Normal landlord behaviour?

mkhall

Ive posted here before about my landlord. Perhaps ive had the pleasure of having nice landlords in the past but this situation seems sketchy.
1. He manages everything, made us sign a contract yet the house belongs to his partner, who we never met.
2. He texts us and tells he will be over sometime during the week and then shows up randomly. Last week he texted and no one gave him permission to come in and he came in anyway.
3. His partners post..mostly letters from the bank and revenue still come to the house. He routinely comes over to collect them. Ive had post go missing..one a new bank card that left me without access to cash when I was abroad. Horrible situation, bank canceled my card as they thought I'd received it and I assumed it was just taking a while. My friend from the country is moving up for a jobbridge and is house hunting so she got a letter sent here as it takes 3-4weeks to transfer. He came in Sunday without permission and he picked up the letter and sent it back-friend is in trouble now.
Our oven is broken, ive posted here before. It doesnt cook things through ie chips take double cooking time, pizza won't cook on bottom. It's 30 years old, seriously! He replaced it with a 40 mini oven. We tried using it once but you cant fit more than one thing into it not even a baking tray.
He also takes things out of the house, like mirrors on the walls etc. Fine but it's just weird. He is taking our garden furniture out of the back garden this week. Just in time for summer!
Sorry for the rant but what im wondering is, can I confront him about these things? Threshold and prtb are a big help yet vague. If I confront him, can he evict us? He's really sneaky and the rental market is crazy and we can't afford to move.

Thanks in advance

Penny Tration

He's not allowed enter your property unless you give him permission, or there's an emergency. He's trespassing.

punisher5112

Move life is way too short.

Ring threshold and document dates and times.

Then lodge a complaint if told to by threshold.

Parchment

Thats not normal at all. I would look into moving as soon as practical.

stoplooklisten

1. No issue, why would there be
2. Don't leave your friends post sitting there for 2 days if she is falsely using your adress, especially when you know he has form for checking through post. He may not appreciate social welfare being told that he is earning more rental than he is by your friend pretending to live there.
3. He needs to stick to times of appointments and not enter without permission unless it's an emergency.

You could report the mirrors and return the letters to sender but this will cause agro.
Check the standards of ovens necessary on the threshold website.

Are the items that he is removing on your contents list? Keep a note of what he's taking, in case he comes looking for it at the end of tenancy.


But overall, not normal, you deserve quiet enjoyment of your home

Conall Cernach

If he is registered with the PRTB then they offer a mediation service so that if you raise your concerns wit hthem they will tell him to knock it on the head.

2RockMountain

You could write 'not at this address - return to sender' on any post addressed to him, and stick it back in the postbox. Is the property registered with PTRB?

Baby01032012

mkhall wrote: »

Ive posted here before about my landlord. Perhaps ive had the pleasure of having nice landlords in the past but this situation seems sketchy.
1. He manages everything, made us sign a contract yet the house belongs to his partner, who we never met.
2. He texts us and tells he will be over sometime during the week and then shows up randomly. Last week he texted and no one gave him permission to come in and he came in anyway.
3. His partners post..mostly letters from the bank and revenue still come to the house. He routinely comes over to collect them. Ive had post go missing..one a new bank card that left me without access to cash when I was abroad. Horrible situation, bank canceled my card as they thought I'd received it and I assumed it was just taking a while. My friend from the country is moving up for a jobbridge and is house hunting so she got a letter sent here as it takes 3-4weeks to transfer. He came in Sunday without permission and he picked up the letter and sent it back-friend is in trouble now.
Our oven is broken, ive posted here before. It doesnt cook things through ie chips take double cooking time, pizza won't cook on bottom. It's 30 years old, seriously! He replaced it with a 40 mini oven. We tried using it once but you cant fit more than one thing into it not even a baking tray.
He also takes things out of the house, like mirrors on the walls etc. Fine but it's just weird. He is taking our garden furniture out of the back garden this week. Just in time for summer!
Sorry for the rant but what im wondering is, can I confront him about these things? Threshold and prtb are a big help yet vague. If I confront him, can he evict us? He's really sneaky and the rental market is crazy and we can't afford to move.

Thanks in advance

I think you've very valid issues with all except maybe the first point you made.

Who's name as landlord is on the tenancy agreement you signed - him or his partner. He could legitimately be acting as agent for his partner.

For all the other valid issues you mentioned I would actually ask to sit down with him some evening. He could very well not be aware of his behaviour. I would calmly point out the issues and the trouble that it has caused you as you have written above. He may just need to see the errors of his ways. However I'm just speculating as I don't know him.

Softly softly approach is best before going all guns blazing to threshold or prtb. There's a lot of accidental or unprofessional landlords out there that aren't aware of the regulations, that need reeducation. Obviously if that doesn't work then by all means take case for breach of peaceful enjoyment of the property and inadequate cooking facilities.

mkhall

Apologies I wrote my post on my phone in a hurry, I didn't mean the first point was an issue. I was just trying to get my point across that it's a nuisance having his partners post coming every day. It's obvious he's not registered with prtb and paying tax, as his partner is the owner and they want to pretend she still lives here. I don't want to catch him out for that. Ive had some really dodgy landlords in the past who would collect in cash only, although they were very quick to replace something if it was broken. If we do nicely email him and ask he seems offended. With the oven he knew well a mini cooker he got wasnt sufficient enough. He's covering himself legally and supplying with the bare min.
I completely understand I shouldn't get my friends post sent here, it is not welfare fraud it was to make sure her payments would be processed in Dublin in time for her to begin her job bridge. It was to move the location from rural Ireland to Dublin. She now cannot take the job bridge. The issue for me is he's going through our personal documents/post on the table without announcing or asking.
2rockmountain I thought of that myself! The Dublin rental market is tough at the moment, people are nearly queuing up with cash. It's a landlords market and prices are the highest I've ever seen.
Moving is not an option because of this..and that's why I think I should let the issues slide...yet he seems to be sneaky and disrespecting us and I don't want him thinking I am a pushover and having more things happen.

Thanks for the replies they're much appreciated

dreamerb

OP, that sounds like a particular kind of old school landlord to me - the kind I had in college in the 90s - only a bit worse.

I think Baby01032012 gives decent advice - it may be the landlord is really not aware of his obligations and a talk could sort it out. You could consider asking him to have An Post redirect the partner's post, or volunteer to forward it yourselves. This will remove his excuse to enter the premises. You should also ask him not to enter the premises or remove anything without your specific permission: explain that you rented it in a particular condition and furnished to a particular level, and that should not be reduced except by prior agreement.

On the mini-oven, unfortunately the relevant regulations aren't particularly helpful - i.e. they don't specify a minimum capacity related to occupancy, etc. However, you could reasonably say that you expect appliances to be replaced on a like-for-like basis unless otherwise agreed and that the mini-oven is not fit for purpose.

Explain the problems he's caused too, with your bank card and your friend's jobbridge. He really may have had no idea - but if the conversation suggests that there was any malice on his part, then involve the PRTB and try to find an exit strategy too.

It's an awkward and annoying situation to deal with at any time, but particularly in the current rental climate. Best of luck and I hope it works out.

athtrasna

What are you trying to achieve Op? You've had advice about the oven before. Who the contract is with is irrelevant. The notice thing is illegal but you don't appear to have been able to stand up for yourself on this so far. You also don't show any indication of having dealt with the landlord illegally letting themselves in. Unwanted post, return to sender.