Tenants rights, land kept possessions

expatoz · 25-10-2021 4:17pm #1

Hi

i was renting a flat and there was a fire in which I was burnt badly on the head and neck but it wasn’t big enough for the fire brigade to attend, I’ll get to the point I spent 3 months in hospital and when I was discharged I got in contact with my landlord to collect my belongings and a date was arranged to pick it up and the landlord put my stuff out in a storm Dennis after me pleading him not to, I had a van and put everything that was left in the rain in the van and stored it, when I finally got around to checking my stuff half of it was missing so I got a solicitor and her wrote his solicitor a letter which is being ignored, I was wondering if anyone knows what I can do about as my solicitor is slack and doesn’t seem to bothered about chasing him up

cheers

DubCount · 25-10-2021 7:44pm

This is a dreadful situation. Its a job for a solicitor to advise on. If your current solicitor is slack, maybe try a different solicitor. Having said that, most solicitors I have dealt with require regular prompting to get them to move anything along.

Tow · 25-10-2021 8:00pm

"A date was arranged to pick it up"

Did you pick up your stuff on the arranged day?

Is there more to the story? We had a Tennant who though sleeping with candles in their room was nice. They did over 200k of damage. and pissed off never to be seen again. Their stiff went into skips along with everything else in the house, including a lot of the other tennants belongings. Do you really want fire and smoke damaged belonging?

expatoz · 31-10-2021 11:06am

Yes I did pick i what was left out in a severe storm at the time, date arranged, the fire wasn’t severe it was me who was burnt. It was only later that I realised that landlord had kept/dumped the things that were of any value, 2 pc’s, over a thousand books, clothes, expensive rugs etc, I put the stuff at a friend’s house where I was safe and didn’t go through it until months later and then found all the stuff missing

Flinty997 · 31-10-2021 11:09am

I assume you stopped paying rent.

You go to the RTB.

rainbowtrout · 31-10-2021 11:42am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118097246#Comment_118097246

You didn't notice that two PCs and over a thousand books were missing???

Ray Palmer · 01-11-2021 9:22am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118097246#Comment_118097246

How do you think the landlord is going to know what was yours or missing and what do you think he can do if you didn't check for 2 months after he believed he gave you your stuff? Do you have receipts? sounds like you didn't pay attention and a lawyer is now going to take your money and you will not get anything other than that bill. Were there other tenants? You really should have checked the stuff on receiving them and it sounds unreasonable to come back 2 months later to claim missing items. I have sympathy for your situation but you seem to suggest the landlord may have taken them. I can tell you I don't want and tenants stuff and the hassle of selling second hand books and laptops is not really worth it when you are losing rent.

How did the fire start and who do you think is responsible?

Xterminator · 01-11-2021 9:35am

Hi Op

i imagine you would have grounds for a civil case. But your chances of winning very much depend on the circumstances (not all of which have been disclosed) and your evidence or lack there of.

as you already have a solicitor, you should consult him about chances of winning, and how much the cost would likely be. i don't think the risk vs reward would be very much in your favour.

you could explore RTB services for mediation and/or adjucation with no need for a solicitor, or small claims court, again with no solicitor needed.

expatoz · 01-11-2021 7:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118100569#Comment_118100569

I didn’t know what was being loaded onto the van as the man with the van did most of the lifting as I was hospitalized for 3 months after the fire, I don’t know whether the landlord dumped the stuff or kept the good stuff, which is missing, maybe a coincidence, there were also 3 sealed wheels bins with things in them which I just presumed the pc’s and books were in those, I didn’t know what the man with the van had loaded and the storm was so bad we were grabbing boxes and throwing them onto the van, landlord called the police and I wasn’t charged so there was no fault or intent just an unfortunate accident

Ray Palmer · 02-11-2021 9:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118103789#Comment_118103789

How do you know the man with the van didn't take the stuff? You still waited 2 more months before checking and was where you stored them safe? You are accusing your landlord of misdeeds that seem very difficult to prove and you hold responsibility for not checking.

Who created the situation where by you got burned? No criminal charges doesn't mean you are not at fault. You could have put candles in the wrong place and it would be considered your fault but not criminal and still be an accident. Why be cagey about the fire? Were you paying rent for the property for the 3 months? Is the landlords responsible in any way for the fire that they should be out the rent and the repairs that would be needed? It seems you want the landlord to be responsible for way more than he should be

YFlyer · 02-11-2021 6:14pm

Why wait months later?

3DataModem · 04-11-2021 1:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058214694/tenants-rights-land-kept-possessions

If I'm reading this right.

There's a fire. You go to hospital.
Three months pass.
You leave hospital and contact landlord.
Landlord agrees to leave your stuff out (!) on X date.
On or before the date, you ask landlord not to leave stuff out because of the expected storm.
Landlord ignores / refuses.
You collect stuff at appointed date during the storm. You put the stuff in a friends place.
Months pass.
You go to the friends place, and discover lots of valuable stuff missing.

I would say based on the above you have no case at all, unless you can prove the landlord disposed of your stuff (adverts?) or what you collected was less than what you owned (photos at the time of collection?). You had a chance to check for valuables, and that was when you were loading and unloading your van or the several months thereafter.

I'd say that you are right that the LL sold your valuables, but you've missed the chance to prove it.

Tenants rights, land kept possessions

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