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Rental property, new tenants, issue with landlord

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  • 16-09-2014 11:40am
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭


    I will try and be brief with this, but i have put a tl:dr at the bottom :)

    we are a "young professional couple" as a landlord would refer to us. both just out of college, but both working, paying rent in cash (€500 per month), no rent allowance etc.

    viewed a suitable property three weeks ago, it was a little rough around the edges but it ticked all the right boxes (location, facilities, parking, etc).

    the house itself is from the 1930's or 40's sort of area but with a modern extension and most of it was in need of a spruce up, (typical unloved rental property, needed a deep clean, a lick of paint and some new furniture) but seeing as it would be our "home" for some time to come we didn't mind offering a bit of TLC towards it. we agreed with the landlord that it would be ok to paint the walls, change some minor items and add some of our own furniture. this suited us all perfect and one week after viewing it we took the keys and moved in, having paid our deposit and one months rent up front.

    we immediately got to work, we painted the living room, kitchen, extension, stairway and landing. upon beginning this task we found a lot of covered up/ painted over damp, mainly around the window opes and rising walls which explains why the last paint job was so patch as it had been scrubbed and scrubbed to remove the damp spots. during the painting we also discovered that some of the ground floor skirting boards were so soft you could poke your are finger through them, i removed these as we "still" didn't mind replacing them, as we'd like the place nice for ourselves to live in. we made our landlord aware immediately of our findings, who said "their previous tenants never complained of those issues, but if we wanted to keep receipts, they would happily reimburse us for the skirting board etc".

    so keeping in mind we are still in day one of tenancy here, the skirting boards are off in some places and we are starting to see a lot of woodlice/ bugs about the house. the first few we just squished and put in the bin, but we then realised that this might be more than a co-incidence as there were so many. over the course of the evening, i caught maybe 15-20 in a bottle. called the landlord first thing the following morning as it was late and again made them aware. the same claim was made "their previous tenants never complained of those issues, but if we wanted to go to a DIY store and buy some repellent and keep receipts , she would reimburse us".

    its now the evening of the second day, around 9pm and we are going to put our painting tools outside for the night. open the back door (back garden is tiny, only around 1000 x 3000mm due to the extension, surrounded by block wall at every side) and there are woodlice everywhere. hundreds, up the walls, all over the floor etc etc. i took some photos and put down two full bottles of powder and went to bed. got up next morning and swept up hundreds of dead woodlice and re-applied fresh powder.

    for that whole week i continued re-applying fresh powder in the evening times and clearing up the dead ones in the mornings. the problem doesn't even appear to be losing much momentum, there is still a lot of them, finding them in the porch, living room, kitchen etc. skip forward to yesterday (11th day of tenancy, 7th day of bug treatment) we found some upstairs in the bedroom! rang the landlord again!! who never so much as offered us a follow up phone call previously to see how we were getting on, explained the problem again and that at this point we were a bit stressed over it! they said she would try to organise a builder to come have a look.

    now you and i know, this house clearly has some structural issues that cant be "repaired" in an afternoon with a general purpose builder.

    the walls are all lovely and painted fresh, skirting replaced, i fixed a few cabinets and some other bits and bobs like light fittings, fitted smoke alarms and some other jobs, so the house although crawling is in a much better state than when we received it. the landlord isn't playing ball, or even concerned. am i within my rights to ask for my deposit back so i can leave, or what process do i have to follow? i know its and old house and the rent isn't much, but at the end of the day i am paying for a service and the house has to be fit for purpose.

    tl;dr, living in a rented property less than 2 weeks, house has major damp problems and infested with bugs. can i/ or how do i go about getting my deposit back and getting the f*** out.


Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 879 ✭✭✭TheBandicoot


    Just reassign the lease and get out, should be no reason to lose the deposit if you do that by the book.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,592 ✭✭✭drumswan


    How come its only 500 per month? It must be a little more than 'rough around the edges' for that price?


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,472 ✭✭✭Grolschevik


    drumswan wrote: »
    How come its only 500 per month? It must be a little more than 'rough around the edges' for that price?

    Could be somewhere like Waterford.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    Just reassign the lease and get out, should be no reason to lose the deposit if you do that by the book.

    could you talk a complete novice though that. i've read the rental agreement etc and it does state the house has to be kept in habitable condition (on the landlords part).
    drumswan wrote: »
    How come its only 500 per month? It must be a little more than 'rough around the edges' for that price?

    well its a 75 year old 1 bedroom terraced house. no front or back garden. we were really looking at 1 bedroom apartments in that budget, but the estate agent suggest we take a look at it as it met our needs. the two adjoining terraced houses to the left converted into business offices and the house to the right is unoccupied.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    Could be somewhere like Waterford.

    yes, it is Waterford city :)


