Tenants rent allowance suspended

January

handlemaster wrote: »

This thread is just another example why landlords should avoid RA tenants always up to the 'bad' landlord to sort out the issue or push the tenant to do so. Hassle hassle hassle

Not for my landlord thankfully. No hassle for him. Rent is paid to his account straight from the DSP and my portion of the rent is lodged on time every month.

We don't see each other from one end of the year to the next, except for when a new lease needs signing (and most recently that's all been done by post too).

No hassle for him.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. ALL RA should be paid directly to the landlord each month and the portion the tenant pays should be garnished from their social welfare or salary before they even get it.

Mrs OBumble

MadDog76 wrote: »

Best advice so far on this thread .......... sensible, logical and realistic ......... take note Op.

Be aware that the CWO can listen to you, but cannot talk back to you. At a push maybe they can say "Your tenant needs you to fill in a form like this and send it back to me" - but they certainly cannot comment on the tenant's circumstances in general.

Lantus wrote: »

what if the OP has three young children and they will have to be taken out of cr che due to lack of funds or not get xmas presents due to the selfish actions of this women?

The OP is a LL, so by popular acclaim is automatically Evil, Rich and Abusive. Consequences for them are irrelevant into the mind of some posters here.

testaccount123

MadDog76 wrote: »

Best advice so far on this thread .......... sensible, logical and realistic ......... take note Op.

I thought you were going to pay the rent to the OP so he isnt out of pocket?

handlemaster

MadDog76 wrote: »

Eh .......... a private tenant could (and many have) stop paying rent and/or destroy a property and the LL would still have to go through the whole eviction process just as they would do with RA tenants.

All true but when you have tenants that view the social system as their right and the landlord as loaded no matter what they have the LL is swimming against the tide straight off . Working people respect more in general the terms of letting and know that they have obligations.

April 73

If I were the landlord I would sit down with the tenant & try and get the full story about why the rent has been missing for two months. Is the problem at her end, is it a missing form, is the problem with the department? Then I'd pay a visit to the CWO to try to get backup on the story.

I would try to help the tenant sort it out as she has been there for five years. If it gets sorted out I would request that the tenant arranges to get the RAS payment sent directly to me as a condition of staying.

But...I would also issue a formal notification of arrears as a prelude to starting the eviction process. This may focus her mind on getting this sorted out ASAP. The landlord does need to protect himself & the tenant needs to realise there are consequences to not paying rent on time & to make the effort to sort out the problem.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

MadDog76 wrote: »

Not quite ......... she's been late with the rent (up to two weeks once) which doesn't sound as dramatic as "skipped months of paying rent" but let's stick to the facts as posted.

She's doubled up on months, according to the OP

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

FAILSAFE 00 wrote: »

Yes, it's terrible.

Someone posted recently where they paid €5,000 in solicitor fees and after a year the tenant still hadn't been evicted even after PRTB ruled in the landlords favour.

So what happens when court rules in landlords favour and you go onto your own property, and change the locks

haveringchick

LexieOnRale wrote: »

So what happens when court rules in landlords favour and you go onto your own property, and change the locks

There's a lengthy appeals process. It's very difficult. Nobody wants to be the person to actually physically put a woman and small kids onto the pavement.
Here in Ireland we have such an incendiary history with evictions and tenant/landlord disputes, it's easier then you think to dig your heels in and refuse to move if you are really determined to stay
We won't tolerate thieves stealing cigarette from shops in the middle of the night but we don't mind people refusing to pay for the roof over their head at great cost to the homeowner.
Indeed your local looney leftie Magic money tree TD / councillor might even come out to help you barricade yourself in the house!

4ensic15

Dubl07 wrote: »

Appalling. So an eviction notice as a shot across the bows won't put the non-paying tenant out of the OP's property for 12 months. The sooner he puts it in motion the less likely he'll be on the streets himself for non-payment of his own bills.

It depends on how soon he issues his notice and gets a determination order in his favour from the PRTB. After that it depends on what he does with it.

MadDog76

testaccount123 wrote: »

I thought you were going to pay the rent to the OP so he isnt out of pocket?

The Op hasn't pm'd me as yet, he/she is more than welcome to do so .........

