Is there a way to blacklist a landlord and his property?

armabelle

If a LL has not fulfilled his side of a contract and plays foul, is there a place he can be blacklisted so that

1) he cleans up his/her act for next tenant
2) future tenants are advised of the goings on so that they can prepare themselves

b_mac2

There probably should be a system like that, except that tenants should be blacklisted.

armabelle

b_mac2 wrote: »

There probably should be a system like that, except that tenants should be blacklisted.

haha, I should have known this post was going to be one of the first. You are obviously a wounded LL and you are partially right. Tenants should be blacklisted as well if they are horrible tenants and have committed horrible deeds. It is funny how you were not conditional in your statement. You obviously believe the LLs can do no wrong then?

Grolschevik

I clicked in just to see how long that would take. Wow! One post!

To answer the OP, no there isn't, for either tenant or landlord.

armabelle

Grolschevik wrote: »

I clicked in just to see how long that would take. Wow! One post!

To answer the OP, no there isn't, for either tenant or landlord.

haha

Del2005

armabelle wrote: »

If a LL has not fulfilled his side of a contract and plays foul, is there a place he can be blacklisted so that

1) he cleans up his/her act for next tenant
2) future tenants are advised of the goings on so that they can prepare themselves

The tennant can go after the LL through the PTRB and get substantial compensation awarded. The LL can go after the tennant through the PTRB and still be out substantial amounts of money.

There needs to be a registery of both LLs and tenants, with consequences for both.

armabelle

Del2005 wrote: »

The tennant can go after the LL through the PTRB and get substantial compensation awarded. The LL can go after the tennant through the PTRB and still be out substantial amounts of money.

There needs to be a registery of both LLs and tenants, with consequences for both.

But wouldn't that be against the law to have a registry like that with personal info? I think that is why there isnt one... also imagine what a mess it would be if LL's and tenants could just blacklist each other. It would be chaos!

newacc2015

armabelle wrote: »

If a LL has not fulfilled his side of a contract and plays foul, is there a place he can be blacklisted so that

1) he cleans up his/her act for next tenant
2) future tenants are advised of the goings on so that they can prepare themselves

What exactly did he do? You havent said what he did. You might not agree with what he did, but it could be totally legal.

armabelle

newacc2015 wrote: »

What exactly did he do? You havent said what he did. You might not agree with what he did, but it could be totally legal.

I would have to be crazy to tell you that. That would just open the door to all kinds of arguments. I wanted to just keep it on topic.

Del2005

armabelle wrote: »

But wouldn't that be against the law to have a registry like that with personal info? I think that is why there isnt one... also imagine what a mess it would be if LL's and tenants could just blacklist each other. It would be chaos!

Plenty of websites use user references so it can't be against the law. Adverts, eBay, Airbnb use user feedback. TripAdvisor and Amazon don't even require proof that you used the service.

armabelle

Del2005 wrote: »

Plenty of websites use user references so it can't be against the law. Adverts, eBay, Airbnb use user feedback. TripAdvisor and Amazon don't even require proof that you used the service.

Ok good point but... could it be that in those cases not the person but the "user" is the person accountable?

njs030

Doesn't the prtb have judgements on its website?

DoozerT6

armabelle wrote: »

But wouldn't that be against the law to have a registry like that with personal info? I think that is why there isnt one... also imagine what a mess it would be if LL's and tenants could just blacklist each other. It would be chaos!

I was thinking something similar. It would probably only work if it was run by the PRTB on their website. All landlords *must* be registered. If someone wants to rent a property, they must also register with the PRTB as a tenant. Every registered landlord and tenant should be given a unique password where they can log on to this registry (should it ever exist) in a read-only capacity where they both can see if the other party has any marks against them which was resolved (or ongoing) through the PRTB, not inputted or updated by the landlords/tenants themselves. No registering with the PRTB, no password. No password, no access to this list. I do agree about the personal info part, hence all the faffing about with passwords. It would probably be a pain for the PRTB to manage, but it would be worth it because both landlords and tenants would have to be careful to keep their noses clean and behave themselves, as it would be very obvious to both parties as to who to avoid. Of course this would involve 100% compliance in registering, and the onus would also be on the PRTB to become involved in any legitimate disputes in a timely manner to keep the registry updated. And if a landlord or tenant is involved in a number of disputes, or even one very serious one, then they should be blacklisted.

