Is this legal!!!

lewishamilton

Dunno if this is the right place for it but hey here i go!!

I rent a room in a house with 4 others,total 5 rooms rented all seperate!!,so i came back from Dublin yesterday to find a electricity card meter was installed in the house the landlord didn't even tell anyone this was going to happen,now let me stress that we all do our own things on a daily basis which is gonna be hard to get money of each tennant at one giving time,for one i am not going to buy let's say 10 euro for the card meter and everyone else to use it

Is it legal to do what he done (installed card meter) or can i complain to threshold about this!!!

EDIT : Oh with 4 euro emergency in it which is nearly gone and hardly any of us have money on a friday,so when that goes the fridge is gone too and tv everything

Rainblow

lewishamilton wrote: »

Dunno if this is the right place for it but hey here i go!!

I rent a room in a house with 4 others,total 5 rooms rented all seperate!!,so i came back from Dublin yesterday to find a electricity card meter was installed in the house the landlord didn't even tell anyone this was going to happen,now let me stress that we all do our own things on a daily basis which is gonna be hard to get money of each tennant at one giving time,for one i am not going to buy let's say 10 euro for the card meter and everyone else to use it

Is it legal to do what he done (installed card meter) or can i complain to threshold about this!!!

EDIT : Oh with 4 euro emergency in it which is nearly gone and hardly any of us have money on a friday,so when that goes the fridge is gone too and tv everything

You can't scrape together €10 between 5 of you? I hope all of your Scrumpy Jack in the fridge doesn't go off too fast.

lewishamilton

Rainblow wrote: »

You can't scrape together €10 between 5 of you? I hope all of your Scrumpy Jack in the fridge doesn't go off too fast.

the point i am trying to make is!!! the whole 5 of us are never in the house at any one time,so therefore we cannot bunch for the card at any one time,to catch all five of us at once is nearly impossible

Back to subject matter,is the landlord in his right to install that card meter as it's not a family house

Rainblow

lewishamilton wrote: »

the point i am trying to make is!!! the whole 5 of us are never in the house at any one time,so therefore we cannot bunch for the card at any one time,to catch all five of us at once is nearly impossible

Isn't that a benefit? More room for each of you when you are there.

lewishamilton

Rainblow wrote: »

Isn't that a benefit? More room for each of you when you are there.

eh!!! no,how could it be,we all have our own rooms with our own stuff in them e.g i have pc and tv,others might have similar.....

BGozIE

Sorry OP, I don't know about the legality of it, but how do you pay your electricity bill now?

I presume you all pitch money towards the bill? Cant you just do this towards the meter now? i.e everyone gives a set amount at the start/end of the week?

Landlords aren't supposed to come onto the property at all without your permission so I would imagine this is out of the question too. Your best bet is to contact the PTRB and ask them

XxMCRxBabyxX

Could you not just have a money jar where each of you throws money in (a tenner each say) and use that whenever you need a new card? You can just top up the jar then whenever it needs to be. Then there's no worry about who's at home when. It's always worked in the places I've lived in.

In saying that, I'm not sure of the legalities of this but I don't think it's right. I'd try PRTB.

seamus

What has been the arrangement up until now in regards to paying for electricity?

Gran Hermano

I believe the OP's question is whether the landlord has the right to decide which utility provider a tenant must use.

Rainblow

bluewolf wrote: »

Landlords aren't supposed to come onto the property at all without your permission so I would imagine this is out of the question too. Your best bet is to contact the PTRB and ask them

The tenants in this case are all renting bedrooms so presumably the landlord can at least go into the common areas. The PRTB is not an information service.

GarIT

OP you should also note electricity is much more expensive from those metres, twice the price in some cases.

hardCopy

Were the builds previously in the landlord's name? Is there a history of problems getting payment from tenants?

Rainblow

GarIT wrote: »

OP you should also note electricity is much more expensive from those metres, twice the price in some cases.

I am sure the reason that there was a change is that the landlord had trouble getting from the tight gits.

lewishamilton

before this was installed,we get the bill divided into 5 every 2 months and paid it off,that was fair enough there was no problem there

EDIT : i paid my last part of my ESB bill but there is 1 particular tennant that has mad arrears but he should not have taken this out on the rest of us,i have already asked one of the other tennants for some money to chip in,answer was i have no money

Question still remains,is this legal or not

BGozIE

lewishamilton wrote: »

before this was installed,we get the bill divided into 5 every 2 months and paid it off,that was fair enough there was no problem there

If you were handling the bills, what was his motivation for installing the meter thing?

