Kicked out of RAS property after 10 years

Richard Dower

I have been renting a property in Limerick for 10 years, about 18 months ago i found out my landlord defaulted on his mortgage and the property taken over by the bank and a propery management company assigned.

I was under the RAS scheme with the original landlord, the contract came up for renewal....and i get a letter from the council today saying the new landord/bank wont renew the RAS contract.

10 years....this is my home!! ....i've no idea what to do, the council letter says they'll try to re-accomodate me, but what does that mean?

I've looked on all the renting websites and pretty much everyone of them within my price range wont accept rent allowance, let alone the RAS scheme.

So am i now homeless?...if the council cant find alternative accomidation, what then?....on the street?

i'm gonna talk with them in person tomorrow....but i ant wrap my head around the fact ive lost my home of 10 years, and god knows where i'll end up

quad_red

Richard Dower wrote: »

I have been renting a property in Limerick for 10 years, about 18 months ago i found out my landlord defaulted on his mortgage and the property taken over by the bank and a propery management company assigned.

I was under the RAS scheme with the original landlord, the contract came up for renewal....and i get a letter from the council today saying the new landord/bank wont renew the RAS contract.

10 years....this is my home!! ....i've no idea what to do, the council letter says they'll try to re-accomodate me, but what does that mean?

I've looked on all the renting websites and pretty much everyone of them within my price range wont accept rent allowance, let alone the RAS scheme.

So am i now homeless?...if the council cant find alternative accomidation, what then?....on the street?

i'm gonna talk with them in person tomorrow....but i ant wrap my head around the fact ive lost my home of 10 years, and god knows where i'll end up

Sorry to hear that. Did they give you a notice period when you have to be out of the property?

Did you call the council after getting the letter?

Richard Dower

quad_red wrote: »

Sorry to hear that. Did they give you a notice period when you have to be out of the property?

Did you call the council after getting the letter?

Lease expires 24th August....going to the council tomorrow.

odds_on

The fact that you have been a tenant in the same property for 10 years might be enough to convince one of the "no rent allowance accepted" landlords that you are a "good risk" tenant.

Try some of them, you might get lucky.

aN.Droid

Have no idea if this applies to the RAS scheme but does to regular tenancy.

Because you have been there for over 4 years you must be giving official and valid notice of 16 weeks (112 days).

When did you get the notice? Also was it valid? Was it a written or verbal as to be valid it must be written.

Your lease is ending in 100 days from today or 14ish weeks. Just shy of notice. So if you have been given notice in the last 11 days saying you have to vacate at the day of your lease ending it is invalid.

While this does not give you a way to stay long term it may give you a few more weeks to find somewhere suitable to live as they will have to reissue the notice and the 16 weeks will begin again if it is valid.

Merch

Get a reference from the landlord while its possible

foggy_lad

Are the council not obliged to find you suitable accommodation under the agreement you all signed with the first RAS lease? Afaik they must find you temporary accommodation if they have not found a new home for you by the time your current lease is up.

One of the conditions of getting housed under the RAS scheme is giving up any and all claim and entitlement to council housing but the council also agree to find you suitsble accommodation for as long as you require it and as long as you are following the basic rules and not being anti social or dealing srugs etc or tearing the place apart.

Richard Dower

Limericks wrote: »

Have no idea if this applies to the RAS scheme but does to regular tenancy.

Because you have been there for over 4 years you must be giving official and valid notice of 16 weeks (112 days).

When did you get the notice? Also was it valid? Was it a written or verbal as to be valid it must be written.

Your lease is ending in 100 days from today or 14ish weeks. Just shy of notice. So if you have been given notice in the last 11 days saying you have to vacate at the day of your lease ending it is invalid.

While this does not give you a way to stay long term it may give you a few more weeks to find somewhere suitable to live as they will have to reissue the notice and the 16 weeks will begin again if it is valid.

I got a letter from Limerick city council yesterday, 15th.....i have had no contact from either the bank or the management company.

Richard Dower

Merch wrote: »

Get a reference from the landlord while its possible

Just called him, thanks for the reminder....he said he'd have zero problem giving refrences. in 10 years i never once missed the rent....now i'm just some number on a bank statement, i'm not a human being to them who's home of 10 years has been ripped from him with no explanation as to why......:(

D3PO

Richard Dower wrote: »

Just called him, thanks for the reminder....he said he'd have zero problem giving refrences. in 10 years i never once missed the rent....now i'm just some number on a bank statement, i'm not a human being to them who's home of 10 years has been ripped from him with no explanation as to why......:(

Without trying to be harsh, when you entered RAS you always knew the term was 10 years and consequently always knew there was a chance that after settling in this home for ten years you may not get your RAS contract renewed regardless of how good a tenant you are. A lot changes in ten years in terms of circumstances etc of the landlord.

