Issues with my landlord

wexfordtenant

Need some advice.

I live in Wexford Town and have been renting the house from the landlord for 3 years and 3 months.

8 weeks ago the fridge freezer stopped working got it checked out and was told it was knackered and couldn't be repaired so i asked the landlord to replace it he said he couldn't afford it but would keep an eye out for a replacement.

4 weeks later he said again he couldn't afford one but would keep an eye out for one so with 5 kid's under the age of 10 in the house i was desperate and bought a fridge freezer myself.

When i done this i was basically broke and struggling financially for the rest of the month and fell behind in my bin refuse payments now i have 10 black bags of rubbish built up in my back yard over the last 4 weeks.

The landlord rang me ( Friday 28th November ) about the 10 black bin bags i tried to explain that i could not afford to pay for the bins as i was struggling after buying a fridge freezer and that i would be able to pay the bin company next week ( 1st week of December ) and have the 10 black bags of rubbish removed then but he said no that was not his problem and that i breached my tenancy agreement by having 10 bags of rubbish in the back yard and he was dropping in 30 days notice to leave the premises by 30th December which he dropped in through the letterbox that night.

Can anyone please give me any advice on what to do please.

etoughguy

I dont know what your lease says but you can complain to the PRTB if you feel you are not being treated legally / fairly

Atlantic Dawn

Did you ask him could you deduct the price of the freezer from your rent as an alternative?

mattaiuseire

As you have lived there for over 3 years, your landlord must provide you with a minimum of 12 weeks notice unless it is stated in your tenancy agreement about something along the lines of you not being allowed to leave rubbish on the yard - which would constitute a breach of your agreement.
If it does not his 30 day notice is invalid and you should make a photocopy and make a complaint to PRTB.

Does your tenancy agreement state anything about not leaving rubbish out in the yard or does it stipulate where rubbish must be left? Does your tenancy agreement state anything about your landlord promising to ensure appliances are replaced when they come to the end of their lifespan?

Note that the letter he has posted must meet certain requirements in order to stand up. The notice must:

Be in writing
Be signed by the landlord
Specify the date of termination of the tenancy
State that you have the whole 24 hours of the termination date to vacate the property
Specify the date of the notice itself
State the reason for termination
State that any issue with the notice must be referred to the PRTB within 28 days from the receipt of the notice.

If the landlord has missed any one of these, the eviction notice is invalid.

Mrs OBumble

mattaiuseire wrote: »

As you have lived there for over 3 years, your landlord must provide you with a minimum of 12 weeks notice unless it is stated in your tenancy agreement that you are not allowed to leave rubbish on the yard.

I would see it as breathtakingly obvious that you are not allowed to leave bags of rubbish in the yard, and that accumulating lots of rubbish (and thus attracting rats) does indeed interfere with the neighbours.

From Citizen's Information (ref: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/if_your_landlord_wants_you_to_leave.html)

Your landlord can give less notice if you are not keeping your obligations (28 days) or if there is serious anti-social behaviour (7 days). Anti-social behaviour includes violence, threats or intimidation as well as any persistent behaviour that interferes with neighbours.

If your rent is in arrears, your landlord can give notice of 28 days, subject to the following:

The landlord gave you written notification of the amount owing and you still had not paid 14 days after you got this notification
For a Part 4 tenancy, the landlord also notified you that you have breached the terms of the tenancy and of his entitlement to terminate the tenancy if the breach was not remedied within a specified reasonable period

OP, you made a bad mistake by buying a fridge-freezer yourself when you clearly could not afford. You should have come to an agreement with the LL (eg deduct the cost of it from your rent over six months or similar) - or failing that you should have approached Vincent de Paul or similar for help. But that's all irrelevant now.

I'm thinking that the landlord is being overly harsh in evicting you, when it was his inaction that caused the problem.

But it's likely that his action is legal - and he may have been burned by previous tenants piling up the rubbish so has learned to take a hard line about it. (I'd guess that he knows about it because one of your neighbours complained to him - likely it's a problem they know to keep an eye out for.)

Go to VdP now, and ask them to help you with the rubbish removal ASAP.

