Landlord Dilemma

astonaidan

So I recently signed up with HAP and am renting of a man who Im kinda friends with, we played rugby together. The thing is their is a few things with the house that Id like for him to sort out as we have a baby on the way 2 weeks exactly.
Our heating broke today and I messaged him with no reply, I had the same problem getting him to take a wardrobe from the house took 2 months and he only replied when I said I was going to put it at my home house.
My problem is hes not being very unprofessional about this, surely hes legally has to get repairs done when asked to do so

April 73

In fairness you only messaged him about the heating today. Would you not give him more of a chance to respond?

_Brian

In fAirness how hard would it be to respond and say it will be sorted.

When my tenants text I always reply even fits only say " thanks I'll get it looked at" I follow up with a text when I have news on the repairman or whatever.

I don't understand how landlords expect tenants to look after their property properly if they don't show the tenant some respect and courtesy.

athtrasna

A landlord is not expected to be at your beck and call. I'm sure the heating will be dealt with, it's not a particularly urgent item given that it's now summer.

The wardrobe thing is totally irrelevant. If it was there when you rented the place the landlord is in no way obligated to remove it.

Finally, Iandlords who accept HAP are a pretty rare breed. Consider what's worth rocking the boat for.

April 73

_Brian wrote: »

In fAirness how hard would it be to respond and say it will be sorted.

When my tenants text I always reply even fits only say " thanks I'll get it looked at" I follow up with a text when I have news on the repairman or whatever.

I don't understand how landlords expect tenants to look after their property properly if they don't show the tenant some respect and courtesy.

Of course the sensible thing to do is respond & acknowledge the message as soon as possible.
But the OP posted that he had only messaged the landlord yesterday. Some people work in jobs where their phone is not beside them all day & they can't respond instantly. The landlord might be one of them, or he might have been on a flight, or visiting his sick mother in hospital, or any one of a million reasons why he didn't respond quickly enough to satisfy the OP.
I think it's very reasonable to give someone 24 hours to respond to a message before using the "bad landlord" label.

astonaidan

April 73 wrote: »

In fairness you only messaged him about the heating today. Would you not give him more of a chance to respond?

I was giving him more than a day, this isnt really about the heating, Im aware that I cant expect an answer straight away, surely if he said hed take the wardrobe then it shouldnt have had to take as long as it did. As for taking HAP its a two year contract and the only reason I took the apartment was because he wanted to do HAP aswell, that surely doesnt mean I cant ask for basic stuff like heat to be fixed
I dont think I called him a bad landlord, I think hes a little unprofessional because we are friends in that I wont rock the boat

Caliden

Give him a call instead of a message. Leave a voicemail asking for a callback if needs be. It's easy ignore a message, harder ignore phonecalls.

You get your answer straight away and you can ask a follow up on the wardrobe or whatever else.

Baby01032012

astonaidan wrote: »

I was giving him more than a day, this isnt really about the heating, Im aware that I cant expect an answer straight away, surely if he said hed take the wardrobe then it shouldnt have had to take as long as it did. As for taking HAP its a two year contract and the only reason I took the apartment was because he wanted to do HAP aswell, that surely doesnt mean I cant ask for basic stuff like heat to be fixed
I dont think I called him a bad landlord, I think hes a little unprofessional because we are friends in that I wont rock the boat

Here's the reality of what you've said above. If it's not about the heating what is it about? There is no other issue that I can see. The wardrobe is a non event - so he agreed to take it and he hasn't, he's under no obligation to take away furniture that was there when you rented the place. He's doing you a favour as a friend. Friends sometimes say they will do something and take their time to do it - you can apply professionalism to a friendship.

HAP - you make it sound like you're doing him a favour - you only took it because he wanted HAP as well. However he may have done it because you qualified for it and needed a landlord that wanted it too - not too many out there. Possibly he could have got a better rent from a private renter who wasn't HAP registered or a friend?
If you wanted a landlord tenant professional relationship you should have gone to someone other than a friend.

I still don't see where your grievance is coming from. If he's a friend as you say surely you would be able to talk to him instead of talking about your friend to strangers here.

Wabbit Ears

TBH it comes across to me that the landlord has made a mistake renting to a friend.

lollsangel

astonaidan wrote: »

So I recently signed up with HAP and am renting of a man who Im kinda friends with, we played rugby together. The thing is their is a few things with the house that Id like for him to sort out as we have a baby on the way 2 weeks exactly.
Our heating broke today and I messaged him with no reply, I had the same problem getting him to take a wardrobe from the house took 2 months and he only replied when I said I was going to put it at my home house.
My problem is hes not being very unprofessional about this, surely hes legally has to get repairs done when asked to do so

I don't always get a reply I do get thing repaired though when needed and In a timely manner. Wouldn't expect if I contacted about the heating to have some one there immediately, in summer I'd be annoyed if it took a week in winter more than 2 days.
The wardrobe is a total non issue, most landlords don't want to move stuff out of the house as they have to find storage. I normally used to bung the crap up to the attic and make use of the furniture I couldn't remove.
Other than these 2 things what do you consider him to be unprofessional. In fairness with the rental market the way it is and the fact that you're drawing HAP you don't realive how fortunate you are that you have found a place to stay.
Just ring him later and see what the story is (btw if you happened to run out of oil, it could be just you have to keep resetting until the system primes again, it seems like the system has broken down bit with some of the cheaper systems the reset is crao)

astonaidan

Baby01032012 wrote: »

Here's the reality of what you've said above. If it's not about the heating what is it about? There is no other issue that I can see. The wardrobe is a non event - so he agreed to take it and he hasn't, he's under no obligation to take away furniture that was there when you rented the place. He's doing you a favour as a friend. Friends sometimes say they will do something and take their time to do it - you can apply professionalism to a friendship.