DJMG92

I am in the process of building something like the above. I've looked into the legality about it and it's totally legal.

If anyone has any questions regarding the project or would like further info, send me a PM. It will not be rating Landlords, only tenants.

El_Dangeroso

I've always thought a simple solution would be to have a better credit rating system in this country, so that non-payment of rent would affect your credit rating.

It would give a nice way to quickly check if a tenant was responsible.

I don't know how it would work in the reverse, perhaps mediated by the PRTB.

njs030

DJMG92 wrote: »

I am in the process of building something like the above. I've looked into the legality about it and it's totally legal.

If anyone has any questions regarding the project or would like further info, send me a PM. It will not be rating Landlords, only tenants.

How is that legal? At best it's discriminatory as landlords can cause just as many problems as tenants.
Where would you get the information from without breaching data protection or getting into trouble for libel?

DJMG92

It's not discriminatory, it's being built for a purpose.

Information would be given by landlords themselves regarding the tenants. The tenants would sign a document before taking out the tenancy stating they approve the Landlord to give a rating on them or it could be added as an agreement in lease. This will help for good and bad tenants. If multiple Landlords use it and a tenant has a good rating, it would give a landlord piece of mind they are fine and have not received "Fake" references from a friend pretending to be a previous landlord. This model works in the UK.

again, any further questions, pop me a PM.

Thinkingaboutit

The PRTB are deathly slow (rubbish online forms for example) and mainly exist to gather fees and make work for surplus public servants. The answer to OP is no. A person has to take a look at the property, do a web search, maybe speak with people locally, if possible, just the usual due diligence. Perhaps it might be relevant to ask how long the last tenants were there, in some form of words, or find that out through conversation.

El_Dangeroso

DJMG92 wrote: »

It's not discriminatory, it's being built for a purpose.

Information would be given by landlords themselves regarding the tenants. The tenants would sign a document before taking out the tenancy stating they approve the Landlord to give a rating on them or it could be added as an agreement in lease. This will help for good and bad tenants. If multiple Landlords use it and a tenant has a good rating, it would give a landlord piece of mind they are fine and have not received "Fake" references from a friend pretending to be a previous landlord. This model works in the UK.

again, any further questions, pop me a PM.

Yeah.. good luck with that, there's no way that will not be a magnet for defamation lawsuits.

Even if the tenant agrees to be 'rated', anything that is said could affect job prospects or anything else. Even if you won every lawsuit, the costs fighting them alone would cripple a business.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Ha if a landlord asked my permission to rate me as a tenant I'd tell him or her absolutely not a chance. What's to stop them making up blatant lies if you have a disagreement over a rent increase for example.

njs030

DJMG92 wrote: »

It's not discriminatory, it's being built for a purpose.

Information would be given by landlords themselves regarding the tenants. The tenants would sign a document before taking out the tenancy stating they approve the Landlord to give a rating on them or it could be added as an agreement in lease. This will help for good and bad tenants. If multiple Landlords use it and a tenant has a good rating, it would give a landlord piece of mind they are fine and have not received "Fake" references from a friend pretending to be a previous landlord. This model works in the UK.

again, any further questions, pop me a PM.

And how are you planning to ascertain the landlord is telling the truth?

For example, if I my landlord said I hadn't paid rent for 6 months would you then put it up on your website? Or would you check to find out the truth?
It would get you in a serious amount of trouble if you're putting lies about people up online.

Why doesn't it include ratings for landlords?

newacc2015

armabelle wrote: »

I would have to be crazy to tell you that. That would just open the door to all kinds of arguments. I wanted to just keep it on topic.

Have you ever heard of the saying "there is three sides to every story, your side, their side and the truth"?

