Offered to cut rent

toexpress

C-J wrote: »

Yes you should have phrased it differently. There are lot of people in this country screwed over by the greed of others, I hope someday you can imagine how being poor feels. You don't need money to be human

I have been on the breadline C-J, you claim to have a first having read law. It would appear that they have dropped the standards because you make some fairly wild assumptions, firstly about my age and secondly about my financial status. I am not poor because I get out and I work and I do so to make sure my bills are paid.

Kindly refrain from your silly school boy deductions. You may be on a panel somewhere but Jessica Fletcher you are not.

Cuddlesworth

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

And therein lies the problem really - I don't mean you personally as such - but I've no doubt many other landlords will come to the same conclusion.

Personally, and I'm not a landlord (or on RA) myself, I would've thought a RA tenant was better than a private one when you consider that (especially in the current climate) the latter could be subject to wage cuts, hours reduced or outright unemployment at any point - whereas a RA tenant is "stable" in that regard.

Of course you have the perception that "RA tenants" = "bad/problem tenants" by default, but I'd argue that a bad tenant is a bad tenant, regardless of where their rent is coming from!

From a more personnel perspective. RA tenants trash the place, can be extremely socially dysfunctional, are impossible to get rid of and can quite often lead to eviction notices. They also withhold the rent, subsidising their "other" habits. And the people paying the RA couldn't give a flying **** about it.

So now none of the people I would know personally will rent to people on RA. And yes, they have had horrible experiences with private tenants as well. Its just the difference between a person who lets a dog chew up the couch and pulls a running and a guy who rips the toilet out and throws it out the window at a neighbour.

Yawns

Quite good timing. Had a phonecall less than an hour ago from the landlord who wanted to pop over. He came, looked and left. First time having met him. Very nice man and he was delighted with the place. Not joking. Just very odd timing what with this thread n all
Just had to do a bit of paperwork and we were both happy campers.

Maybe he's reading this thread! Hello if you are, do let me know your name :P

steddyeddy

toexpress wrote: »

Mid life crises

How old am I?

To be clear, it's my opinion and one to which I am entitled, but I apologise, I should have worded it in more acceptable terms

I was involved with a charity for adult abuse victims. Many of whom depend on temporary assistance from social welfare and rent allowance to get out of an abusive home. I dont think you'll have the ability to understand that some people on social welfare really really need it but hopefully others will apreciate this fact. I have seen many refused because they were on rent allowance leaving them more desperate than before. Probraly some have been refused by the people here. Rent allowance is often essential for the most vunerable of society. Baer in mind many of the people you turned away were in sh1t you couldnt imagine.

Cuddlesworth

steddyeddy wrote: »

I was involved with a charity for adult abuse victims. Many of whom depend on temporary assistance from social welfare and rent allowance to get out of an abusive home. I dont think you'll have the ability to understand that some people on social welfare really really need it but hopefully others will apreciate this fact. I have seen many refused because they were on rent allowance leaving them more desperate than before. Probraly some have been refused by the people here. Rent allowance is often essential for the most vunerable of society. Baer in mind many of the people you turned away were in sh1t you couldnt imagine.

He runs a business not a charity. And its stupid to accept the market minimum for the risk involved.

UDP

steddyeddy wrote: »

Baer in mind many of the people you turned away were in sh1t you couldnt imagine.

That has absolutely nothing to do with a landlord. As Cuddlesworth said, they are not charities.

steddyeddy

I was posting in response to his scum of the earth comment which few of you seem to have a problem with.

Cuddlesworth

steddyeddy wrote: »

I was posting in response to his scum of the earth comment which few of you seem to have a problem with.

There are always exceptions to the rule when generalising. But the fact remains, your far more likely to get a scum of the earth tenant when accepting RA. And they are impossible to get rid off, cost a fortune in damages and have nothing to lose in court. They are a huge fiscal risk and are treated as such in the current market.