I'd imagine for the most part RAS contacts are not renewed. A 20 year commitment to RAS Id suggest is the exception and not the norm. Right now if I were you Id be rining the council to figure out the next step, will they help you find a new RAS house or will you need to yourself, or will you need to just move somewhere that accepts RA.

Best of luck OP.

gaius c

You have my sympathies mate. This sort of stuff makes me very angry when you have the likes of New Beginnings campaigning for people who haven't paid up to keep their homes. I guess renters just don't matter!

Richard Dower

foggy_lad wrote: »

Are the council not obliged to find you suitable accommodation under the agreement you all signed with the first RAS lease? Afaik they must find you temporary accommodation if they have not found a new home for you by the time your current lease is up.

One of the conditions of getting housed under the RAS scheme is giving up any and all claim and entitlement to council housing but the council also agree to find you suitsble accommodation for as long as you require it and as long as you are following the basic rules and not being anti social or dealing srugs etc or tearing the place apart.

I was on the waiting list since 1996, its one reason i disliked the RAS scheme as you say they took me off the list because under RAS you are considered housed.

But you arent....there is no security like there is with a council house, you're at the whim of a landlord or a bank or the ecomomy

I called them this morning, was given no explation as to why the bank wont renew the RAS contract, they said they'll find me a place...but where?, some crappy bedsit?, some hellhole in Southill?

There are very few landloards willing to accept rent allowance, even fewer who will sign to the RAS scheme. Because of all the added cost etc.

My whole life turned upside down....:(

Richard Dower

D3PO wrote: »

Without trying to be harsh, when you entered RAS you always knew the term was 10 years and consequently always knew there was a chance that after settling in this home for ten years you may not get your RAS contract renewed regardless of how good a tenant you are. A lot changes in ten years in terms of circumstances etc of the landlord.

I'd imagine for the most part RAS contacts are not renewed. A 20 year commitment to RAS Id suggest is the exception and not the norm. Right now if I were you Id be rining the council to figure out the next step, will they help you find a new RAS house or will you need to yourself, or will you need to just move somewhere that accepts RA.

Best of luck OP.

Well i'm under RAS....i have no clue how to go back on Rent Allowance from the health board etc., jesus....knowing my luck i'd hve to start from scratch, re-apply, means tested,wait 6 months for payment etc.

I did ring them first thing, they said they'd find a place for me within the time limit of my eviction, August 24th. but when asked they had no list of RAS landlords or possible addresses/loactions of alternative accomadation.

Add to which you are restricted to the cap, which is 390pm....i mean, there are literally zero places available for that money, everywhere i looked was 500pm.

I realise that nothing is permanent, but i was there 10 years...it felt permanent until yesterday, the whole point of RAS was long term security.

Ray Palmer

I feel a certain sympathy but it is what it is. You were never guaranteed to remain there.

In the space of 10 years you haven't been able to secure appropriate employment to pay for your own accommodation? According to your profile you work in IT.

Not having a go but just wondering why you would need free/discounted accommodation if you are working and have at least 10 years to secure good employment.

I always though RAS was a little strange on the grounds the people could have improved their situation but remain in public housing so could be in a better situation than many others who weren't entitled to it.

I just don't get the logic of the system more so than giving out about your set-up.

murphaph

Richard Dower wrote: »

I was on the waiting list since 1996, its one reason i disliked the RAS scheme as you say they took me off the list because under RAS you are considered housed.

But you arent....there is no security like there is with a council house, you're at the whim of a landlord or a bank or the ecomomy

I called them this morning, was given no explation as to why the bank wont renew the RAS contract, they said they'll find me a place...but where?, some crappy bedsit?, some hellhole in Southill?

There are very few landloards willing to accept rent allowance, even fewer who will sign to the RAS scheme. Because of all the added cost etc.

My whole life turned upside down....:(

Can you rent privately at all?

khards

It would be worth contacing the local newspapers and your local TD, as situations like this need to be brought to the medias attention.
As the poster above mentions you have the likes of new beginnings stopping mortgagees being kicked out of the banks property, but when it comes to renters being kicked out of the banks property then no one will support you.

Richard Dower

Ray Palmer wrote: »

I feel a certain sympathy but it is what it is. You were never guaranteed to remain there.

In the space of 10 years you haven't been able to secure appropriate employment to pay for your own accommodation? According to your profile you work in IT.

Not having a go but just wondering why you would need free/discounted accommodation if you are working and have at least 10 years to secure good employment.

I always though RAS was a little strange on the grounds the people could have improved their situation but remain in public housing so could be in a better situation than many others who weren't entitled to it.