Once it's gone, contact the landlord again and see if he's willing to re-consider.

If he's not, then good luck with the house-hunting.

REXER

REXER wrote: »

Totally outrageous that you had to buy your own fridge/freezer after waiting for four weeks for your landlord slumlord to replace the faulty item!

You should have got after him immediately as well as starting proceeding with the PRTB from day 1.

And before all you landlords start bleating, leaving someone without a fridge/freezer for that amount of time is the sort of thing that clasify anyone as a slumlord! Totally outrgaeous behaviour.

Arbiter of Good Taste

REXER wrote: »

And before all you landlords start bleating, leaving someone without a fridge/freezer for that amount of time is the sort of thing that clasify anyone as a slumlord! Totally outrgaeous behaviour.

Can we quit with the LL v tenant crap? Anyone with any sense can see that the LL should have replaced the fridge/freezer immediately.

Rasmus

It sounds like he used the freezer situation to slowly get you out. Get rid of the rubbish ASAP (find a way), clean up the yard and file with PRTB.

_Brian

Rasmus wrote: »

It sounds like he used the freezer situation to slowly get you out. Get rid of the rubbish ASAP (find a way), clean up the yard and file with PRTB.

This is what sprung into my mind.. As a LL myself I cannot understand how he expected a family to survive in a house with no fridge.. If the story is as OP is saying (no reason to believe otherwise) then this is surely a case for appeal to the PTRB..

Graham

REXER wrote: »

And before all you landlords start bleating, leaving someone without a fridge/freezer for that amount of time is the sort of thing that clasify anyone as a slumlord! Totally outrgaeous behaviour.

That's a pretty melodramatic response by any account. Yes, it sounds like the landlord failed to meet the minimum standards for rented accommodation, at least for a few (unacceptable) weeks anyway. Had the OP addressed this issue correctly at the time things wouldn't have got out of hand.

OP, get the rubbish cleared quickly and let your landlord know. If this does not sort the problem with your landlord, get in touch with threshold.

CiboC

Graham wrote: »

at least for a few (unacceptable) weeks anyway.

In fairness the OP states it was 8 weeks ago that the fridge/freezer stopped working - 8 weeks is far longer than 'a few'.

It's pretty unreasonable for the tenant to be expected to provide finance to the landlord (which paying off the replacement over a period of months effectively is).

listermint

Graham wrote: »

That's a pretty melodramatic response by any account. Yes, it sounds like the landlord failed to meet the minimum standards for rented accommodation, at least for a few (unacceptable) weeks anyway. Had the OP addressed this issue correctly at the time things wouldn't have got out of hand.

OP, get the rubbish cleared quickly and let your landlord know. If this does not sort the problem with your landlord, get in touch with threshold.

Whats the situation regarding the fridge here btw?

The landlord has done nothiing to provide a fridge the tenant ended up having to do that after 2 months.

Now the landlord wants the tenant to clear the rubbish at their own cost again.


To me sounds like this landlord is a moron, and is trying to have his cake and eat it too. if he wants rid of the rubbish he pays for it or pays her for the fridge so that she can pay for the rubbish to be removed.


Utter moron, and no thats not being harsh and not thats not a LL Tenant thing its an individual moron thing.

Graham

listermint wrote: »

Whats the situation regarding the fridge here btw?

The landlord has done nothiing to provide a fridge the tenant ended up having to do that after 2 months.

Now the landlord wants the tenant to clear the rubbish at their own cost again.


To me sounds like this landlord is a moron, and is trying to have his cake and eat it too. if he wants rid of the rubbish he pays for it or pays her for the fridge so that she can pay for the rubbish to be removed.


Utter moron, and no thats not being harsh and not thats not a LL Tenant thing its an individual moron thing.

The tenant is completely entitled to a working fridge, absolutely no doubt about that. It's part of the requirements for minimum standards for rented accommodation.

Process should have been:
Ask landlord for fridge.
Write to landlord asking for fridge.
Call/write to local authority/PRTB to complain that rented property doesn't meet minimum standards.

What a Tenant Shouldn't Do
Withhold rent (yes I know OP hasn't done this)
Breach the terms of the lease (OP may have done this, we don't know).