Milk & Honey

One of the big problems with RA is that when the tenant causes hassle, the Welfare people do absolutely nothing to help the landlord. There is no reason why when rent allowance is approved the rent allowance and a sufficient sum to make up the rent is not paid directly to the landlord. the difference between the rent and the subsidy could be deducted from the tenants weekly welfare payment

Yawns

That is the way it works in some cases Milk & Honey. A couple I know personally are in receipt of RA. They don't care for the house or rent first. They don't care about unpaid bills. Sure they brag about it to me saying they just use different names. This is the reason I understand why people hate having RA tenants. We have all heard stories about people like this. This guy laughed at me asking why I bothered paying my bills. I just told him to cope on and at least I won't be worrying about my power being cut.

In his case, his landlord now has the RA paid direct to his account. However there's also landlords who receive the RA but claim they don't. This can be disproved of course but there's bad landlords as well as good just like bad tenants as well as good.

There are always exceptions to the rule when generalising. But the fact remains, your far more likely to get a scum of the earth tenant when accepting RA. And they are impossible to get rid off, cost a fortune in damages and have nothing to lose in court. They are a huge fiscal risk and are treated as such in the current market.

If a scum of the earth tenant rents from you privately you will find it just as impossible to get rid of them, cost the same fortune in damages and they are the same huge fiscal risk. People are gonna be scum if they are getting RA or not. I know the stigma attached to it. Best way to ween them out is have them pay the rent themselves until the RA kicks in. If they are serious tenants they will consider this if they can afford to do so. A scum won't want to pay a penny out of his pocket if he doesn't have to.

I made the same agreement with my landlord. I paid the rent until the RA kicked in. It just happened to go through the system fast, I had all the paper work ready when I moved in. To this day I still put my rent up every month and save the RA for doing a big shop or for the bills the following month. I was able to do this by saving before I moved in. It also helps that I didn't bother looking at places I couldn't afford without the RA. I could afford €550 a month so that is what I went for. I get paid monthly so every week I put some rent & bill money away. I then use the RA for the other things I can't save for each week be it some car tax or what not. Usually it's things like I might need an extra 20 for this bill here or something. Either way my rent has never been missed even tho the RA is only paid in arrears. In fact it's usually 2 - 3 days early as I once paid on the day and it didn't go through until 2 days later, now I lodge it early to make sure it's in.

UDP

Thats the thing. Its not that RA tenants are all worse but there is a higher chance of getting someone dodgy with RA. The thing is like people said RA recipients have been diluted in the last few years with decent people but still the old dodgy RA recipients are still there.

Milk & Honey

Yawns wrote: »

That is the way it works in some cases Milk & Honey. A couple I know personally are in receipt of RA. They don't care for the house or rent first.
In his case, his landlord now has the RA paid direct to his account. However there's also landlords who receive the RA but claim they don't. .

The RA is not the full rent. The full rent is never paid to the landlord directly.

C-J

Surely a 'good landlord' would be able to distinguish an undesirable tenant on viewing of the property and ask references etc?? If you end up with a bad tenant it's your own lack of attention at fault

Yawns

Milk & Honey wrote: »

The RA is not the full rent. The full rent is never paid to the landlord directly.

I am aware of that. In this particular case tho both sides are giving wrong information to the CRU so this lad claims. The rent is below county limit, but they are claiming for more than what it really is so that the RA will cover entire rent. I have not seen the forms but he has bragged about this and it's not the first time I've heard of a person doing it so I don't doubt it.

I just go my own honest way and things have worked out fine for me thus far. I just don't like being considered scum alongside this type of person even tho I understand why people do generalize. If it's true that his landlord is also signing off on a false lease for this purpose, should I consider all landlords scum too? I don't. Same when I hear horror stories of what can only be described as slum conditions to which landlords rent out. I don't tar them all with one brush. My last landlord and current landlord are both fine gentlemen. I barely talk to them which means everything is going smoothly.

