Difficulties With Landlord

CA88

Just looking for some opinions/advice on this. I have been in my property for almost 6 months now, pay my rent, keep myself to myself etc. There are a number of issues which started to appear once I moved in such as the bathroom sink leaking, broken light switches and so on. The worst however is the kitchen ceiling. The problem started about 6 weeks ago when the heavy rain began to hit. I noticed a leak in the ceiling, stuck a bucket under it and informed the landlord straight away. As with all the faults, he's round the house within an hour. But then that's it, you never see him again and then the problem is never actually fixed. With the rain having been so torrential, the ceiling is now sagging a lot, plaster board is gradually coming away from the wall edges and a chunk of the plaster board actually fell down. The wall to the back of this is also wet to the touch when the weather is really bad. I txt and left him a voicemail again yesterday, 6 weeks after he told me he would get it fixed, and still nothing. Never mind the other issues in the house.

I phoned Threshold who told me the best thing to do would be to contact my local council and report it to Environmental Health who would then do an inspection and basically order him to carry out the repairs. Thing is, I find the landlord a bit intimidating to be honest and don't want him showing up getting angry at me. Also, he isn't registered with the PRTB so isn't exactly doing things by the book, I only found this out last week. Any advice? Would be much appreciated

edellc

You have a few options as far as I can see

the first is to do as threshold say and get the council involved, if landlord isnt registered with prtb not your problem

second is send a registered letter stating problems to landlord and hope he fixes them in a reasonable time frame or before roof falls down, hopefully not injuring anyone

or thirdly which most people are wildly against, withhold rent until something is done or until you have your deposit back and get the hell out of this death trap

I know which one I would be doing

best of luck with it Op not a nice situation to be in

DublinDilbert

Document everything, all communications, when he came around, dates / times etc.. take a few photos of the issues.

If you feel you've come to the end of the road with the landlord, you've two options; move out or get the council involved. He's providing very sub-standard accommodation, they should know about it. If you moves out he'll just stick someone else in there. Don't worry about him not being PRTB registered not your problem, he's more than likely not registered with revenue either, the council should be able to sort both these out ;-)

miller50841

Hi OP I had huge problems where I was renting also we eventually just had to leave early but fighting to get deposit back were you given the BER cert or shown it ?
You got the right info on enviro health are you in Dun Laoghaire area if so call this number 01-2144500.
I had huge structural problems leaks, mould, damp, cold with heat on always basically was like living in a fridge, fridge freezer wasn't proper size only tiny 1, didn't have correct smoke alarms, gas boiler wasn't serviced since 2008 and lots more sorry don't want to bore you.
Take pictures of everthing and record dates, also right a letter email isn't enough still has to be on paper and send registered post with a copy of what you send to landlord.

BostonB

You would be better to leave. LL like this continue to operate because people continue to rent from them.

hefferboi

Take pictures of everything that's wrong and get copies of texts and phone calls.

odds_on

edellc wrote: »

You have a few options as far as I can see

the first is to do as threshold say and get the council involved, if landlord isnt registered with prtb not your problem

second is send a registered letter stating problems to landlord and hope he fixes them in a reasonable time frame or before roof falls down, hopefully not injuring anyone

or thirdly which most people are wildly against, withhold rent until something is done or until you have your deposit back and get the hell out of this death trap

I know which one I would be doing

best of luck with it Op not a nice situation to be in

I have just posted this morning a detailed post on how to deal with issues/problems with the landlord.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=79722865&postcount=2

Correct edellc. However, I repeat here again, that if you do not specify a time limit for the issues to be remedied then the problem will usually drag on and on and the landlord could be in breach of his obligations.

By putting the issues in writing (and keep a copy, dated) you are covering yourself should the issue become worse, and as you have evidence the landlord cannot say that you cause more damage because you didn't notify him in time of the problem. Furthermore, if there is a difficulty at the end of the tenancy, in having your deposit returned because of the damage, then you cannot be held liable.

If he is in breach of his obligations, then you can either:
1. Move out by giving the landlord the required notice in writing
2. Advise the landlord that you will bring a claim to the PRTB and also claim for damages - stress, inconvenience etc.

miller50841

hefferboi wrote: »

Take pictures of everything that's wrong and get copies of texts and phone calls.

Pictures of all the faults what you on about thats wrong

the_syco

CA88 wrote: »

With the rain having been so torrential, the ceiling is now sagging a lot, plaster board is gradually coming away from the wall edges and a chunk of the plaster board actually fell down.

Sounds like a puddle is forming, and after a while, the puddle will get bigger and then probably fall down, and take most of the ceiling with it. What's above the kitchen ceiling?

CA88

Thanks for all the suggestions folks. Have been making a note of correspondence now for the past 6 weeks since he continually failed to carry out other repairs. Good suggestion on sending a recorded delivery letter, might just try that. I have also gone ahead and left a message with environmental health who should get back to me next week. Tried to call him AGAIN today to give him the benefit of the doubt and he never answered or called back. As for what's above the kitchen, the kitchen is an extension. The guttering on the upper level is just pouring water onto the flat roof when the rain is bad and the felt is basically worn away.