Apartment to rent house to a tenant paying using Rental Allowance

the_syco

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

if I fill out the paperwork and return it today I will have the deposit and one months rent in my bank account on Tuesday....

But the tenant doesn't move in without you first getting the above, yes?

Sheep Shagger

the_syco wrote: »

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

if I fill out the paperwork and return it today I will have the deposit and one months rent in my bank account on Tuesday....

But the tenant doesn't move in without you first getting the above, yes?

Correct.

But I need to make a final call I think after I see the 'approval' in writing...I can't keep on waiting

Sheep Shagger

Got another excuse about a delay in getting docs - pulled the plug.

A waste of a week and a half on these people

Zulu

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

A waste of a week and a half on these people

...which is why you don't waste time with such people. Deposit upon booking! Lesson learned and all the rest of it.

Best of luck finding more tenants.

Sheep Shagger

Zulu wrote: »

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

A waste of a week and a half on these people

...which is why you don't waste time with such people. Deposit upon booking! Lesson learned and all the rest of it.

Best of luck finding more tenants.

Yep think I was being too nice in trusting them

fussyonion

Sorry it didn't work out.

I can understand the frustration on both sides.
I know dealing with CWO's and RA can be so stressful for the tenant especially when things don't happen quick enough and they panic they're going to lose their new place, but I also understand your frustration at not being kept in the loop from the beginning and now, after all your patience, it hasn't worked out.

Hope you find new tenants soon!

convert

Sorry things didn't work out with this tenant, but hopefully you'll find someone who's much better and more reliable. And it'll have given you a tough crash course in what can go wrong with tenants. Best of luck with the new tenant(s).

Sheep Shagger

Thanks, I can understand the frustration too (the tenant being scared of losing the place as so any landlords won't take them), if they'd just kept the lines of communication open.

Kept some of the daft emails that came in after I thought it had been taken, two people still looking so have them lined up for viewings tomorrow

MistyCheese

I appreciate your frustration at having to take a few steps backwards but better this bit of hassle now than allowing the tenants to move in and risking untold hassle if something were to go wrong during the tenancy.

Best of luck tomorrow.

The_Conductor

OP- for your information- it is not normal for the CWO to pay a deposit for a tenant, they do have access to a hardship fund that they can access in exceptional circumstances, which in some cases has been used to pay deposits, but its not the norm, and highly irregular.

Best of good luck finding a new tenant.

Sheep Shagger

Thanks for the advice folks.

Have found another (what I think) are a suitable couple, they will be paying rent using RA but have the deposit and first months rent in advance saved.

As i've said earlier I'm new to this RA thing, quick question is there much chance the perspective tenant won't get RA. They are a married couple with a very small child, one of them has received RA before. Obviously don't want to sign them up etc then find out they are not eligible. . .

January

I'd go ahead and move them in, but make sure you sign the rent allowance forms with them before you hand over any keys.

Zamboni

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Thanks for the advice folks.

Have found another (what I think) are a suitable couple, they will be paying rent using RA but have the deposit and first months rent in advance saved.

As i've said earlier I'm new to this RA thing, quick question is there much chance the perspective tenant won't get RA. They are a married couple with a very small child, one of them has received RA before. Obviously don't want to sign them up etc then find out they are not eligible. . .

Why don't you just get a private tennants and avoid all this malarkey?

Zulu

Zamboni wrote: »

Why don't you just get a private tennants and avoid all this malarkey?

Perhaps they can't find any?

I'd be of a similar opinion Zamboni; personally this is why I don't take RA tenants - it's not worth the hassle.

Sheep Shagger

Zamboni wrote: »

Why don't you just get a private tennants and avoid all this malarkey?

TBH the private tenants so far have been dodgy compared to the RA ones.

Checked the last reference (landlord) who received their rent via RA and there were absolutely no problems. As has been pointed out above I'll ask to sign the RA paperwork before the keys are handed over.

fussyonion

There's far too much snobbiness and ignorance regarding RA tenants.
RA tenants are people too, who just need assistance to help pay their rent.
As long as the tenant-private or RA-pays his or her rent, there should never be an issue.