What The Tenant Should Do Now
Clear the rubbish.
Talk to the landlord
Talk to Threshold
Talk to the PRTB

CiboC

Process should have been:
Ask landlord for fridge.
Write to landlord asking for fridge.
Landlord provides fridge.

A lease is not a one way street, there are obligations on the part of the landlord too. Leaving the tenant without a working fridge for 8 weeks is a breach of their obligations to the tenant.

Based on the information provided by the OP it would appear that this is the first point at which 'due process' broke down and everything else followed from that.

Graham

wexfordtenant wrote: »

The landlord rang me ( Friday 28th November ) about the 10 black bin bags i tried to explain that i could not afford to pay for the bins as i was struggling after buying a fridge freezer and that i would be able to pay the bin company next week ( 1st week of December ) and have the 10 black bags of rubbish removed then but he said no that was not his problem and that i breached my tenancy agreement by having 10 bags of rubbish in the back yard and he was dropping in 30 days notice to leave the premises by 30th December which he dropped in through the letterbox that night.

OP before the landlord can legitimately terminate your tenancy for failing to comply with your obligations you must first be given a warning about the breach of obligation and have failed to address it.

Butters1979

I'm not one for advising escalation in most cases but WTF? OP. The landlord completely neglected his responsibilities and left you in an unlivable (by our laws and standards) situation.
http://www.threshold.ie/advice/dealing-with-problems-during-your-tenancy/standards-and-repairs/

First off, do you have proof you raised this issue with him or was it just a phone call. The fact that they left a family without a fridge for 8 weeks is disgraceful, and are now looking to evict you? First of all they need to warn you about the bins issue and give you an opportunity to address it.

Read all the info in the link above you, get all the documentation about the fridge issue you have and raise a complaint with Threshold. Don't allow this cowboy landlord to get away with this. the fact he "can't afford a fridge" is his problem, rent includes upkeep of what you rent.

Dig your heals in and tell him you are challenging the eviction.

April 73

1) get the rubbish cleared
2) check lease agreement to see what it says about breaches & termination. You should have been given an opportunity to deal with any issue after a warning
3) check if notice to terminate & leave is done correctly & is valid. If it is not & the rubbish is cleared the LL would have to reissue notice to terminate & since the rubbish gone, he has nothing to terminate on.
4) assuming there isn't anything about the rubbish in the lease & that the notice to terminate is invalid (no warning & incorrect notice period) tell LL you are bringing a case to the PRTB

Read up on your rights & tell him where he is in breach.

To me it sounds like he wants you out. Are you possibly paying below market rent???

Graham

Butters1979 wrote: »

I'm not one for advising escalation in most cases but WTF? OP. The landlord completely neglected his responsibilities and left you in an unlivable (by our laws and standards) situation.
http://www.threshold.ie/advice/dealing-with-problems-during-your-tenancy/standards-and-repairs/

First off, do you have proof you raised this issue with him or was it just a phone call. The fact that they left a family without a fridge for 8 weeks is disgraceful, and are now looking to evict you? First of all they need to warn you about the bins issue and give you an opportunity to address it.

Read all the info in the link above you, get all the documentation about the fridge issue you have and raise a complaint with Threshold. Don't allow this cowboy landlord to get away with this. the fact he "can't afford a fridge" is his problem, rent includes upkeep of what you rent.

Dig your heals in and tell him you are challenging the eviction.

The fridge isn't the issue anymore, the issue now is the tenant has received notice terminating the tenancy. This is what needs to be addressed and quickly.

There is nothing at all in legislation that states you may break the terms of your tenancy if you don't have a fridge.

From the limited information provided by the OP it sounds like the landlord didn't provide the tenant with an opportunity to rectify the breach of the tenancy by removing the rubbish. For this reason the termination of the tenancy is unlikely to stand up.

OP needs to address the issue with the rubbish, talk to the landlord and ask him to withdraw the termination notice. Failing this talk to Threshold/PRTB about receiving an invalid notice of termination.

wexfordtenant

Just been reading through replies.

