some important stuff to tell him re my previous post

basically he will be saving himself a lot of hassle by just paying up, if he doesnt agree let him know you will be pursuing it through PRTB and court (small claims, cost u 30 euro? I think) and be reporting him to the tax man and nppr

HotDogger

Hmmm. Don't see it there, just a couple others from the same building. My original written lease was only for 4 months, but then we had a verbal agreement that I would keep it for another 5 months (I have receipts for all the payments). Do you know if they have to register if its a short lease?

Awful situation. Dealing with two agents and "the owner." The agents say its not their problem, and I have to contact the owner. Best part is they all have the same last name. :rolleyes:

Thing is, the owner, who is supposed to be the landlord didn't sign the lease, his sister in law did. Wouldn't that make her the landlord's agent, and thus, the landlord?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm new to this stuff.

Merch

HotDogger wrote: »

Hmmm. Don't see it there, just a couple others from the same building. My original written lease was only for 4 months, but then we had a verbal agreement that I would keep it for another 5 months (I have receipts for all the payments). Do you know if they have to register if its a short lease?

Awful situation. Dealing with two agents and "the owner." The agents say its not their problem, and I have to contact the owner. Best part is they all have the same last name. :rolleyes:

Thing is, the owner, who is supposed to be the landlord didn't sign the lease, his sister in law did. Wouldn't that make her the landlord's agent, and thus, the landlord?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm new to this stuff.

Sounds complicated, well sounds like it has been rented without being registered with the prtb, maybe as it was short term let they had no intention, I believe any tenancy has to be registered and any tenancy that continues beyond the original agreement would be under part 4 tenancy rules.
In essence these people may be related?? I would say who ever is benefiting/the owner is the landlord, my understanding is that anyone assigned (or given) authority to sign the lease is an agent appointed by the landlord. Id say she is an agent and he is the landlord. Often landlords pay an agent to find a tenant but they dont pay them to manage the property so the agent could be considered to be right saying it is up to the landlord (as they haven't been paid to do anything else) I am sure they will swoop in when they need to get paid to find a new tenant though.
essentially its up to the owner/landlord to make sure everything is run ok and they cant shirk their responsibility for tax, nppr, prtb.
Do you know the landlords name and address? if you have their contact details and phone number and they refuse to take calls or respond (they may have a seperate phone for this or simply have replaced the sim)

cozzie55

anyone know how long the landlord stays on the register for after the lease is up??

Merch

not sure, probably until a new tenancy is registered email the prtb

HotDogger

Haw! Asked the agency for the tenancy registration number this morning and within half an hour got a text from the landlord: "700 lodged this morning."

Thanks dudes.

cozzie55

HotDogger wrote: »

Haw! Asked the agency for the tenancy registration number this morning and within half an hour got a text from the landlord: "700 lodged this morning."

Thanks dudes.

lucky bugger.

HotDogger

cozzie55 wrote: »

lucky bugger.

Hey now, I haven't checked my account so don't start celebrating yet.