Change to agreement with landlord

who_ru

Hi.

i signed a 12 month lease in august to rent a apt in Dublin.

I am dealing with a 1st time LL who has no experience whatsoever of dealing with tenants or getting domestic repairs carried out etc.

at the weekend an appliance broke down. LL said 'leave it with me'

Got a voice mail today saying the LL now wants to hand over the management of the apt to a private management company with my agreement.

i'm a bit iffy about this. I know full well the reputation of management companies and their attachment to security deposits, i also know the name of the management company in question.

i paid the security deposit to the LL in cash in person. what happens to this now? the contract that was signed made no reference to hiring a management company after less than 2 months into the lease.

Any thoughts ?

the_syco

Do you like the place? Good location/nice apartment? If no to both questions, refuse, and see can you move and get your deposit back.

Also, check the neighbours of your apartment, see if they are under the same management company, and if they're any good.

Baralis1

I'd say you're well entitled to refuse as you signed the lease directly with the landlord. To be honest I prefer dealing directly with landlords myself. At least they are going to care more about their property even if they often are little more helpful and I have had some very good experiences with landlords who genuinely cared about doing good by a good tenant. Whereas usually management companies only are about how much money they are making.

If it was me, I would politely refuse and if he really tries to insist, I would offer to move out on full refund of the deposit and cancelation of the contract. It would be one of the deciding factors for me when looking at apartments.

who_ru

OP here.

The LL told me yesterday that with work commitments, travel for work etc they are not in a position to resolve any issues that may arise, are unable to source people to carry out any repairs necessary etc.

yet they must have known this in advance of contracts being signed but quite happily took the security deposit, a month's rent in advance and another month rent quite recently.

the managnent compnay state on their website that they will inspect the property at the end of the agreement and deduct money from the deposit for anything 'in excess of normal ware and tear'. But i did not give them a security deposit and i'm certainly not going to agree to them getting their hands on it now.

basically i feel i've been mugged here.

but i like the location and the apt itself, it was a lot of hassle moving and a lot of physical effort required.

BTW my previous LL was a true gent and would do anything asked of him no problem whatsoever. but it was a share situation and i felt it was time to move on.

dealing with amatuer LL's in Ireland is a dire experience. it's the money only and nothing else.

if i do not agree to the appointment of a management company, and the LL now says less than 2 months into the contract that they cannot fulfill their legal requirements........................where does this leave me?

Cathmandooo

Surely your landlord is doing the responsible thing by employing somebody to look after the letting as he won't get to things in a prompt time?

If you want to stay where you are then don't kick up a fuss, as it won't get you anywhere. Get a receipt from the landlord for your deposit and a declaration that either he has handed it over to the management company or that he will personally return it upon inspection at the expiration of your lease.

If something breaks and the management company don't get it fixed in a reasonable time then you have the benefit of having the landlords contact details to then approach him. Your situation isn't a bad one imo.

who_ru

Cathmandooo wrote: »

Surely your landlord is doing the responsible thing

the responsible thing to do would have been to hire a management company from the start and let it through them instead of trying to save on paying them a finders fee, then tell me as i moved in to inform them of any issues so that they can get things done, then 6 weeks later say they can't get things done.



i

Cathmandooo

A lot can happen in 6 weeks, I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the landlord is pulling a fast one. Do you think he doesn't have to pay the management company for them to take over the letting? He's actually adding cost on himself, he has done the hard part of getting a tenant.

What outcome do you want now?

bobbysands81

who_ru wrote: »

the responsible thing to do would have been to hire a management company from the start and let it through them instead of trying to save on paying them a finders fee, then tell me as i moved in to inform them of any issues so that they can get things done, then 6 weeks later say they can't get things done.



i

I fail to see how you can lose in this position.

The landlord is responsible for any fees that he may have to pay the Managing Agents.

As your landlord is going to be away would you prefer that he has no contigency plan to put in place if things go wrong when he's gone? What if there was a major leak when he's gone? How would it get fixed? I'm sure he'd find it very difficult to sort things from a foreign country as folk would want immediate payment for works carried out etc... Having an agent to look after all this, for your benefit, whilst he's away seems like a very responsible, and the right thing to do.

On the face of it this seems like your landlord is being responsible and acting properly.

Ray Palmer

OP you have no say what so ever in how the LL decides to manage his property. Plain and simple he is informing you not asking permission. The lease is just managed by somebody else no change in conditions.

who_ru

Ray Palmer wrote: »

OP you have no say what so ever in how the LL decides to manage his property. Plain and simple he is informing you not asking permission. The lease is just managed by somebody else no change in conditions.

awfully sorry for asking Ray - hope your okay.

Ray Palmer

who_ru wrote: »

awfully sorry for asking Ray - hope your okay.

You are the one claiming it was a change to the agreement you had and it simply isn't.