Landlord Issues

Beanie5

Hi All,

Just looking for some advice on a situation myself and my husband have with our landlord at the moment.

So in March 2016 we signed a one year lease for the property. The lease was out in March 2017 so I rang the estate agent we had dealt with and was told that the landlord had opted to deal with it himself from now on and would be in touch. So we kept paying rent and didn't hear anything.

So last week we found out that the landlord is watching for when our cars are gone and be thinks there's nobody here before he comes over here. As far as I'm aware he doesn't come in to the house but does go around the back garden and looks in through the porch door (he let this slip yesterday).

Last week he came over Monday unannounced and told my husband that somebody would be over to clean the drains in the morning. The next evening the guy came along with the landlord and they were outside in our garden for hours with the landlord constantly knocking. He then announced that he was having someone else come the next morning to clean the windows.

So I've been off work sick for a few weeks now but my car isn't outside so the landlord thinks the house is empty. Last Thursday morning I was in bed and I heard lots of noise outside. It was our landlord again sweeping under our front door mat and then he let himself in around the back of the house to the back garden.

We didn't really think anything of it until last night at 7pm he showed up on our door very aggressive towards my husband. He said he had come over last week and that there was dirt under our front door mat that he had to sweep out, and that the hose was wound down in the back garden and there were some weeds growing up between slabs and he wasn't happy about it. He then said that he had looked in the glass door into the kitchen and that he could see there were pictures hanging on the walls, and that that's against our contract. He then announced that him and his wife will be inspecting the premises Monday next week. No time or anything.

Now we do have some pictures hanging but most of them are with command strips and they don't damage paintwork. We did hang a mirror in the sitting room alright though.

To be honest I'm currently pregnant but I haven't announced it yet, and I think when looking in the windows if he saw the pictures that be saw I had pregacare vitamins and bits and pieces left out on the table. He doesn't strike me as the type of landlord that would want us doing any baby proofing.

We've been here a year and a half and never had hassle like this with him before. Rents in the area have gone up but ours can't so maybe that's got something to do with it too.

All in all we feel he's going to try anything to get us out. Do we have any rights in this?

davo2001

Tell him in no uncertain terms that if he invades your property again you will be calling the Guards.

What he is doing is 100% illegal.

Baby01032012

On the first part fact that the initial 12 month fixed term has come to an end is of no consequence. The tenancy continues under the same terms as a Part IV and your protected by tenancy law.

The landlord has breached your right to peaceful enjoyment. He needs to give proper notice in writing to inspect the property inside or out and this should be set out in your lease.

Tell the landlord this in no uncertain terms and that if he persists in calling unannounced you will report matter to rtb. Do it in writing to have a record.

Good luck.

troyzer

davo2001 wrote: »

Tell him in no uncertain terms that if he invades your property again you will be calling the Guards.

What he is doing is 100% illegal.

This^

It's YOUR house for the duration of the tenancy. I had a similar problem with a place up the North, some of my friends are still there. Absolute nightmare, the landlady works out of a hairdressers downstairs and regularly lets herself in. She even had a shower in our place once. She required us to have a cleaner come in (who we later on found out was just her pocketing the cash). Complete disaster.

A quick call to the PSNI and the Housing Executive sorted it out in the end. Although my mates are being turfed out.

Interested Observer

I'm pretty sure it's HIS responsibility to look after the garden for example, so you've no obligation to be digging up weeds. He has absolutely no right to come into the house so stand your ground here and seek help from whatever tenancy boards as required.

davo10

troyzer wrote: »

This^

It's YOUR house for the duration of the tenancy. I had a similar problem with a place up the North, some of my friends are still there. Absolute nightmare, the landlady works out of a hairdressers downstairs and regularly lets herself in. She even had a shower in our place once. She required us to have a cleaner come in (who we later on found out was just her pocketing the cash). Complete disaster.

A quick call to the PSNI and the Housing Executive sorted it out in the end. Although my mates are being turfed out.

The gardai will not do anything, it is a civil matter.

On the one hand, he is waiting until he thinks no one is there, and going on to the property to do outside maintenance. Blocked gutters can cause problems, if your windows are dirty he is paying for something you should be doing. You do not mention that he has entered your house without permission, LL are entitled, with sufficient notice, to inspect their property, so nothing wrong with that.

On the other hand it isn't pleasant to have the LL outside your window unannounced so you certainly need to inform him that is unacceptable and you do not want it to happen again. Over the years many posters have described souring of their relationship with their LL, if it developers, unfortunately it almost always ends with a relative who wants to move in or a property which is to be sold, and an eviction letter for you.

I would suggest you contact the LL and in a friendly way, tell him that you have been really busy the last few months and that going forward, you/your partner will keep the outside tidier. Have the house spic and span when it is viewed. Don't antagonise him by claiming you know your rights and that the gardai will be called, if you do, start looking for a new place to rent.