Zamboni

fussyonion wrote: »

There's far too much snobbiness and ignorance regarding RA tenants.
RA tenants are people too, who just need assistance to help pay their rent.
As long as the tenant-private or RA-pays his or her rent, there should never be an issue.

It's not about snobbiness and ignorance. It's about avoiding dealing with incompetent local government, indifferent civil servants and the national policies being implemented differently on the ground.

Zulu

fussyonion wrote: »

There's far too much snobbiness and ignorance regarding RA tenants.
RA tenants are people too, who...

Let me finish that sentence for you: ...can't afford the service you provide.

It's simple business really & nothing to do with snobbiness. I'm not going to rent to someone who can not afford to pay the rent. If they can't afford the rent, they can't afford the property. I'm not in the business for charity.

MistyCheese

I know of a landlord who gets €56 a month more from his tenant because that tenant is receiving Rent Supplement. So far this year that's €392 extra he's received simply from signing a form.

Can I get a slice of this "hassle"?

fussyonion

Zulu wrote: »

Let me finish that sentence for you: ...can't afford the service you provide.

It's simple business really & nothing to do with snobbiness. I'm not going to rent to someone who can not afford to pay the rent. If they can't afford the rent, they can't afford the property. I'm not in the business for charity.

Where did I say the tenant couldn't afford to pay?
I said RA tenants are people who need assistance to pay their rent.
I never said they couldn't afford to pay their rent.
Of course people who cannot afford to pay their landlord shouldn't be in the property, but RA tenants pay rent-they just get help with it.
At the end of the day, it shouldn't matter if the tenant is on RA or not, once the landlord is getting his money every month.

Zulu

fussyonion wrote: »

Where did I say the tenant couldn't afford to pay?

Right here:

I said RA tenants are people who need assistance to pay their rent.

If you need assistance, you can't afford it.

I never said they couldn't afford to pay their rent.

Em, what? If you can afford it, you wouldn't need assistance.

Of course people who cannot afford to pay their landlord shouldn't be in the property, but RA tenants pay rent-they just get help with it.

Buddy, you are contradicting yourself.

Let me simplify for you, what happens when the "assistance" is cut, or worse, taken away? I guess according to you, it's fine, cause they can afford the rent, but you'll forgive me if I don't believe you.

fussyonion

Zulu wrote: »

Right here:

If you need assistance, you can't afford it.
Em, what? If you can afford it, you wouldn't need assistance.

Buddy, you are contradicting yourself.

Let me simplify for you, what happens when the "assistance" is cut, or worse, taken away? I guess according to you, it's fine, cause they can afford the rent, but you'll forgive me if I don't believe you.

Cut out the smart arse comments, there's no need for them.
Yes some tenants get assistance-rent allowance-but you're missing the point.
Once they've been given their rent allowance and they have the required rent, they pay the landlord. So yes they can afford it.
They're obviously not going to live above their means

The_Conductor

Guys- less of the bickering please.
Quit it.

Zulu

Fair enough smccarrick the last post wasn't the most polite post I've written, however I have to stand by my point.
RA tenants rely on the assistance. If there's a delay in getting the money from the government; if the government cut the money the tenants are under severe pressure to pay the rent; they can't afford it. Ultimately this can knock on to the landlord.

To suggest there's a "snobbishness" around this, or to outright deny it is disingenuous. The very valid point is that the tenant can not afford the property without the governments help, ergo they can not afford the property.

Personally I choose not to rent to tenants who can't afford the property on their own means as the state is bankrupt, and RA and other funding will, more then likely, be cut again and again in upcoming budgets. If I can help it, I don't want to be evicting people because they can't afford the house they've been in & are happy in. If I can help it, I don't want to be entertaining conversations each budget seeking a reduction in rent in line with the RA drops.