Cash deposit

onion rings

hiyas,

im curious on your opinion on this.

I went to view a place last night advertised on daft.ie.

when i arrived the guy showing it said he had 3 places going in the same building that were on daft (i checked this when i got home and it was true) he also said that most people living there stayed for years so that seemed a bit odd that there was 3 going at once.

during the viewing i said i liked it and would meet him tomorrow with a draft because i didnt want to be handing over cash. he said fine and he would get back to me later, someone else was also coming to view the place.

so i went home and waited got no call so i thought id chance my arm and text asking, and he called back straight away and said i could have it and to meet tomorrow.

so this morning i got up and txt asking for his full name for the draft, txt back and said he wanted cash, so i txt saying outta da question but if he gave me his a/c number id lodge it directly into his account.

got a call a few mins later from him saying he was only the agent that manages the property on behalf of the landlord and that he needed the cash to pay bills and a tenant that overpaid the rent??? and that all future rent payments would go directly to the landlord but the first payment should always be done by cash and that if i paid it to the landlords a/c he would not be able to access it - and then went on about a trust thing and that i had to trust him as he was trusting me as a tenant.

i said id leave it - so im just curious if anyone else has come across this setup and if its normal? In my 8 years of renting Ive never experienced this before. They way I see it is that if he was the landlords agent there still should be no problem me lodging it into his (the agents) account and he could access it from there himself.

Thats all, your advise would be very much appreciated.

cheers

Ste.phen

They might be trustworthy in general, but it sounds to me like they're lying about this deposit issue so i'd be very suspicious overall...

onion rings

i know its a killer cos it was a great place.

and if thats the norm whats to stop me putting up the place im renting at the moment on daft and insisting on cash when people come to view it.

hadepsx

cant u contact d landlord and ask him d deal wit it, seems dodgy

onion rings

i never thought of asking for the landlords details to be honest,

i shoudda done that and insisted on a landline, ill know for next time though - maybe im just being too paranoid, though i think the paranoia would be worse after i handed over the cash

cheers

hadepsx

no probs, no harm in asking, its your money after all, and the agent shud understand if he is legit

robd

onion rings wrote: »

and then went on about a trust thing and that i had to trust him as he was trusting me as a tenant.

That's the alarm bells there. Use of word trust.

Last time I got a place, there were 2 drats required, 1 for landlord to cover deposit and 1 for agent to cover 1st months rent (generally this is their commission). They were in agents and landlords names though.

You'd have to establish agent is registered and operating from a real premises to get a better idea.

homerjk

I paid my deposit and first months rent in cash to one of the biggest developers in Ireland. I was a bit wary like you but the following 14 months have been standing order.

listermint

onion rings wrote: »

hiyas,

im curious on your opinion on this.

I went to view a place last night advertised on daft.ie.

when i arrived the guy showing it said he had 3 places going in the same building that were on daft (i checked this when i got home and it was true) he also said that most people living there stayed for years so that seemed a bit odd that there was 3 going at once.

during the viewing i said i liked it and would meet him tomorrow with a draft because i didnt want to be handing over cash. he said fine and he would get back to me later, someone else was also coming to view the place.

so i went home and waited got no call so i thought id chance my arm and text asking, and he called back straight away and said i could have it and to meet tomorrow.

so this morning i got up and txt asking for his full name for the draft, txt back and said he wanted cash, so i txt saying outta da question but if he gave me his a/c number id lodge it directly into his account.

got a call a few mins later from him saying he was only the agent that manages the property on behalf of the landlord and that he needed the cash to pay bills and a tenant that overpaid the rent??? and that all future rent payments would go directly to the landlord but the first payment should always be done by cash and that if i paid it to the landlords a/c he would not be able to access it - and then went on about a trust thing and that i had to trust him as he was trusting me as a tenant.

i said id leave it - so im just curious if anyone else has come across this setup and if its normal? In my 8 years of renting Ive never experienced this before. They way I see it is that if he was the landlords agent there still should be no problem me lodging it into his (the agents) account and he could access it from there himself.

Thats all, your advise would be very much appreciated.

cheers

incidently where is the place, on the look myself.

Pkiernan

This could well be a scam quite popular in the UK, where someone other than the landlord (tenant, short-time renter, basically anyone with keys to the property) is pretending that it is his to rent.

There is a very good chance that this guy could take your cash and be off on his heels.

There is no valid reason for what he is asking. Try to deal only with the landlord.

If you want to know if he is genuine, ask him to show you a copy of the BER for the dwelling. If he is a legitimate agent he will have this - he is required by law to do so.

I would stay away from this if you cannot find out more about this fellow.

onion rings

hi listermint, ill send you a pm

Penguino

Well done in not paying in cash. Sounds too dodgy

I work in the letting industry, the deposit and first months rent should be going into the letting agents "client account". From there they will take their fee and give the remainder to the landlord

Mr. Loverman

Could defo be a scam... getting 20 people to hand over a deposit before he emigrates.

gossipgal08

he needed the cash to pay bills and a tenant that overpaid the rent???

Your deposit should not be used for anything other than covering any damage you may have done while living in the place. It should not be spent untill you move out.

he was only the agent that manages the property

Can he prove this ?
I have always paid cash upfront (to the LL or letting agent ) and rent by standing order

onion rings

to be honest when he wouldnt even accept the cash direct into his own bank account (the agents account i mean) i didnt bother asking for any verification. granted i thought if i gave him a bank draft he would have to go to the bank to lodge it and that might be a hassle for him but with cash in his account he just needed to ring his 24 hour bank and check it was there and hand over keys and then just go to an atm (about 3 min walk from the apt and withdraw) granted he might have a daily limit but it would of been for 900 total which could of been taken out over 2 days if he needed to.

Doop

Sounds like something is amiss. Him asking specifically and only for cash is not right, he's supposed to be running a business should be able to accept a number of different payment methods.

Victor

Unless you get lots of reassurance, walk away.

Fast.