Boiler off 2 Weeks - Landlord dragging feet

Keelan2017

Hi There,

I’ve never had a bad experience with a landlord in my 15+ years of being a tenant, so am fortunate in that respect (so far!).

Living in 1 bedroom city apartment with my partner and 10 month old daughter (rent & Creche fees are a howl, but that’s another story). We have been in this apartment for 5 years, and have probably been in contact with the landlord on 3-4 occasions in that period. Never miss rent, genuine good tenants.

Our boiler packed itself in 2 weeks ago. It took the landlord 10 days to get a plumber out to look at it. That was 3 days ago. Neither the plumber or the landlord has updated us, and updates from the landlord have been hard to get. We still have no heat or hot water. Our daughter has developed a chest infection (may well have been picked up in Creche but the freezing apartment at morning & night contributed to this). I have had to take two days off work as my daughter was sent home from Creche. I have an oil heater plugged in for the last two weeks which I’m sure means the next electricity bill will be fun.

The landlord doesn’t seem to be taking this seriously.

I would be interested in hearing others views on what I should do? I’ve never had trouble with a landlord before, nor do I want it. But my daughter has become ill, I am down 2 days wages, my electric bill is going to be through to the roof, I’m showering at work. At this point I am thinking about withholding the next rent payment, but to what consequence?

All comments welcome ðŸ™ðŸ»

Black_Knight

Keelan2017 wrote: »

Hi There,

I’ve never had a bad experience with a landlord in my 15+ years of being a tenant, so am fortunate in that respect (so far!).

Living in 1 bedroom city apartment with my partner and 10 month old daughter (rent & Creche fees are a howl, but that’s another story). We have been in this apartment for 5 years, and have probably been in contact with the landlord on 3-4 occasions in that period. Never miss rent, genuine good tenants.

Our boiler packed itself in 2 weeks ago. It took the landlord 10 days to get a plumber out to look at it. That was 3 days ago. Neither the plumber or the landlord has updated us, and updates from the landlord have been hard to get. We still have no heat or hot water. Our daughter has developed a chest infection (may well have been picked up in Creche but the freezing apartment at morning & night contributed to this). I have had to take two days off work as my daughter was sent home from Creche. I have an oil heater plugged in for the last two weeks which I’m sure means the next electricity bill will be fun.

The landlord doesn’t seem to be taking this seriously.

I would be interested in hearing others views on what I should do? I’ve never had trouble with a landlord before, nor do I want it. But my daughter has become ill, I am down 2 days wages, my electric bill is going to be through to the roof, I’m showering at work. At this point I am thinking about withholding the next rent payment, but to what consequence?

All comments welcome ðŸ™ðŸ»

Withholding rent should be the very last resort. It's not legal, and when you think about it, you've no right to. That said, sometimes it's the only thing bad landlords respond to. You can complain to PRTB, but stock up on hot water bottles if you're expecting that to solve things quick.

Best option is to ring the landlord and explain that it's not acceptable and you want a plumber out in the next 2 days. If the plumber doesn't arrive, ring the landlord and push him to get a plumber out. Reiterate that it needs to be fixed as a matter of urgency.(if it was him living there im sure he'd have it fixed already). Revisit your options after this I guess.
Also, this:
https://www.rtb.ie/docs/default-source/landlord-guides/being-a-good-landlord.pdf?sfvrsn=2

As a landlord, you must:
Reimburse the tenants for any repairs they carried out on the structure that they
requested with you which you did not carry out within a reasonable time

By law, your rented property must meet minimum standards.
Some examples of minimum standards include:
There must be hot and cold water available to the tenant.

I had a problem with an old landlord of mine, similar to this. Boiler wasn't working, no hot water for days. A plumber came out but left without having fixed the problem. I contacted the landlord and explained that this needs to be fixed asap. He promised a plumber would be out on Monday. Monday came and went, so he said he'd be out Wednesday. Wednesday came and no sign of the plumber. I rang up the landlord and was told "tomorrow". I told him this wasn't acceptable, it's been a week (or whatever it was), and that i'll organise my own plumber and bill the landlord (out of rent probably). I should caveat this by saying this was a horrible horrible landlord, and this is not how things should be resolved, but in the end it worked. Plumber arrived 15 minutes later.

Keelan2017

Thank you, that link is really helpful. Like I said this is new territory for me. In the absence of an agreement with the landlord for reimbursement I think I will be forced to go to the PRTB.

Surely 2 Weeks is crazy for any standard of landlord!

Black_Knight

Have you been in regular contact (or at least tried to contact) with him over the last 2 weeks?

A) If not, start contacting him regularly to get it resolved. Mention that hot water is a basic requirement and needs to be fixed asap. Could open a PRTB dispute if you feel this isn't going to help.