I tried the SVDP but they didn't have and fridge freezer's available to provide us either at a low cost or free :-(

The rent is paid and up to date i make sure to do that when i get my dole every week.

I sent the landlord a written letter but i didn't send it registered post so not sure i can prove that he got the letter.

Have the rubbish sorted my wheelie bin's are getting collected 2moro along with the 10 extra bags.

Not paying below market rent i do get rent allowance to help towards the 600 monthly rent though.

I had a look at the PRTB website and got the impression that maybe the landlord should have come in and said to me look you have 10 bags of rubbish out there with your wheelie bins i need you to get them taken away in the next 7 days and i can call up and check they are gone i would have been okay with that but i never got that just a phone call and was told he left a notice of termination through the letterbox for me.

I'm going to register a dispute with the PRTB on Monday coming and see if they can help but i think the notice might be invalid as i got no warning to sort the bags out even though it only started building up cause i had a choice of paying my rent or my bin charges while paying back a loan i got to pay for the fridge freezer he couldn't afford

Wonder if he would of have given me notice quicker if i had paid the bins instead of the rent.

** Just noticed the post about the OP may have breached the tenancy i checked my tenancy i did breach it by having the extra bin bags in the yard so hoping the PRTB take into account it only happened over me being stuck for money over having bought the fridge freezer.

.

Stheno

I suspect you may be below market rate, I just did a search on daft for three bed houses in wexford town to rent, and the cheapest I could find was 730 per month (1) then 750 (3) and the rest were all 800 and above of the fifteen that were there.

Now you've said you've five kids so I'm not sure if three beds is enough, but I imagine a four bed would be even more, but even at a three bed, your current rent appears well below market rates give what's on daft.

That may be motivating your landlord to do whatever he can to evict you, especially if the rent supplement cap is 600 per month.

Good luck with the prtb case

Mrs OBumble

wexfordtenant wrote: »

** Just noticed the post about the OP may have breached the tenancy i checked my tenancy i did breach it by having the extra bin bags in the yard so hoping the PRTB take into account it only happened over me being stuck for money over having bought the fridge freezer.

.

I'd expect that they will given the fridge situation, and IMHO you've little chance of being evicted over this.

However you need to watch out, it's likely that the LL is trying to get rid of you.

It may be worth keeping an eye out for somewhere better to move to anyways.

Skatedude

just txt the link of this post to your landlord,

Mrs OBumble

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

However you need to watch out, it's likely that the LL is trying to get rid of you.

It may be worth keeping an eye out for somewhere better to move to anyways.

Particularly as after 9 more months she will be 4 years in the property and the tenancy will reset so the LL can evict her for any reason he wants.

wexfordtenant

It's been a couple of months since i got the Notice Of Termination from the landlord.

I rang threshold housing charity and explained the case to them and then i registered a dispute with the Private Residential Tenancies Board now the RTB.

The case was put into phone mediation.

The landlord accepted he Breached his Obligations under the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008 as amended by the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) (Amendment) Regulations 2009.

The landlord agreed to refund us the full cost of the Fridge Freezer.

On the 10th December 2015 the heating system in the house broke down.

The mediator explained this to the landlord.

The landlord said if we dropped the RRB mediation he agreed he would cancel the Notice Of Termination and have heating fixed.

( Landlord put this in writing ti the RTB )

21st of January 2016 the case was dropped the landlord visited the property told us the RTB case was over and he wanted us out and issues a 14 day warning notice that he backdated to the 5th of January 2016.

Even though the Mediation with the RTB did not end until 21st January.

Landlord then issude 84 days Notice Of Termination on 2

otwb1

wexfordtenant wrote:

21st of January 2016 the case was dropped the landlord visited the property told us the RTB case was over and he wanted us out and issues a 14 day warning notice that he backdated to the 5th of January 2016.

wexfordtenant wrote:

Even though the Mediation with the RTB did not end until 21st January.

wexfordtenant wrote:

Landlord then issude 84 days Notice Of Termination on 2

I hope that you've opened another case with the PRTB? (invalid notice of termination based on the 14 day notice being backdated). also -what we're the grounds for the warning? was it rent arrears or breach of lease?

