Dispute about to begin

Gazzmonkey

Hi all,

I'm finding myself in a potentially dodgy situation....

The house I'm renting is on a larger plot with two houses in total, the landladies house and mine. She's trying to sell the lot and move to the UK so we have viewers coming maybe twice per week whilst I'm at work.

My issue is that it states clearly in the contract that I am to get 24 hours notice before any viewings take place, this is been completely ignored by the estate agents who are selling the house on the landladies behalf.

They just come and go as they please giving me no more than 3 hours notice to secure my valuables which is no good if I'm at work, the other half just happened to be home yesterday when they again landed without notice.

the other half asked him why we weren't getting our due notice but he completely blanked her and continued talking to the viewers, I'm fcuking livid and have serious difficulty controlling my actions when I lose my temper so if we cross paths I'm worried that I'll do him serious harm.

I can't talk to the landlady about it as she recently had brain surgery on a tumor, now she cant talk and just smiles at everyone as she had a stroke during surgery. One of her sons from the UK is now overseeing the sale but I can never find him and was never given a contact number for him.

I sent a query about this to the PRTB but heard nothing back, do I have any rights at all in this situation? Are the estate agents allowed to walk all over me like that? I feel my violent temperament is going to get me in serious trouble if I cant get this resolved soon.

My question is... what steps should I be taking and who should I be talking to?

Best regards,
Gary

ABajaninCork

If the EA hasn't given you the appropriate and reasonable notice to allow viewings, and brings people to view without your knowledge or permission, then you can call the Gards and have him done for trespass.

Is there a manager at the agency that you can report this behaviour to? What about the Professional body - I forget the name, but someone here will tell you, I'm sure.

garhjw

OP, is the landlady's son ever in her house? If so, write a letter highlighting the problem and leave it at her house.

Regarding the EA, have you written or emailed them to make your position clear? If not, I suggest this as the first step. They have no right to access the house without providing adequate notice. I would also suggest providing the EA with dates/times when it is convenient for you to permit viewings. By doing this, the EA is unable to argue that you are being unreasonable etc.

I would also contact the PRTB but this will be of no use to you in the short term.

Best of luck

pooch90

Threshold are your first port of call. Phone don't email.

Barely There

Gazzmonkey wrote: »

My question is... what steps should I be taking and who should I be talking to?

A Councillor to address your anger management issues.

Gazzmonkey

ABajaninCork wrote: »

If the EA hasn't given you the appropriate and reasonable notice to allow viewings, and brings people to view without your knowledge or permission, then you can call the Gards and have him done for trespass.

Is there a manager at the agency that you can report this behaviour to? What about the Professional body - I forget the name, but someone here will tell you, I'm sure.

I think the agent in question is also the proprietor of the agency.

garhjw wrote: »

OP, is the landlady's son ever in her house? If so, write a letter highlighting the problem and leave it at her house.

Regarding the EA, have you written or emailed them to make your position clear? If not, I suggest this as the first step. They have no right to access the house without providing adequate notice. I would also suggest providing the EA with dates/times when it is convenient for you to permit viewings. By doing this, the EA is unable to argue that you are being unreasonable etc.

I would also contact the PRTB but this will be of no use to you in the short term.

Best of luck

Not a bad idea, I'll pop in a letter as see if he gets back to me. I've emailed the agency twice about this but never got a response.

pooch90 wrote: »

Threshold are your first port of call. Phone don't email.

Was looking at their site, might have a chat with them after work.

Barely There wrote: »

A Councillor to address your anger management issues.

The high horse brigade got here sooner than expected, can you please refrain from going off topic as per site rules.

D3PO

just refuse them access. If they are taking the piss then dont be in any way flexibile to them.

Also (its a waste of time but do it anyway) contact the PRSA and raise a complaint about the EA.

runawaybishop

Just tell the EA you are refusing to accommodate any appointments and you will report them if they do not desist. If they harass you or trespass then you lodge a complaint with Threshold. You can also give the gardai a buzz if they are on your property and refuse to leave.

If you'd like to settle this amicably then you can agree to a reduction in rent while they show viewers teh house, but limit it to say Saturday between 2pm and 4pm, or whatever suits you.

Also, when is your lease up? You are entitled to your full term (unless there is a specific clause about selling) so the new owners have to take you on as tenants too. That is also a bargaining tool and you can use it to get them to buy out the remainder of your lease.

edit: just fyi - you are under absolutely no obligation whatsoever to allow viewings, reasonable notice or no and even if viewings are called out in your lease- you are entitled to peaceful enjoyment of your home.

Ken.

This is a genuine question. There have been a few people recently with the same problem as Gazzmonkey. In a situation like his (and others) would it be totally out of bounds to change the locks on the doors?.

runawaybishop

ken wrote: »

This is a genuine question. There have been a few people recently with the same problem as Gazzmonkey. In a situation like his (and others) would it be totally out of bounds to change the locks on the doors?.

Yes. The EA and or LL need to be able to access the property in emergencies.

Grandpa Hassan

At the end of the day, the LL has keys, so if they want to be an ass, then they will just come and go as they please I guess. In that situation, my understanding is that the gardai will not be interested....it is the LLs property and therefore no trespass.