Squatter

A pretty typical Boards.ie thread! A couple of posters giving intelligent advice and some others suggesting throwing petrol on a bonfire as a means of solving a minor problem!

davo2001

davo2001 wrote: »

Tell him in no uncertain terms that if he invades your property again you will be calling the Guards.

What he is doing is 100% illegal.

He is breaking tenancy law if he enters the house without permission (being around outside the house is a grey area imo) it’s wasting time calling or saying you are going to call the guards. It’s absolutely nothing to do with the guards. The op is renting the LL owns the property and the guards have no power over a person entering a property they own. The op would need to raise a case with the RTB as this is how tenancy law is enforced.

Beanie5

Thanks for all the advice so far guys.

Davo10 it's actually in our contract that the landlord is to maintain the gardens on the property. He just never has so we've always done it ourselves.

I think even with that in the contract would be still have to give us notice before he comes in to do it?

Squatter

Beanie5 wrote: »

Davo10 it's actually in our contract that the landlord is to maintain the gardens on the property.

In which case, his complaint to your partner about the grass growing between the slabs was nonsense!

Beanie5 wrote: »

He just never has so we've always done it ourselves.

Have you ever asked him to?

Beanie5

No we've never bothered we've just gotten on with it.

It was gone a little bit messy the last week or two but we just didn't get a chance to do it. Having said that grass was still cut and reasonable.

It's only since I've been home sick that I've been seeing him coming to and having a look when he thinks there's nobody around.

rossmores

Beanie5 wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice so far guys.

Davo10 it's actually in our contract that the landlord is to maintain the gardens on the property. He just never has so we've always done it ourselves.

I think even with that in the contract would be still have to give us notice before he comes in to do it?

I would always notify a tenant in advance of works outside garden etc even out of common courtesy.
Tell him if he wishes to view the property you are willing to accept on reasonable notice
does he think there maybe someone else staying there?

Beanie5

Rossmores no I don't think so. Not that he said to us anyway.

He seemed to have a major problem with the mirror on the wall alright though

Bananaleaf

Squatter wrote: »

Have you ever asked him to?

Not a dig at you Squatter, just at the system.

I hate this question.

We were asked this very question when our relationship with our landlord took a bitter turn. "Oh, the boiler hadn't been serviced in 6yrs, why didn't you ask?" Both landlord and his agent asked this.

Come on. If you have a shred of responsibility as a landlord, why do you need to be asked? You know that weeds grow, that boilers need to be serviced, etc. Why do you need to be asked? It's a bit of a juvenile response, one I'd expect from a child who didn't brush their teeth "cause I wasn't told I had to"

As tenants, we are the customers. We are not living in these houses rent free, we are paying for a service. Yet we are not made to feel like the customer in any way.

Make too much noise to the landlord and your reference is at stake. The majority of people I know who rent do small maintenance jobs themselves or pay residents association fees in an effort to maintain good relations with their landlords and not bother them, yet it's the first thing that's flung in their face when things take a turn.

Again, not a dig at anyone here and I fully accept that there are good landlords out there, sure I thought I had one myself until I bought my own property and tried to move!

Squatter

Bananaleaf wrote: »

Not a dig at you Squatter, just at the system.

I hate this question.

We were asked this very question when our relationship with our landlord took a bitter turn. "Oh, the boiler hadn't been serviced in 6yrs, why didn't you ask?" Both landlord and his agent asked this.

Come on. If you have a shred of responsibility as a landlord, why do you need to be asked?

You know that weeds grow, that boilers need to be serviced, etc.

Why do you need to be asked? It's a bit of a juvenile response, one I'd expect from a child who didn't brush their teeth "cause I wasn't told I had to"

As tenants, we are the customers. We are not living in these houses rent free, we are paying for a service. Yet we are not made to feel like the customer in any way.

Make too much noise to the landlord and your reference is at stake. The majority of people I know who rent do small maintenance jobs themselves or pay residents association fees in an effort to maintain good relations with their landlords and not bother them, yet it's the first thing that's flung in their face when things take a turn.

Again, not a dig at anyone here and I fully accept that there are good landlords out there, sure I thought I had one myself until I bought my own property and tried to move!

People can always concoct loads of reasons to justify to themselves (and others!) why they didn't do something, can't they?

Interested Observer

Squatter wrote: »

People can always concoct loads of reasons to justify to themselves (and others!) why they didn't do something, can't they?

Like a landlord failing to maintain a property and justifying it by blaming the tenant?

davo10

If the contract states the LL is responsible for upkeep of outside, then he will be able to point to that in the event of any dispute brought to the RTB, he entered the property to tend to the external maintenance. You could argue that he wasn't maintaining the outside area well enough, but that would be self defeating as no doubt he would be calling more often if you complain about his tardiness.

Op, if he is finished outside, let it go, just ask him to give you notice next time rather than just showing up when he thinks you are not in. If relations deteriorate, provided he abides by RTB rules, there is s good chance he will evict you if he gets fed up.