HAP - you make it sound like you're doing him a favour - you only took it because he wanted HAP as well. However he may have done it because you qualified for it and needed a landlord that wanted it too - not too many out there. Possibly he could have got a better rent from a private renter who wasn't HAP registered or a friend?
If you wanted a landlord tenant professional relationship you should have gone to someone other than a friend.

I still don't see where your grievance is coming from. If he's a friend as you say surely you would be able to talk to him instead of talking about your friend to strangers here.

He wanted to get on the HAP scheme, it he wouldnt have made any more money privately, hes making more from HAP, his house was 3 months empty before we moved in, I had other houses available to me, even still Im not saying Im doing him a favour. I dont think I was, he had a apartment for rent, I needed one
I do talk to him, thats half the problem in that he says he will do it then takes a while, Ive never rented in Ireland but in Canada/Australia its not like this
As for being on HAP that I should just take what I get what sort of bull**** is that, hes getting payed to provide a house, why on earth should people get treated any different because they are on HAP.
Regarding the wardrobe, he knew when we took the house it couldnt stay, my wife is having a baby, he said he would take then took ages to, my point was I know he would have took it, if we werent friendly.
Honestly to finish it, would I rent a apartment from a friend again, probably not, id much rather be able to say something to someone I dont know, than to risk falling out with a friend over a broke radiator.

Thanks to the guy who told me to call him, you were right its the only way really

athtrasna

The point posters were making is before you contact him, have a look at something like daft and see if you can find an alternative property in the area that takes HAP.

You say you haven't rented in Ireland before. There is a rental crisis. HAP doesn't pay market rate, if your friend decided it was too much hassle, where would you go?

astonaidan

athtrasna wrote: »

The point posters were making is before you contact him, have a look at something like daft and see if you can find an alternative property in the area that takes HAP.

You say you haven't rented in Ireland before. There is a rental crisis. HAP doesn't pay market rate, if your friend decided it was too much hassle, where would you go?

In the area I am, 5 other houses would take it and thats just what I looked at, my point is nothing I have ever asked him surely comes under hassle. Can he fix the heating, can he fix the ventilation in bathrooms, these are very basic things, as for the wardrobe he agreed before moving in to fix it.
How would he be allowed to break a HAP contract because I asked him to do basic maintenance, you say HAP doesnt pay market rate, he receives more money on it than his previous tenants payed, this is 50euros under the amount HAP were willing to pay.
I really dont understand this way of thinking tbh, just because a person is on the HAP scheme means what they should be treated as a lesser tenant, that is mind boggling

lollsangel

astonaidan wrote: »

In the area I am, 5 other houses would take it and thats just what I looked at, my point is nothing I have ever asked him surely comes under hassle. Can he fix the heating, can he fix the ventilation in bathrooms, these are very basic things, as for the wardrobe he agreed before moving in to fix it.
How would he be allowed to break a HAP contract because I asked him to do basic maintenance, you say HAP doesnt pay market rate, he receives more money on it than his previous tenants payed, this is 50euros under the amount HAP were willing to pay.
I really dont understand this way of thinking tbh, just because a person is on the HAP scheme means what they should be treated as a lesser tenant, that is mind boggling

Hold up no one said you should have lesser rights. We have said that with the housing shortage you are very very lucky to get a place on hap.

Paulw

astonaidan wrote: »

Can he fix the heating, can he fix the ventilation in bathrooms, these are very basic things, as for the wardrobe he agreed before moving in to fix it.

I think the point being made is that while these issues seem very basic to you, they can take a bit of time. You can't expect an immediate response nor resolution.

astonaidan

lollsangel wrote: »

Hold up no one said you should have lesser rights. We have said that with the housing shortage you are very very lucky to get a place on hap.

Actually it was said, are you sure you want to rock the boat regarding being lucky to have got a house on HAP. The housing shortage isnt country wide, its focused more on the cities from my knowledge, I dont live in any main city. But like I said its frequently brought up cause Im on HAP, I should just take it as is

astonaidan

Paulw wrote: »

I think the point being made is that while these issues seem very basic to you, they can take a bit of time. You can't expect an immediate response nor resolution.

I dont expect a instant response, Im happy to wait 24 hours, in that time anyone can reply sound Ill get a electrician in the next few weeks.

lollsangel

astonaidan wrote: »

Actually it was said, are you sure you want to rock the boat regarding being lucky to have got a house on HAP. The housing shortage isnt country wide, its focused more on the cities from my knowledge, I dont live in any main city. But like I said its frequently brought up cause Im on HAP, I should just take it as is

I live down the country....We moved closer to my parents 2 years ago. We gave 3 months living in my parents place waiting for someplace to live. We rent privately. I know in my town people are crying out for someplace to live, in the surrounding towns I know of a severe shortage.

Paulw

astonaidan wrote: »

I dont expect a instant response, Im happy to wait 24 hours, in that time anyone can reply sound Ill get a electrician in the next few weeks.

I would say 7 days is more realistic. For all you know, the landlord could be away on holidays.

astonaidan

Paulw wrote: »

I would say 7 days is more realistic. For all you know, the landlord could be away on holidays.

Is 7 days what it is in Ireland, Ill know that for next time, thanks for the info, as I said Im used to dealing with building managers where its sorted straight away not private owners

Michael D Not Higgins

astonaidan wrote: »

Is 7 days what it is in Ireland, Ill know that for next time, thanks for the info, as I said Im used to dealing with building managers where its sorted straight away not private owners

There's no hard and fast rule. It depends on the individual circumstances, the nature of the issue, etc.