Trouble with landlord's agent

bensonx

hi all, heres my story
myself, my husband and our toddler moved into the 2 bed apartment on the top floor of an old house in aug 2011, signed a lease for 1 year
the house was in bits and we had a good relationship with the landlords and also the agents, so we did up the place up as we have a toddler
everything went well for the length of the lease, then the owners of the house moved to the country and left the tenant in charge
we have had a few problems in the house, such as bad damp, electricity constantly cutting out from the trip switches, and the front door to the main house doesnt close, so it is left open all the time and its freezing aside from the safety risk, the house is in the south inner city area.
this has been going on for about 2 months, we constantly ask him to fix it, he gets angry and says this is the first he has heard of it, everytime we tell him, he has changed since the landlords moved away and i dont know what to do, i dont want trouble but its not fair the conditions we are living in
there are 9 small apartments in this house in total and they all live in bad conditions, but i believe the real landlords know nothing if the conditons as they never contact us or come near the house, they have trust in their agent,
any advice?

ABajaninCork

Did you put the issues in writing? And do you have dated photos? That would be the first step.

Don't call any more. Put EVERYTHING in writing, and send it via Registered Post, keeping copies for yourself. What can't speak, can't lie!!!

Give Threshold a call too.

Marsden

bensonx wrote: »

hi all, heres my story
myself, my husband and our toddler moved into the 2 bed apartment on the top floor of an old house in aug 2011, signed a lease for 1 year
the house was in bits and we had a good relationship with the landlords and also the agents, so we did up the place up as we have a toddler
everything went well for the length of the lease, then the owners of the house moved to the country and left the tenant in charge
we have had a few problems in the house, such as bad damp, electricity constantly cutting out from the trip switches, and the front door to the main house doesnt close, so it is left open all the time and its freezing aside from the safety risk, the house is in the south inner city area.
this has been going on for about 2 months, we constantly ask him to fix it, he gets angry and says this is the first he has heard of it, everytime we tell him, he has changed since the landlords moved away and i dont know what to do, i dont want trouble but its not fair the conditions we are living in
there are 9 small apartments in this house in total and they all live in bad conditions, but i believe the real landlords know nothing if the conditons as they never contact us or come near the house, they have trust in their agent,
any advice?

You could try contact threshold.ie. I'd stop paying rent till these things are sorted. Damp and mould can be a health hazard, an electrician should be called to sort out the trip switch. Although that could be a faulty appliance, have you tried going round switching on all appliances individually to see if anything knocks the trip switch? I know you said you don't want trouble but a permanently open front door and the other things listed are something a tenant should have to put up with, AFAIK a certain amount of rent paid is to be set aside for maintenance, this is obviously not happening.

Sorry to hear about your trouble, this cr4p goes on all the time in Ireland and people wonder why we all have a need to own our own home instead of renting. I'd definitely confront this fella about it first and let him know it needs to be fixed straight away or else you'll contact the landlord directly.

ABajaninCork

Marsden wrote: »

You could try contact threshold.ie. I'd stop paying rent till these things are sorted. Damp and mould can be a health hazard, an electrician should be called to sort out the trip switch. Although that could be a faulty appliance, have you tried going round switching on all appliances individually to see if anything knocks the trip switch? I know you said you don't want trouble but a permanently open front door and the other things listed are something a tenant should have to put up with, AFAIK a certain amount of rent paid is to be set aside for maintenance, this is obviously not happening.

Sorry to hear about your trouble, this cr4p goes on all the time in Ireland and people wonder why we all have a need to own our own home instead of renting. I'd definitely confront this fella about it first and let him know it needs to be fixed straight away or else you'll contact the landlord directly.

This is terrible advice (although the temptation would be great). DO NOT stop paying the rent. If you have to take a PRTB case, it will go against you that the rent hasn't been paid.

Mrs OBumble

Have you looked for somewhere better to move to?

Marsden

ABajaninCork wrote: »

This is terrible advice.

It might be but it worked for me and others I've known. A landlord might ignore your requests for maintenance to be carried out but he wont ignore the missing rent.

djimi

Marsden wrote: »

It might be but it worked for me and others I've known. A landlord might ignore your requests for maintenance to be carried out but he wont ignore the missing rent.

It might have worked for you but if the OP had to take a case with the PRTB it will go against them. You don't withhold rent unless it's an absolutely extreme case.

bensonx

hi all
thanks for your replys
ive sent him a text outlining what we need done and he hasbtr replyed and wont answer the phone
the door was left open all last night and you know the what the weather like right now
i have my rent book proving that my rent is paid on time every week for the last nearly 18 months
i suppose i will look for a new place, only reason i wanted to resolve the issues was because the aprtment is quite spacious and in a great location for the price we pay and i also have grown attched to the other people living in the building with us, but i guess i start looking for a new place, its just getting me like how can someone treat people like this? the other people that live here will not say this, i know they wont, theyre not from this country and prefer a quiet life
thanks again guys

ABajaninCork

Yes, I'd start looking for somewhere else now.

And don't send any texts! Send a letter by registered post outlining the issues. I would also look at taking a case with the PRTB.

Is the tenancy registered?

bensonx

yes im pretty sure i remeber receiving a letter from the prtb saying we were registered at the beginning of the tenancy
i think i will look for a new place and i feel i probably will report the issue as i know when i leave it will only get worse
he had a room availible there just before the trouble started and a friend of mine was interested so i asked the agent, his first question was..is he irish? when i said yes he is, he gave me quote for rent that was 150 euro more per month than the previous tenent was paying, which i know as we were friends with him to, he also moved out because of a badly damaged ceiling that was leaking onto his fuse box
ok guys thanks for that

djimi

Dont text and dont call; if you have a grievance that you want to bring to the attention of the landlord (and they are not easily contactable) then send them a registered letter.