Rental house left in shocking condition.

FrStone

MrWalsh wrote: »

No but regular inspections should help there.

To be honest, if I was renting from you, I'd be a bit annoyed with regular inspections.

Now I'm paying a bit more than the market rate, but for that I expect privacy.

I do think that a system should exist so that landlords aren't left holding the bill for disgusting people like this.

FishOnABike

FrStone wrote: »

I do think that a system should exist so that landlords aren't left holding the bill for disgusting people like this.

Unfortunately this level of damage goes beyond what any reasonable (even 2 - 3 month) deposit might cover.

The only redress is to pursue it through the courts and often this is just throwing good money after bad.

The best that can be hoped for is being allowed to offset the full cost of reinstatement against rental income.

MarkAnthony

murphaph wrote: »

The landlord remains blameless. Possibly he was naive, but we can't know that for sure. He may or may not have "properly vetted" the tenants. There's only so much one can do. Some of the most shocking tenants were apparently like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths when they initially met their landlords. These people don't go around with "slob" tattooed on their foreheads. How often do people think landlords should be inspecting? The tenant is entitled to some peaceful enjoyment of their home as well.

I agree that any LL should be extremely thorough when vetting tenants but even if he is not, he is not to blame when those tenants treat a property like that one. The landlord should be pitied, but that is anathema to most Irish, who generally try to ascribe some wrongdoing to the landlord wherever possible...even if totally unreasonably.

You can be sure the poor sod is blaming himself for not checking the place more often or asking for bank statements or requiring a 3 month deposit and so on. He will next time and so will more and more landlords as the system does basically nothing to protect them from tenants like these. The decent tenants (the vast majority) will suffer unfortunately but what can you do.

The situation remains that the situation tooks months not weeks and a responsible LL would be in there once every 3-6 months. LLs are screwed in this country but the fact remains many of them are as laxadaisy as the system itself.

MrWalsh

FrStone wrote: »

To be honest, if I was renting from you, I'd be a bit annoyed with regular inspections.

Now I'm paying a bit more than the market rate, but for that I expect privacy.

I do think that a system should exist so that landlords aren't left holding the bill for disgusting people like this.

Actually I've found people like the opportunity to complain/inform me of all and any minor issues that wouldn't be worth contacting me for individually.

A ten minute walk round doesn't seem to bother anyone and I do use it as an opportunity to check things like the place needing a paint job, check for damp, see if any damage needs repairing etc so the tenant benefits overall.

Lux23

There's no harm knocking around every 6 months for a quick check and look around. I would think for a single person/couple that three months is excessive though, if they are out working they won't have much time to do much damage.

athtrasna

Lux23 wrote: »

There's no harm knocking around every 6 months for a quick check and look around. I would think for a single person/couple that three months is excessive though, if they are out working they won't have much time to do much damage.

You can't just knock around, inspections need to be agreed with the tenants

tinz18

MrWalsh wrote: »

Actually I've found people like the opportunity to complain/inform me of all and any minor issues that wouldn't be worth contacting me for individually.

Pretty much. Our landlady comes around every month to collect rent in cash. Its quite handy because we can show her any issues we have and she'll get someone out asap. Completely different to my last landlord who we paid electronically and it took upwards of 8 months to get anything fixed and was impossible to get a hold of. I think it depends on the tenants and the landlord, my landlady is a pleasant woman so we don't mind her dropping in once a month and it's generally into the kitchen/dining/sitting room which for her would be a good indicator of the state of the rest of the house.

Irishcrx

Happened to me as well. I half owned a property when I was younger that was left to me , when I bought the other half and wanted to move in I had to evict the current tenants. I had an idea that the house was going to be bad but nothing could prepare me for what I had gotten myself in for.

Holes in the walls everywhere , like they were punched or used to stash 'items'.

Floors destroyed/tiles gone/lifted

Walls mouldy everywhere

Toilets blocked completely , had to smash the base of them and let them flow out then gut the whole bathroom, the smell will never leave me.

Not one appliance could be saved or door...or floor....or socket.

I mean everything , I had to literally gut the house from top to bottom and go back to the bank and ask for another 30k to rebuild the interier of the house and even at that I had to do a lot of the labour myself to save on costs. But I got it done....animals...that's all I can say.