Changing the locks will result in forfeiture of the deposit for sure.

Is there anything a tenant can do in this situation other than go through the PRTB complaints procedure? Which will likely result in the LL being fined. But will take a long time, and doesn't help the OPs current situation.

runawaybishop

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

At the end of the day, the LL has keys, so if they want to be an ass, then they will just come and go as they please I guess. In that situation, my understanding is that the gardai will not be interested....it is the LLs property and therefore no trespass.

Changing the locks will result in forfeiture of the deposit for sure.

Is there anything a tenant can do in this situation other than go through the PRTB complaints procedure? Which will likely result in the LL being fined. But will take a long time, and doesn't help the OPs current situation.

The gardai will definitely be interested, it may be the LLs property but it is the tenants home and it is trespass.

salamanca22

ken wrote: »

This is a genuine question. There have been a few people recently with the same problem as Gazzmonkey. In a situation like his (and others) would it be totally out of bounds to change the locks on the doors?.

You may not change the locks on a property you do not own without permission from the owner and even then you would have to give them a spare set of keys.

OP, you are under no obligation to allow these viewings no matter what your contract says. You are entitled to peaceful enjoyment of your home and bar the landlord doing an inspection every now and then (At your convenience, not theirs) you do not have to let anyone into the house.

What I would have done from the start would have been to set up a certain time slot per week where you would allow viewings. This would allow you to get the place ready and secure your valuables. However since the EA in my opinion are taking the proverbial biscuit in this case I would cease all access to them. I would let them know post haste that no more viewings will go ahead on the property whilst you are a tenant and any attempts to access the property will result in a report being lodged with both the gardai and the PRTB.

Ignore the inevitable users who will tell you to just suck it up and let them have access the property for whatever reason. They have already mucked you around and you should cease access post haste.

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

At the end of the day, the LL has keys, so if they want to be an ass, then they will just come and go as they please I guess. In that situation, my understanding is that the gardai will not be interested....it is the LLs property and therefore no trespass.

This is not true, the landlord may not access the property without previous consent from the tenant. If they do, it is certainly considered trespass. The only exception is in case of emergency.

Good luck with it OP.

Caliden

Change the code to the alarm and turn it on when you leave for work.

foggy_lad

D3PO wrote: »

just refuse them access. If they are taking the piss then dont be in any way flexibile to them.

Also (its a waste of time but do it anyway) contact the PRSA and raise a complaint about the EA.

+1 on refusing them access and calling the PRSA.


OP I would arrange to be at home for the next viewing and refuse to let the agent in through the door and tell the people with the agent that they are trespassing and the Gardai have been called. Or you could be at home and if the agent let themselves in just walk out stark naked and tell them the orgy is starting in the bedroom and say something like "oh good you found a few more to take part!" while leering at the potential purchasers.

As stated by D3PO above report the estate agent to the PRSA and they will investigate and take action a lot faster than the PRTB!

percy212

Learn how to spell before trying sarcasm.

Barely There wrote: »

A Councillor to address your anger management issues.

Grandpa Hassan

salamanca22 wrote: »

This is not true, the landlord may not access the property without previous consent from the tenant. If they do, it is certainly considered trespass. The only exception is in case of emergency.

Good luck with it OP.

I know the LL can't go in without permission from the tenant - never said otherwise - but at the end of the day he has a key. It's not right at all, but I have read a load of threads in here over the last year or tie when the gardai have had little to no interest in LL trespass issues. Hopefully such instances are the exception

Th3B1tcH

report the estate agent to their mangerment and try to come to an arrangerment to suit both of you
I would also try make sure no veiwings if you are not present.

If they fail to come to a agreement that suits both parties I then refuse all veiwings (try have someone there any time they try).

Its tresspass unless an emergency so refuse them at the door.

ps. can always also ask them if they sorting out the "damp issue" and bout the "cracks" in wall

_Kaiser_

As far as I'm aware you don't have to oblige them at all?? (Although most people will come to an agreement between themselves). I certainly wouldn't be happy with random punters going through my home (and stuff) while I wasn't there.

Ring the EA (whoever owns it, not some young one/fella on commission) and explain it to them that the contract states 24 hours notice and you're not even legally obliged to do that (again AFAIK) but will do so as long as it's adhered to or maybe all in one day or something.

Gazzmonkey

Hi All,

Sorry for the delay, managed to get talking to the landladies son, explained the situation and he sorted it from there. We've been getting 72hrs notice since then, lol.

Thanks for the advice all, and hopefully won't need to raise this issue again, but if someone would actually buy the house that would be even better as it would end the viewings.

Regards,

the world wonders

ken wrote: »

This is a genuine question. There have been a few people recently with the same problem as Gazzmonkey. In a situation like his (and others) would it be totally out of bounds to change the locks on the doors?.

To expand on what was pointed out above, changing the locks without landlord's agreement is specifically forbidden by the Residential Tenancies Act:

16.—In addition to the obligations arising by or under any other enactment, a tenant of a dwelling shall—
(l) not alter or improve the dwelling without the written consent of the landlord...
...
17.—(1) In section 16 —

“alter or improve”, in relation to a dwelling, includes—
(a) alter a locking system on a door giving entry to the dwelling, and