Does he gain anything from that...?

lewishamilton

BGozIE wrote: »

If you were handling the bills, what was his motivation for installing the meter thing?

Does he gain anything from that...?

i wasn't handling the bills at all,i just paid what i owed,we hardly ever see the bills at all we just get/got bills wrote out on notepad,actually i seen a bill once and it wasn't for our address it was in the landlords name and address

Pro Hoc Vice

lewishamilton wrote: »

i wasn't handling the bills at all,i just paid what i owed,we hardly ever see the bills at all we just get/got bills wrote out on notepad,actually i seen a bill once and it wasn't for our address it was in the landlords name and address

I think that's your problem, it's in his name and sent to his home address its a multi occupancy situation. There may be issues in relation to ability to pick service provider and this method of billing is by far the most expensive. Contact threshold they may have come across the issue.

greentea is just wrong

There are electricity meters in a lot of rented houses.

I don't really see what the issue is? Why can't you all agree to put a certain amount towards it every month, or else take it in turns to top it up? It's really not that hard to handle.

As for you never seeing any bills, you should have been getting them at least quarterly, so your landlord is just probably putting the onus off paying them back on the tenants. At the end of the day it's his house, so he has the right to decide what way the electricity is billed.

lewishamilton

lewishamilton wrote: »

before this was installed,we get the bill divided into 5 every 2 months and paid it off,that was fair enough there was no problem there

EDIT : i paid my last part of my ESB bill but there is 1 particular tennant that has mad arrears but he should not have taken this out on the rest of us,i have already asked one of the other tennants for some money to chip in,answer was i have no money

Question still remains,is this legal or not

i have already asked one of the other tennants for some money to chip in,answer was i have no money

the problem is there is only about a euro left in it,so why should i put money init for others to use

sorry i should have said when it was installed there was 4 euro emergency,thanks landlord you are the best

Big C

u right lewis, dont pay for miserable gits, that will teach them a lesson, when they come home and u are sitting looking at a blank screen in the dark, they be sorry then. When u get so smelly from no shower just sit beside them and pong them into submission,

As homer says DOH !

lewishamilton

and another problem,who ever puts money into that meter,the installation fee is taken out of the card

234

Leaving legalities aside, this is suspicious. If you are with electric ireland they usually only install card meters to deal with arrears as a last resort. If the account is still in the ladnlord's name then it is very likely that you are paying arrears with the card meter which may or may not relate to your usage.

You should contact the provider and have the account transferred into your names and then deal with everything yourselves.

billy few mates

I don't know if its legal or not but it's certainly unfair, especially on those who pay their bills on time, I remember what its like from my own student days having to chase up house mates for their share of the bills and the rent.
What's going to happen when it needs topping up and some of your fellow tenants are skint? Its going to end up that those who can pay will be subsidising those who can't pay (or won't pay) or else your all going to end up sitting in the dark watching the food in your fridges go off.
What if somebody isn't there very often or goes home for the weekend? What if someone likes to use the washer/dryer every day and has several hot showers? How do you ensure a fair split?
The fact that this method of payment is the most expensive option is also unfair.
You either need to agree on a kitty with money upfront to keep the thing topped up rather than let it run out and have to go chasing guys for the money, but if it was me I'd be looking for a new place....

LowKeyReturn

Get in contact with Threshold which is an information service, amongst other things. I assume this is a bedsit type property - most likely the whole operation is illegal so I'd start looking for somewhere else personally.

Threshold! That's what I meant
d'oh

Del2005

Rainblow wrote: »

The tenants in this case are all renting bedrooms so presumably the landlord can at least go into the common areas. The PRTB is not an information service.

Then it's bedsits and they where banded recently

lewishamilton wrote: »

i wasn't handling the bills at all,i just paid what i owed,we hardly ever see the bills at all we just get/got bills wrote out on notepad,actually i seen a bill once and it wasn't for our address it was in the landlords name and address

Ask the question on the Accommodation forum as they have a better understanding of what a LL is allowed to do and not do with regard to rented properties. But it looks like the LL has installed the pre pay meter to get over the non paying person and make the rest of you pay their arrears.

Personally I'd be looking for somewhere else to live, as you've already ran into problems with crediting the meter and the fact that you are being made to pay the arrears which someone else built up.

Pro Hoc Vice

Del2005 wrote: »

Then it's bedsits and they where banded recently



Ask the question on the Accommodation forum as they have a better understanding of what a LL is allowed to do and not do with regard to rented properties. But it looks like the LL has installed the pre pay meter to get over the non paying person and make the rest of you pay their arrears.