I just don't get the logic of the system more so than giving out about your set-up.

I have a chronic medical condition and disability, ergo not working...i just typed IT because i like computers etc.

Richard Dower

murphaph wrote: »

Can you rent privately at all?

That would mean quiting RAS and starting from scratch on rent allowance, which could be a minefield....as i may have to re-apply from scratch, means tested and i dont know there criteria these days, but dont you have to be living in a place for 6 months before they give you rent allowance

I couldnt handle the stress of all that if i had to do it all over again.

D3PO

Richard Dower wrote: »

I did ring them first thing, they said they'd find a place for me within the time limit of my eviction, August 24th. but when asked they had no list of RAS landlords or possible addresses/loactions of alternative accommodation.
.

talk about a joke. Seriously if these people worked in the real world they would be out of a job in weeks. The level of ineptness in the public service beggars belief.

Re your accommodation needs, is it just you or have you a family ? if so how many kids ?

390 seems a very low threshold level for accomadation.

D3PO

Ray Palmer wrote: »

I feel a certain sympathy but it is what it is. You were never guaranteed to remain there.

In the space of 10 years you haven't been able to secure appropriate employment to pay for your own accommodation? According to your profile you work in IT.

Not having a go but just wondering why you would need free/discounted accommodation if you are working and have at least 10 years to secure good employment.

I always though RAS was a little strange on the grounds the people could have improved their situation but remain in public housing so could be in a better situation than many others who weren't entitled to it.

I just don't get the logic of the system more so than giving out about your set-up.

I did think this myself.

D3PO

khards wrote: »

It would be worth contacing the local newspapers and your local TD, as situations like this need to be brought to the medias attention.
As the poster above mentions you have the likes of new beginnings stopping mortgagees being kicked out of the banks property, but when it comes to renters being kicked out of the banks property then no one will support you.

Two wrongs don't make a right .....

Richard Dower

D3PO wrote: »

talk about a joke. Seriously if these people worked in the real world they would be out of a job in weeks. The level of ineptness in the public service beggars belief.

Re your accommodation needs, is it just you or have you a family ? if so how many kids ?

390 seems a very low threshold level for accomadation.

Single, no kids. A single man is bottom of the totem pole...which is discrimination imo, women with children get priority, get a higher cap, you cannot get any accomodation for 390pm these days...and if you can its a horrid bedsit full of scumbags and nois 24/7.

D3PO

Richard Dower wrote: »

Single, no kids. A single man is bottom of the totem pole...which is discrimination imo, women with children get priority, get a higher cap, you cannot get any accomodation for 390pm these days...and if you can its a horrid bedsit full of scumbags and nois 24/7.

Again don't mean to be harsh but 390 will find you one bedroomed accommodation in Limerick. A quick daft search finds 7 properties that match that.

Your not working and have a housing need, you cant really argue about the area or what not that these properties are located in.

I know you said your on disability, but how about thinking about setting up a web business of some sort to try and improve your financial situation so your not reliant on the state ?

You can post on here so your capable of running a web business of some sort. Might be worth sitting down and thinking about it. Theres always a solution if you think outside the box.

Or even if you cant figure that out theres websites like www.freelancer.com where you can bid on work like data entry work etc.

If you can type on boards you can type in data entry. So maybe look at that, try and improve your situation and then maybe you could rent privately.

My personal belief is that there is almost always a job somebody can do if they really want to, sorry OP but I believe in where there's a will there's a way.

astrofool

Richard Dower wrote: »

and if you can its a horrid bedsit full of scumbags and nois 24/7.

These "scumbags" are likely people on RA or the RAS scheme, so you'd expect them to be your neighbours if you're on the same scheme as them, I'd imagine your expectations are probably a bit high. Bedsits are also not allowed anymore, so you shouldn't have to worry about that.

Tigger

D3PO wrote: »

Again don't mean to be harsh but 390 will find you one bedroomed accommodation in Limerick. A quick daft search finds 7 properties that match that.

Your not working and have a housing need, you cant really argue about the area or what not that these properties are located in.

I know you said your on disability, but how about thinking about setting up a web business of some sort to try and improve your financial situation so your not reliant on the state ?

You can post on here so your capable of running a web business of some sort. Might be worth sitting down and thinking about it. Theres always a solution if you think outside the box.

Or even if you cant figure that out theres websites like www.freelancer.com where you can bid on work like data entry work etc.

If you can type on boards you can type in data entry. So maybe look at that, try and improve your situation and then maybe you could rent privately.

My personal belief is that there is almost always a job somebody can do if they really want to, sorry OP but I believe in where there's a will there's a way.

i'd say he'd lose more then he gained by working on freelancer
i personally run my own businesses and id love to know what web business someone with no start-up capital could hope to create and profit from?