Moonbeam

handlemaster wrote: »

This thread is just another example why landlords should avoid RA tenants always up to the 'bad' landlord to sort out the issue or push the tenant to do so. Hassle hassle hassle

I disagree,anyone can fall on hard times and need a bit of a hand.
A tenant paying privately can also cause issues.
It is easier to judge a tenant individually then make sweeping assumptions.

handlemaster

Moonbeam wrote: »

I disagree,anyone can fall on hard times and need a bit of a hand.
A tenant paying privately can also cause issues.
It is easier to judge a tenant individually then make sweeping assumptions.

Yes . But when a landlord has just a limited time with each potential tenant to judge what is a good tenant and what is not, on balance and probablility the person who gets up and works is more responsible. Its not a case of all RA tenants are bad but why take the chance

fowlersleftpeg

Just spent some time reading all of your comments, thanks to each poster for the two cents worth

So i visited the property Sat morning and met with the tenant. Her RA was suspended as she was requested to provide the SW with a copy of bank statements and a copy of the lease. She provided the bank statements but didnt have a copy of the lease and it seems she forgot to ask me for one. True or not, thats the situation. I provided a copy of the lease on Saturday morning and she will provide it to SW today.
She had asked me to sign rent review docs a couple of months ago which i did. Like I said in a previous post, she wouldnt be the most reliable where documents are involved !

although I have had the tenant for over 5 yrs, the odd month here and there where she doesnt / hasnt paid the rent does cause me issues of my own. I am an accidental landlord and am a tenant in another property closer to work. I have 2 kids in creche so financially having to cover a mortgage payment on the property under discussion as well as rent in the property I am residing in does have quite an impact on general life for my family. The rent received only covers 75% of the mortgage repayments as it is so everything does get stretched to the limit when no rent is received.

I did make reference in an earlier reply that my preference is not to see her evicted but at the same time I must protect myself, my family, my property and my credit rating.

On Sat I issued an arrears notification and outlined the steps I would be taking to resolve the issue (with the final one being eviction) and the tenant accepted this was likely if she didnt sort everything out within the agreed timelines. She advised that she will borrow the money from family if necessary until her RA is reinstated. I'm expecting an update from her this morning

Thanks for advice from all so far....Definitely some to act upon

oh and MadDog76 - thanks for the offer of cash donations, maybe I'll take you up on it some day

foggy_lad

Any landlords Financial situation has nothing to do with their dealings with their tenants.

Landlords should not be relying on rent to pay their bills or mortgage!

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

foggy_lad wrote: »

Any landlords Financial situation has nothing to do with their dealings with their tenants.

Landlords should not be relying on rent to pay their bills or mortgage!

The tenants financial situation is nothing to do with the landlord. The tenant shouldn't keep expecting a complete stranger to cover their rent to keep a roof over her child's head.

Wanderer78

this whole housing situation is a bit of a disaster really for everybody. best of luck op. stressful situation

foggy_lad

foggy_lad wrote: »

Landlords should not be relying on rent to pay their bills or mortgage!

Isn't the the whole point of renting out your property of you need to live somewhere else. Rent it out so that it covers most or all of the mortgage which you otherwise couldn't afford to pay while renting or paying another mortgage elsewhere.

Qualitymark

OP, have you gone and sat down with your tenant and talked to her? Maybe if you went in with her to Social Welfare and sorted out whatever the problem was - saying "Look, I'm going to have to evict this woman and I don't want to do that", it might be unexpected enough to get the problem fixed?

Sympathy to you and your tenant both. This is a nasty situation.

fowlersleftpeg

Qualitymark wrote: »

OP, have you gone and sat down with your tenant and talked to her? Maybe if you went in with her to Social Welfare and sorted out whatever the problem was - saying "Look, I'm going to have to evict this woman and I don't want to do that", it might be unexpected enough to get the problem fixed?

Sympathy to you and your tenant both. This is a nasty situation.

Yes i have sat down and talked to her. Im hopeful of a resolution today

Mrs OBumble

foggy_lad wrote: »

Any landlords Financial situation has nothing to do with their dealings with their tenants.

Landlords should not be relying on rent to pay their bills or mortgage!

A professional landlord will be running their business and earning from it .. so that they can pay themselves a wage which is used for their own mortgage or bills.