Personally I'd be looking for somewhere else to live, as you've already ran into problems with crediting the meter and the fact that you are being made to pay the arrears which someone else built up.

A bedsit is completely different to renting a bedroom in a house and sharing living area.

In relation to the second point there was no mention of arrears (just saw post regarding 1 tenant in arrears, you know who to blame OP). In recent months www.prepaypower.ie have been targeting landlords of all types of properties to install their meters so as to reduce headaches.

As I pointed out in earlier post this may or may not be allowed depending on the exact circumstances of the OP and he should contact threshold.

There is a thread where a LL explains why he is changing over his properties http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056975525

charlemont

Gran Hermano wrote: »

I believe the OP's question is whether the landlord has the right to decide which utility provider a tenant must use.

The funny thing is PrePay are the most expensive provider..As far as I'm aware you can refuse them permission to install. Threshold would be a good place to find out..

mitosis

Sorry OP, but I don't see the issue. If everyone was able to pay for the electricity before, they can surely do so now. I'm guessing that the one who you say is in savage arrears has put the LL in a position where he has no other option.

1 particular tennant that has mad arrears

Victor

Talk to Threshold, but I don't think there is a lot that can be done.

mitosis wrote: »

Sorry OP, but I don't see the issue. If everyone was able to pay for the electricity before, they can surely do so now. I'm guessing that the one who you say is in savage arrears has put the LL in a position where he has no other option.

The problem is that the landlord has unilaterally changed the situation, making the tenants pre-pay instead of post-pay for electricity. Given the rate is different, There is a de facto rent increase.

Del2005

infosys wrote: »

A bedsit is completely different to renting a bedroom in a house and sharing living area.

I know they are different and AFAIK, it's not legal advice you need to get professional advice, a landlord can't enter a house which is divided like that. They need to request access at time when it's agreeable to the tenants and also they can't install or remove things from these peoples home without their consent either. The only way a LL could have legally entered the house was if it was rented as bedsits, which can't be done now.

billy few mates

At the very least the landlord should have discussed this with the tenants or if bill payment was an issue 'threaten' to impose it as a last resort, but to just sneak in and do this without allowing the tenants to consider the ramifications of such a move is wrong in my view....

matt-dublin

Sounds like the landlord is worried about getting shafted with the tenant who has arrears.

Is the electricity in the landlords name and do you give him the money to pay the bill.

If I was the landlord and I was being shortchanged monthly for a bill I might be paying my direct debit I would do the same.

Also as you're all renting rooms and not a unit in full technically the PRTB won't do much as you've very little rights. Afaik as he's only renting rooms I don't even think he has to register with the PRTB.

Bluegrass1

Del2005 wrote: »

I know they are different and AFAIK, it's not legal advice you need to get professional advice, a landlord can't enter a house which is divided like that.

Why not? The landlord has only rented bedrooms with access the the bedroom occupants to shared areas. the Bedroom occupiers do not have exclusive access to the shared areas. the landlord has effectively reserved the shared areas to himself.

MariMel

In 1998/9 I lived in a house share in Belfast and we had an electricity meter in the house. We set up a system whereby we each took it in turns to buy the £5 cards back then. There were 6 of us in the house and the person who bought the card initialled a box on the rota we made up, then another housemate vouched for it and also initialled. Worked really well. No big bills and if someone was up say over xmas when the house was quieter then we had an understanding that they would put in extra.
The one thing about meters is that you pretty quickly realise how much electricity you waste by leaving things on standby, no shutting off you pc or tv when you nip down the shops....little things. (Ive a prepaid meter in my house house) The biggies are obvious an immersion if you have one, they the landlord to stick a timer on that if you can or need and also using the oven. Costs a lot to cook one pizza. Hob not too bad, but ovens use a lot so it might be time for you all to have a wee think about how you use things.

Otherwise Im all for paying out a tenner or whatever each week rather than being hit with a big bill every two months. Easier to budget imo.

As for whether or not the landlord legally should have let the person into the house to install the meter, thats a different matter. Maybe one of the other tenants let him in and now given how mad you seem, they dont want to admit it?

In fairness if the bills have been in the landlords name, then you cant expect him to put up with not getting all the money to pay them.

Its going to be a real eye opener for you all. My advice, make sure you all sit down and have a good long talk about how you are going to work out fair usage and buying top up.

As for the weekend.....they dont normally turn it off then. But by 9 or 10am on a monday morning it will. Gives one of you plenty of time to get some top up over the weekend. Bear in mind whatever top up you buy will cancel out the arrears built up over the weekend.

Also...which company it the meter with? And do you know if there were substantial arrears on the account?