D3PO

Tigger wrote: »

i personally run my own businesses and id love to know what web business someone with no start-up capital could hope to create and profit from?

If you run your own businesses then you should know that there are plenty of start up grants available from various enterprise boards and the likes ...

people like to put roadblocks up instead of finding ways to get things done.

Tigger

D3PO wrote: »

If you run your own businesses then you should know that there are plenty of start up grants available from various enterprise boards and the likes ...

people like to put roadblocks up instead of finding ways to get things done.

no there aren't; unless Richard is going to manufacture or export there is nothing there for him
if he's selling he'll need at least one months worth of stock there is no credit out there
he'll need a turn over of at least 10k a month to survive so tell me what board will give him money for start up 3-5k minimum and then 10k to buy stock
finally he'll need at least a years income support ass you don't start making money from day one

i ordered off an Irish website to get a pair of boots 4 weeks ago but they don't stock stuff they buy to order
on Friday i cancelled my order and ordered off a British site they came Tuesday
the British site carries stock

now stop thinking everything is easy and that chronic sickness is akin to laziness cos you are turning my stomache

D3PO

Tigger wrote: »

no there aren't; unless Richard is going to manufacture or export there is nothing there for him

You evidently haven't heard fo the service industry amongst others ...

if he's selling he'll need at least one months worth of stock there is no credit out there

That's a load of crap. Everything doesn't need to be big sky thinking, you have never heard of micro industry amongst other things, you do not need to hold one months stock for any business to survive. Off topic but you need to learn more about cash conversion cycles, if your holding stock for 30 days you need to look at your business model because trust me buddy its far from optimal.

he'll need a turn over of at least 10k a month to survive so tell me what board will give him money for start up 3-5k minimum and then 10k to buy stock

Why do you keep harping on about stock like physical purchasing of goods is the only thing you can sell. Services margins run regularly abouve 50% so you would need nowhere near 10k a month revenue to survice. Again you cant seem to think outside the box.

finally he'll need at least a years income support ass you don't start making money from day one

If you actually knew enough about grants you would know that in many instances you can remain on jobseekers etc whilst you get off the ground, but you don't really know what your talking about so you didn't know this.

i ordered off an Irish website to get a pair of boots 4 weeks ago but they don't stock stuff they buy to order
on Friday i cancelled my order and ordered off a British site they came Tuesday
the British site carries stock

What the hell has this to do with anything ? You and your stock waffle again.

now stop thinking everything is easy and that chronic sickness is akin to laziness cos you are turning my stomache

This is a load of nonsense for the most part with sprinklings of realism in it but for the most part its not worth responding to yet I have..

The fact remains that there are ways for people to make money working from home if they are so inclined to want to.

Unfortunatly you have a very negative outlook on thisgs like so many people, you would rather put roadblocks in the way of things rather then trying. Its actually a shock to me that you are a business owner as business owners don't tend to have your negative mentality.

JJJJNR

gaius c wrote: »

You have my sympathies mate. This sort of stuff makes me very angry when you have the likes of New Beginnings campaigning for people who haven't paid up to keep their homes. I guess renters just don't matter!

What the hell has New Beginnings and debt relief got to do with the OP, get a life.

Grandpa Hassan

gaius c wrote: »

You have my sympathies mate. This sort of stuff makes me very angry when you have the likes of New Beginnings campaigning for people who haven't paid up to keep their homes. I guess renters just don't matter!

Hang on a sec. Someone owns this house and I think giving it over to RAS for 10 years is about as much as you can ask. 20 years is a long time for any LL.....circumstances change


Edit: sorry, i just re-read the OP and see that the bank has the house

JJJJNR

D3PO wrote: »

Again don't mean to be harsh but 390 will find you one bedroomed accommodation in Limerick. A quick daft search finds 7 properties that match that.

Your not working and have a housing need, you cant really argue about the area or what not that these properties are located in.

I know you said your on disability, but how about thinking about setting up a web business of some sort to try and improve your financial situation so your not reliant on the state ?

You can post on here so your capable of running a web business of some sort. Might be worth sitting down and thinking about it. Theres always a solution if you think outside the box.

Or even if you cant figure that out theres websites like www.freelancer.com where you can bid on work like data entry work etc.

If you can type on boards you can type in data entry. So maybe look at that, try and improve your situation and then maybe you could rent privately.

My personal belief is that there is almost always a job somebody can do if they really want to, sorry OP but I believe in where there's a will there's a way.

Wow touching.. this guy is on disability comes on here looking for advise and you tell him to setup a web company... Seriously OP don't waste your time with the idiots that post in this forum as its been hijacked by self serving sociopaths.