Viewing Fees, Really?!

Samuel T. Cogley

https://www.thejournal.ie/landlord-viewings-4278896-Oct2018/


This obviously isn't wide spread but some people really do like to give LL's the worst possible name.

SpannerMonkey

my god . surely that cant be legal €500 just to view a place is insane.
landlords should be ashamed of themselves for even thinking of doing this to people

Samuel T. Cogley

To be clear most of us would never dream of it.

Potatoeman

Name and shame.

Toots

I don't understand how that works. Do you hand over the 500 and then get it back after the viewing? My sister in law viewed a house recently and there was a queue of about 20 people outside viewing it also. What's to stop some unscrupulous individual charging a viewing fee and then claiming it's non refundable and getting basically a years rent over a weekend of viewings?

Samuel T. Cogley

Toots wrote: »

I don't understand how that works. Do you hand over the 500 and then get it back after the viewing? My sister in law viewed a house recently and there was a queue of about 20 people outside viewing it also. What's to stop some unscrupulous individual charging a viewing fee and then claiming it's non refundable and getting basically a years rent over a weekend of viewings?

Nothing to stop them, that's why some are doing it.

s7ryf3925pivug

Why take a tenant at all then, when you can get fast easy money from viewing fees?

Samuel T. Cogley

Ruben Shallow Poet wrote: »

Why take a tenant at all then, when you can get fast easy money from viewing fees?

Well I'm thinking that's the scam; probably in cash too.

the_syco

The woman expressed an interest in viewing a property. She then received a phone call from an agency and was told that she had been invited to view the property that afternoon – but that she’d have to pay a €500 fee.

Is this a widespread practice, or something in relation to one property, and has anyone rented the property after having paid money to view it?

Most people have heard of a place being rented that you send the funds to Western Union, and you'll get the keys from a box at the property, only to find that the house is not for let, and they were scammed by an internet fraudster.

I'm thinking that this is a similar tactic;

1. Rent a house/apartment via AirBnB
2. Put an ad up saying you accept HAP.
3. Tell said person that they need to give a viewing fee.
4. Get lots of money, either without actually showing the house, or just showing the AirBnB that you rented for the week.
5. Withdraw cash, close account, leave the rental.
6. Profit.

Samuel T. Cogley

There's some (very honest) lad over in AH actually trying to defend this.

Doop

I dont really get it ... read the article on it previously but sure who'd pay it? or could afford to pay it?

I find it hard to believe it is actually 'widespread', some chancer may have tried his arm at one viewing hoping to pull the wool over some unsuspecting potential tenants. But as a renter myself I would laugh at anyone who asked for such a fee.

DubCount

This is want you get in return for rent controls. Prices cant increase to allow supply and demand meet, so you live with constant under-supply. With under-supply, you're going to get all kinds of hello money, non-refundable deposits, under the counter cash top ups, and lots of other practices that are wrong, but will happen as long as under-supply keeps the "rental hunger games" going. You don't need legislation to stop this, you need rental supply to stop this. Maybe our TD's time would be better spent legislating to increase rental supply, than dealing with every new fad that comes up.

p.s. I don't agree with this practice, I wouldn't do it.

ross2010

Its outrageous and anyone who charges it is a rip off merchant be it agent or landlord. I use a letting agency to manage my property and if they were charging a viewing fee they'd get the boot immediately. As a landlord I would never charge it.

However I doubt its common and hopefully will be knocked on the head. But just to offer another perspective its not unlike a lot of schools asking for a €100 / €200 application fee per child to put their names on a waiting list with no guarantee of an offer of a place. That too should be stopped.

GGTrek

They are probably cash in hand/holding deposit scammers. Quite a few advertising on daft. These are police matters.

TCM

ross2010 wrote:

However I doubt its common and hopefully will be knocked on the head. But just to offer another perspective its not unlike a lot of schools asking for a €100 / €200 application fee per child to put their names on a waiting list with no guarantee of an offer of a place. That too should be stopped.

Can you give examples of such schools?

SpannerMonkey

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

To be clear most of us would never dream of it.