K.Flyer

It would sound to me that he really wants you out for whatever reason.
Go straight back to RTB with all of this. But even if they do push him and tell him to back off, at the end of your forth year he is going to be in a much stronger position.
Whilst its a bad situation to be in, if I was you I would start making plans to move out, as he then needs no reason after the forth year other than the correct notice for you to leave.

April 73

Straight back to the PRTB.

The LL wants you out, that's apparent. Once your 4 years tenancy is up, your Part IV will end & your rights will be more limited. So you have some time if you take the case back to the PRTB but I think you need to prepare yourself for moving later this year when your Part IV ends.

wexfordtenant

The backdated 14 days he stated verbally

The reason for the Notice was the rubbish that built up while i was paying for the Fridge Freezer.

I am currently unemployed the last 2 years and loving on a tight budget so basically couldn't afford the 25 euro a week off the Fridge Freezer and the 12 euro off of the bins and the extra 18 a week for coal and 20 more on the prepay ESB meter to try keep the house warm over the xmas period so the bins built up again for 6 weeks over xmas and got cleared out in start of January.

That has been an ongoing struggle since last October but thankfully it's under control now we have the heating back and the fridge freezer is cleared off since Mid December.

Registered a new PRTB case was informed on Thursday the 12trh of May 2016 that the landlord refused to enter telephone mediation and the mediator said i have 10 days within to enter a request for the case to go to tribunal which would cost me €100 it appears from reading up on the PRTB FAQ's in regards to a tenancy tribunal.


The 84 days NOT served on the 21st of January is served having failed to adhere the the 14 day warning notice that was backdated to the 5th of January 2016.

The warning Notice in based on the rubbish that built up while i was trying to pay off the fridge freezer.

Even though the rubbish was all gone by the 5th of January. :-(

I am currently looking for a place on a daily basis my part 4 tenancy ends on 19th September 2016.

I am hoping we can locate a place before that date.

wexfordtenant

I have before the PRTB

Mediation entered in regards to the NOT dated January 21st 2016 as i believe it is invalid based on the 14 days notice for breach of obligations being backdated.

Mediation entered in regards to a 30 days to leave issued on 19th April for failing to comply with his request for rent arrears to be paid in regards to February 15th which we were told in writing by Threshold to withhold until the issue with heating was sorted out.

The landlord also requested a receipt for the fridge freezer on that day which i asked him to return for the next day he didn't and would not answer the phone to me since or to Threshold which i also asked to contact him in regards to.

But i believe he is at fault there as i had receipt and made repeated attempts to contact him and so did Threshold to inform him the receipt was there waiting for him.

Instead the landlord issues a 30 days NOT as we failed to provide the receipt.

So far this is 3 NOT's which i have recieved

Just read back over my posts it seems most of my post in regards to the issues of no heating or hot water from December 2015 - February 2016 didn't post for some reason ( think it may be as the post was so long )

wexfordtenant

Sorry to be spamming with repeated posts

But the section of the message about heating did not post.

basically we informed the PRTB mediator that the heating failed on 10th December 2015.

Landlord agreed with the PRTB mediator to get it looked into ASAP.

21st of Jan 2016 he said we would get a plumber sent up.

3rd of Feb 2016 no plumber no reply form landlord rang Threshold they put in writing to me and Landlord that the tenants should hold the rent due Feb 2016 and if landlord refuses to sort heating out we should get it sorted pay from the rent and issue landlord receipt and go back to the PRTB.

The heating was not sorted the landlord told us to pay the rent or get out.

Landlord sent plumber in late Feb rent arrears where paid into his bank account next day have receipt to confirm.

Also have environmental health coming to check house under minimum standards but having downloaded their guidelines and it appears their are around a dozen issues with house under the minimum standards for rented property under the 2008 housing act and the amendment to this act in 2009.

Baby01032012

Withholding rent no matter what issues you have with the landlord is illegal no matter what threshold say. And is another reason to terminate.

If you're not satisfied with the landlord or the property I suggest you come to an agreement to move out asap.

If the property does not meet the minimum standards you will not be allowed to stay there while the issues are corrected and you will be homeless.