You are saying you want to blacklist a landlord for not fulfilling their side of a contract. But are not willing to say what did or what they didn't do. What they did might be totally legal, just something you dont agree with it.

I have a feeling you are not willing to reveal what really happened, as you arent an entirely innocent party. If you didnt do anything wrong as you are suggesting, there is nothing for people to disagree on.

davo10

DJMG92 wrote: »

I am in the process of building something like the above. I've looked into the legality about it and it's totally legal.

If anyone has any questions regarding the project or would like further info, send me a PM. It will not be rating Landlords, only tenants.

Check articles on "rate your solicitor", it was a site set up, similar to yours where clients could rate a service provider. A solicitor sued a poster who left a bad review and also, this part should interest you, the website owner, and won. Good luck with that site, you'll see from the news articles that you will not be able to hide behind internet anonymity, the solicitor got a court order to disclose the identities of both posters and owners.

You will not be able to check the accuracy or truthfulness of the posts so you will leave yourself exposed. You may have looked into the legality of it but you certainly haven't gotten legal advice because every solicitor in the state would know about that rating case and the perils in exposes the owners to.

http://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/website-accused-of-defamation-is-closed-by-judge-26816929.html

You might also want to take a look at the legal action taken by MCD Promotions against boards.ie a few years ago when some bad reviews about one of their events was posted.

Eric Cartman

donkeyoaty0099 wrote: »

Ha if a landlord asked my permission to rate me as a tenant I'd tell him or her absolutely not a chance. What's to stop them making up blatant lies if you have a disagreement over a rent increase for example.

Libel laws ?

armabelle

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I've always thought a simple solution would be to have a better credit rating system in this country, so that non-payment of rent would affect your credit rating.

It would give a nice way to quickly check if a tenant was responsible.

I don't know how it would work in the reverse, perhaps mediated by the PRTB.

Good thinking. But what if the LL was guilty or what if the problem was not non-payment of rent?

armabelle

donkeyoaty0099 wrote: »

Ha if a landlord asked my permission to rate me as a tenant I'd tell him or her absolutely not a chance. What's to stop them making up blatant lies if you have a disagreement over a rent increase for example.

Yes, you are absolutely right. This is why it would be complicated.

armabelle

Thinkingaboutit wrote: »

The PRTB are deathly slow (rubbish online forms for example) and mainly exist to gather fees and make work for surplus public servants. The answer to OP is no. A person has to take a look at the property, do a web search, maybe speak with people locally, if possible, just the usual due diligence. Perhaps it might be relevant to ask how long the last tenants were there, in some form of words, or find that out through conversation.

I also got that feeling about the PRTB by the way

armabelle

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Yeah.. good luck with that, there's no way that will not be a magnet for defamation lawsuits.

Even if the tenant agrees to be 'rated', anything that is said could affect job prospects or anything else. Even if you won every lawsuit, the costs fighting them alone would cripple a business.

yeah I have to say, what you are saying makes sense. It would be totally wrong but - going back to the OP - what about if it wasn't directed at a LL but at his property. Then do you think it could be legal?

yqtwqxqm

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I've always thought a simple solution would be to have a better credit rating system in this country, so that non-payment of rent would affect your credit rating.

It would give a nice way to quickly check if a tenant was responsible.

I don't know how it would work in the reverse, perhaps mediated by the PRTB.

I see this happening a lot nowadays.
Landlords looking for references from 3 previous landlords.
Current landlord night give them a glowing reference to get them out, but previous ones will spill all the bad stuff no bother. Then the LL just says next please and says nothing to the person they just refused because of the bad references.

You could get a system where landlords got a reference from their previous tenants too, but i dont know what use that would be really.

armabelle

newacc2015 wrote: »

Have you ever heard of the saying "there is three sides to every story, your side, their side and the truth"?

You are saying you want to blacklist a landlord for not fulfilling their side of a contract.

Yes, I think it is a great saying actually. Now could you please cut and paste where I said I wanted to blacklist someone?

SpaceSasqwatch

DJMG92 wrote: »

again, any further questions, pop me a PM.

You've been asked a few...why would you not reply on this thread?