HerbieJ

I’m a reluctant landlord and I have a fund of 5K to fall back on. I use this to cover repairs and situations like this (gives a bit of breathing room). When I dip into it I then build it back up. I would find it even more stressful if I didn't have this especially when things break and need repair. This can’t be put on hold so at least having this fund it takes a lot of the stress out of it. I would advise anyone renting a property to have some kind of fund in place.

mickoneill31

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

A professional landlord will be running their business and earning from it .. so that they can pay themselves a wage which is used for their own mortgage or bills.

I think it's just Ireland where people think landlords are all rich and ripping off tenants. It's a business. Yes you accommodate your customer as much as you can but it's not a charity.

I was in Australia a few years ago. We were 2 days late with rent on an apartment and we got a notice in the door of eviction. I got a shock and contacted the landlord. They said it's standard practice to send these letters as soon as rent is late. There was no hassle at all once we paid the rent and we were never late again. The tenant / landlord relationship down there is way more regulated and professional than the one in Ireland though where people on both sides can act very unprofessionally.

Wanderer78

HerbieJ wrote: »

I’m a reluctant landlord and I have a fund of 5K to fall back on. I use this to cover repairs and situations like this (gives a bit of breathing room). When I dip into it I then build it back up. I would find it even more stressful if I didn't have this especially when things break and need repair. This can’t be put on hold so at least having this fund it takes a lot of the stress out of it. I would advise anyone renting a property to have some kind of fund in place.

very sensible move but 5k isnt easy to find these days when you're barely making ends meet. good idea though

fowlersleftpeg

HerbieJ wrote: »

I’m a reluctant landlord and I have a fund of 5K to fall back on. I use this to cover repairs and situations like this (gives a bit of breathing room). When I dip into it I then build it back up. I would find it even more stressful if I didn't have this especially when things break and need repair. This can’t be put on hold so at least having this fund it takes a lot of the stress out of it. I would advise anyone renting a property to have some kind of fund in place.

Hi HerbieJ,
I do have a fund like yours but as you say it takes time to build back up once it has been dipped into. As i have now covered 2 months rent, the fund is rather depleted

HerbieJ

I was lucky as I was moving into my partners house so we were already paying two mortgages so the rent was a bonus although the costs associated with renting are getting bigger and bigger, and we built this up over time. But starting a fund and adding a little each month really takes the sting out of these situations.

handlemaster

foggy_lad wrote: »

Any landlords Financial situation has nothing to do with their dealings with their tenants.

Landlords should not be relying on rent to pay their bills or mortgage!

Landlords can do what they like with the money they receive from THEIR investment. The poor mouth is played enough when its the tenants fault saying what the landlord can or cannot do with the rent they receive is going to far.

fowlersleftpeg

April 73 wrote: »

If I were the landlord I would sit down with the tenant & try and get the full story about why the rent has been missing for two months. Is the problem at her end, is it a missing form, is the problem with the department? Then I'd pay a visit to the CWO to try to get backup on the story.

I would try to help the tenant sort it out as she has been there for five years. If it gets sorted out I would request that the tenant arranges to get the RAS payment sent directly to me as a condition of staying.

But...I would also issue a formal notification of arrears as a prelude to starting the eviction process. This may focus her mind on getting this sorted out ASAP. The landlord does need to protect himself & the tenant needs to realise there are consequences to not paying rent on time & to make the effort to sort out the problem.

Have sat down with the tenant and also asked her to arrange the RAS payment directly to my account. Also issued a formal notification of arrears

njs030

Hi op, would you consider having the ra paid directly to you? The tenant can add her share each week/month directly.
It would mean you are the first to know if it stops rather than relying on the tenant to tell you, and also you can have some assurance of a weekly payment.

Edited....just seen you've down this! Sorry.

beauf

jlm29 wrote: »

...On occasion over the years the rent has been late (by up to 2 weeks sometimes) ...


I'm not quite sure why there's so many people adamant he should go out of his way not to lose such a wonderful tenant. She sounds like a bit of a disaster. ....

While not desirable, its not uncommon for rent to be late. Which is why there is provision for it. They have 14 days to pay it. I don't think there is any provision of repeated late rents. Each one is treated separately.

Its relative. You could have someone who causes 10k worth of damage + lost rent. Why keep them? What choice do you have? There is no legal way of evicting someone for consistently late rent that I'm aware of.

beauf

fowlersleftpeg wrote: »

Have sat down with the tenant and also asked her to arrange the RAS payment directly to my account. Also issued a formal notification of arrears

That is entirely reasonable. IMO.