If you have been contacting him, and he's fobbing you off/not answering, and not getting a plumber, i'd mention that hot water is a requirement. If he cannot provide a plumber, you will, and bill him for it. Explain he has had sufficient time to remedy this but no progress has been made.
At the same time, open a dispute with PRTB to get that ball rolling.
It would be an idea to formally write to him stating everything (when this started, lack of progress, basic requirement etc) and post it to him via registered post (make a copy of the letter for your own records). Keep it objective (ESB bills or sick child etc. while byproducts of all this, are not the issue). FYI. PRTB are a bit ancient in their ways - A registered post letter means more to them than emails or text messages. :rolleyes:

You are required to pay the tenant back if:
They carried out repairs with your consent.
They wrote to you about an essential repair and you did not carry this repair out in
a reasonable time.

If you end up getting a plumber yourself and there's something seriously wrong, you might be best off moving unless you're willing to stick it out in the hope that PRTB can do something. You're in the best position to judge whether the landlord is going to be proactive or not.

Mrs OBumble

Contact the LL daily for updates.

That said:

Had the LL given permission for you to have a third person living there? Some tenants forget that when they have a child, then need to get this change recorded on the tenancy agreement, and then are annoyed if the LL does not take a child's needs into consideration.

If I owned a 1brm apartment and someone wanted to move a 3rd person, however small, in I would be saying "nope".

Bananaleaf

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

If I owned a 1brm apartment and someone wanted to move a 3rd person, however small, in I would be saying "nope".

Are you a LL? I seriously hope not. You must be in the legal profession. I don't know of anyone else who would refer to having a baby girl as moving "a 3rd person, however small, in"

You speak about tenants as if they have no right to live while they rent. Views like these are the reason there is such an anti-renting culture in Ireland and such desperation to get "on the ladder" exists.


OP - I'm sorry that you are going through this. It seems very stressful, between your daughter being sick and you having to shower in work and then try sort all this out too.

Would you have the money to get the problem solved yourself, for the sake of your daughter at least? And then look for the money from the landlord? I know that by the sounds of him it would take a while. You could always dispute it too if he refused to pay.

Keelan2017

THanks for the replies.

I did not ask permission to be honest, when we decided to have a baby We didn’t consider the landlord at any point. We have kept the apartment in excellent condition so I think that’s all the landlord is concerned with.

I wish I had the money to pay for it to be fixed but Dublin rent & Creche fees means it’s pretty month to month at the minute.

I’ve been told that they hope to have the plumber out today to replace the boiler, although I’m not too confident.

Fingers crossed we get a fix today, will post an update.

testaccount123

Bananaleaf wrote: »

Are you a LL? I seriously hope not. You must be in the legal profession. I don't know of anyone else who would refer to having a baby girl as moving "a 3rd person, however small, in"

Mrs O'Bumble is a bit of an autist, ignore.

OP, I'd simply arrange a plumber today and deduct from the next rent payment. Leaving a tenant two weeks without heat or water should be a criminal offence.

Black_Knight

Keelan2017 wrote: »

I’ve been told that they hope to have the plumber out today to replace the boiler, although I’m not too confident.

Fingers crossed we get a fix today, will post an update.

Hopefully. Keep on top of them about it anyways. If the plumber is running late, call and ask for an update/eta. It might seem OTT, but it's been 2 weeks already.

testaccount123 wrote: »

Mrs O'Bumble is a bit of an autist, ignore.

OP, I'd simply arrange a plumber today and deduct from the next rent payment. Leaving a tenant two weeks without heat or water should be a criminal offence.

That doesn't make it a criminal offense though. If the landlord is getting a plumber around today, great. If that falls through and a plumber doesnt materialise tomorrow, i'd be telling the landlord i'd sort it myself. Unfortunately it doesnt sound like it'd be cheap.
As I mentioned, the correct route is to send them a letter explaining all of this, outlining the lack of progress and that you will be resolving the issue yourself and billing them for it.

spaceHopper

Have you not got an electric immersion heater as a back up to the gas to get hot water? Get on to the LL, baby or no baby two weeks it to long. My guess is that they don't have the money to gif or replace the boiler.

Graham

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Contact the LL daily for updates.

That said:

Had the LL given permission for you to have a third person living there? Some tenants forget that when they have a child, then need to get this change recorded on the tenancy agreement, and then are annoyed if the LL does not take a child's needs into consideration.

If I owned a 1brm apartment and someone wanted to move a 3rd person, however small, in I would be saying "nope".

Mod Note: The presence of another person is irrelevant. OP is entitled to hot water. I will assume any further discussion on this point is deliberate trolling.

Graham

Black_Knight wrote: »

Withholding rent should be the very last resort..

Withholding rent should just not be done. End of.

Withholding rent is likely to put the OPs tenancy in immediate jeopardy.

Fian

It sounds like the landlord just doesn't have the money to pay for this - presumably they have paid a tax bill last week. That's not your problem of course, you are absolutely entitled to working boiler and 2 weeks is too long to wait.