Oh i know that 99% of landlords are decent people and that this is a minority. I just ment the people that do it should be ashamed of themselves

ShaneC93

Sounds like an actual scam. Probably somebody either trying to make some quick money showing out their place with no intention of renting it out and intending to keep the cash.. or as another poster said, a fraudster / conman who rents out properties for a week in cash with fake details then does a few viewings for money before vacating the property before anyone cops on to the fraud.

In the US it wouldn't be unheard of for mid to upper scale rentals, to have to pay an application fee that covers a credit & background check + viewing but it would only be $5-10, €500 would just be ridiculous, there's no way it's anything but a scam.

To be honest, I can't help but feel the €500 is an exaggeration/lie to beef up the story.


In real life, I can understand charging, say, a tenner, to view a house. It'd help keep the 'tyre kickers' and the nosy neighbours away. You especially see this at weekends when people are just looking for something to do to pass the time. Get some decorating ideas in places similar to their own, etc.

ross2010

TCM wrote: »

Can you give examples of such schools?

Sure, Sion Hill and Rockford Manor for example both require a €100 non refundable application fee. I'm sure I could search a lot more schools in diff areas and find out what their fees are as many do charge an application fee but no point going off topic, i just mentioned it to put things in perspective. If you are interested you could search the schools in your relevant area. I completely agree no landlord or agency should be charging the fee.

Joe Daly

What is it with landlords they try screw everything, I remember staying with my sister in Rathmines thirty years ago for one night when the landlord opened the door demanded to know what I was doing there he was in his guard uniform . I always said after that if I had to beg steal or borrow I would never live in rented accommodation.

rawn

Joe Daly wrote: »

What is it with landlords they try screw everything, I remember staying with my sister in Rathmines thirty years ago for one night when the landlord opened the door demanded to know what I was doing there he was in his guard uniform . I always said after that if I had to beg steal or borrow I would never live in rented accommodation.

Well, which one did you do?

The_Conductor

I don't understand how this is even supposed to work?
Who in their right mind would pay EUR500 to 'view' a property?
It just doesn't add up.
A far safer and far more defensible course of action for a landlord- would be to seek a significantly higher deposit (than 1 month's rent). 2-3 month's rent- is the norm internationally- and recently in Dublin and Cork- some tenants have tried to distinguish themselves to landlords by offering to pay up to a year's rent in advance (quite who has a lumpsum like this sitting around- is also beyond me- however, it appears to be increasingly common in Dublin and Cork- and by all accounts suits some tenants and some landlords).

Is the 500 Euro refundable if/when the individual doesn't get the property- and the person who does get the property- do they get a EUR500 credit against their first month's rent and/or deposit.

It just sounds like a scam- however, there isn't enough information there to really determine whether its legit, a tall story- or an outright scam...........

Sleeper12

Samuel T. Cogley wrote:

This obviously isn't wide spread but some people really do like to give LL's the worst possible name.

I don't think I believe it is true. You could make more from the viewing than the years rent. It has to be a wind up

Samuel T. Cogley

Over in the AH thread someone confirmed (as far as boards confirmations go) that someone in D4 was charging each person €100 to view.

Joe Daly

rawn wrote: »

Well, which one did you do?

Work that out.

d.pop

Similar (ish) common practice in Australia, rental agency takes 1 weeks rent from anybody that has viewed the apartment and wants to be put on waitlist. If they offer you the apartment and you turn it down you lose the ‘deposit’. If they offer it to somebody else you get your deposit back.
They say it is to weed out people that aren’t 100% gone on an apartment and are still looking elsewhere at same time, they do a lot of credit and reference checks so they don’t want to be wasting time.

Toastytoes

ross2010 wrote: »

Sure, Sion Hill and Rockford Manor for example both require a €100 non refundable application fee. I'm sure I could search a lot more schools in diff areas and find out what their fees are as many do charge an application fee but no point going off topic, i just mentioned it to put things in perspective. If you are interested you could search the schools in your relevant area. I completely agree no landlord or agency should be charging the fee.

I believe this practice has been banned very recently or is to be banned soon.