Yawns

C-J wrote: »

Surely a 'good landlord' would be able to distinguish an undesirable tenant on viewing of the property and ask references etc?? If you end up with a bad tenant it's your own lack of attention at fault

Sometimes an estate agent will just sign up a tenant even if they are trouble. They will get paid regardless. Some landlords just don't care until they have to pay for the damages. Then there's the pushy landlords who can't accept that the house becomes the tenants home and know to leave them in peace. The variety is great and wide for both sides.

Kosseegan

Yawns wrote: »

I am aware of that. In this particular case tho both sides are giving wrong information to the CRU so this lad claims. The rent is below county limit, but they are claiming for more than what it really is so that the RA will cover entire rent. I have not seen the forms but he has bragged about this and it's not the first time I've heard of a person doing it so I don't doubt it.

I just go my own honest way and things have worked out fine for me thus far. I just don't like being considered scum alongside this type of person even tho I understand why people do generalize. If it's true that his landlord is also signing off on a false lease for this purpose, should I consider all landlords scum too? I don't. Same when I hear horror stories of what can only be described as slum conditions to which landlords rent out. I don't tar them all with one brush. My last landlord and current landlord are both fine gentlemen. I barely talk to them which means everything is going smoothly.

If that was the case the landlord would be taxed on a greater income than he receives in rent.

Yawns

I've always thought that when I heard people claiming this. Apparently they do it tho. I'm not gonna doubt it. If the ll wants to make false declarations, it's up to him/her. If they get caught I have 0 sympathy. I can't exactly report and prove the case as they have a lease between themselves that says the rent is x amount. In this scenario that the guy is in, the ll gets the RA every month which covers the tenants contribution as the actual rent paid is less than what the lease says.

steddyeddy

Apologies for the late reply Im up to my eyes at the moment. I dont expect landlords to act as a charity and take in rent allowance people. What I do expect is a person like a landlord who is providing a social necessity such as housing to have a but of common sense and be aware of the damage referring to people who need help as "scum of the earth" can cause. Many of the people we worked with didnt even want rent allowance they worked two jobs to pay for their rent yet some landlords didnt want to house them because of their abusive background.

Some people on rent allowance are battered wives, the elderly, those who were evicted from a house not being able to afford mortgage payments. Some of the people we worked with have their own business or are doing phds now bottom line people on rent allowance as a temporary stop gap can be great members of society.

Ill end by saying some of the landlords who paint rent allowance recievers as "scum" have on previous threads bragged about breaking the law, evicting people illegally or tracking people down. People in glass houses gentlemen.

Glenalla

As it turns out the tenant has found another similar house locally that has just been redecorated and wants to move in instead. The statement about not being able to accept a reduction in rent was just a way to get out of my property. As my property was just redecorated 16 months ago it makes me wonder what state he will leave it in?. I have not checked it internally as I live 5 hours away but had a neighbour check it externally from time to time.

ShaShaBear

I'm in receipt of Rent Allowance and it helps put me through college. I've re-decorated the place on my own time and money, landlord was so pleased he let me off rent over Christmas. He fixes stuff the second I ask, and I keep the place spotless. Bills have never been late and neither has rent. I have to pick it up in the PO every week, and it goes directly to the bank for his rent.

I'm not even going to go into the "scum" comments, as people like that simply do not deserve my recognition. I was in a very dire situation after my dad died, and I was, and still am, so utterly thrilled to be receiving help to live and continue my studies that I would not dare throw it back in someone's face.

But I am well aware of at least 11 people living in my area that fully abuse the privilege that the state provides by letting people like myself live independently.

I tend to find what works best is to meet the landlord or estate agent fully prepared with references and background information, then when they have seen what a delightful and honest person you are, drop the RA bomb. If they still refuse you, they clearly weren't going to be very nice people to rent from.
I can remember a time where I had more trouble finding a place willing to allow my dog