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 879 ✭✭✭TheBandicoot


    I am not 100% sure how you actually do reassign the lease, but my understanding:
    • send a registered letter to the landlord saying that you would like to reassign the lease. You say that you will advertise the property, handle viewings, pay any costs involved and present a potential tenant to the landlord
    • You ask the landlord to reply whether or not they agree.
    • If they agree, you do as above. You arrange to have the new tenant move in, get the deposit back from the landlord and have the new tenant pay the deposit and take up the lease(I guess they just sign a new agreement)
    • If the landlord does not agree to the reassignment, you invoke S186 of the RTA2004 which allows you to terminate the tenancy, and get back the deposit.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    I am not 100% sure how you actually do reassign the lease, but my understanding:
    • send a registered letter to the landlord saying that you would like to reassign the lease. You say that you will advertise the property, handle viewings, pay any costs involved and present a potential tenant to the landlord
    • You ask the landlord to reply whether or not they agree.
    • If they agree, you do as above. You arrange to have the new tenant move in, get the deposit back from the landlord and have the new tenant pay the deposit and take up the lease(I guess they just sign a new agreement)
    • If the landlord does not agree to the reassignment, you invoke S186 of the RTA2004 which allows you to terminate the tenancy, and get back the deposit.

    cool, thank you very much for that! are you doing stage one of that process in the hope that the landlord rejects your proposal so you can pull out with your deposit intact?

    maybe i am wrong here and please inform me if i am, but should i have to go through that "hassle" (eg, having to find new tenants etc) to get out when the house is substandard through no fault of my own. i mean it's not like buying, where you should have an inspection carried out prior to purchasing, with renting there is a relative understanding that the property on offer must be "comfortable/ habitable".


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,093 ✭✭✭rawn


    cool, thank you very much for that! are you doing stage one of that process in the hope that the landlord rejects your proposal so you can pull out with your deposit intact?

    maybe i am wrong here and please inform me if i am, but should i have to go through that "hassle" (eg, having to find new tenants etc) to get out when the house is substandard through no fault of my own. i mean it's not like buying, where you should have an inspection carried out prior to purchasing, with renting there is a relative understanding that the property on offer must be "comfortable/ habitable".

    I would reckon, if you don't think the LL will be reasonable about repairs/refunding your deposit, that you should contact the PRTB and/or the local council to advise them that the house is below minimum standards for rental.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    rawn wrote: »
    I would reckon, if you don't think the LL will be reasonable about repairs/refunding your deposit, that you should contact the PRTB and/or the local council to advise them that the house is below minimum standards for rental.

    see its quite hard to get rentals in the area at the moment (probably a bad time of year with the students etc). so i believe the landlord doesn't care because they know some other mug will probably be glad to take it woodlice and all.

    i was considering calling the PRTB, but wasn't sure if i had to exhaust all options with my landlord first.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,093 ✭✭✭rawn


    see its quite hard to get rentals in the area at the moment (probably a bad time of year with the students etc). so i believe the landlord doesn't care because they know some other mug will probably be glad to take it woodlice and all.

    i was considering calling the PRTB, but wasn't sure if i had to exhaust all options with my landlord first.

    I would definitely try to come to an agreement with the LL first. He needs to do something about the woodlice ASAP either way though, not only are they unsanitary and icky, but they will do serious damage if left to multiply!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 63 ✭✭ForEffsSake


    There must be serious structural problems with the house. Woodlice only survive in very damp conditions and they feed on rotting wood. They wouldn't stay or be able to multiply in a dry well-ventilated house.
    I think you've just exposed a problem that was just patched over for years. She needs to do some serious work on her house....and you'd only be throwing good money after bad if you carried on with repairs.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    the builder was around today, seemed like a very sensible man. he took a good look around and was genuinely shocked at the quantity of the woodlice.

    he said there really wasn't much structurally wrong and they were most likely entering through the air bricks and the likes, which seems reasonable i suppose.

    he said he would get back to our landlord and make clear that it wasn't a structural issue but more likely something that a pest control company would have to deal with as there was so many - most likely living in the rubble and lime mortar wall which is the boundary wall at the rear.

    so we will wait and see what happens next.

    he made reference that the damp skirtings were most likely rising damp etc, (and that the skirting were the houses original), which i appreciate is not something that can be solved lightly and that we will most likely have to endure. i know that this problem lends itself nicely towards the lice, so hopefully when the lice are gone, if we use some mould killer and do a new skim of plaster and wipe clean paint, it'l be bearable :).


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 879 ✭✭✭TheBandicoot


    I think you're being fobbed off.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    I think you're being fobbed off.

    to a certain degree i do agree.

    by trade i am an architectural technician although i have never actually worked in that field so i would have a reasonable idea what i'm looking at.

    i appreciate that we have chosen a house almost a century old and if poor or outdated construction methods have been used in the building, then it's something that is pretty much unchangeable bar knocking the building and starting again. choosing a house this old also means one must assume it will be difficult to keep the heat in/ not be sealed to modern standards in terms of air tightness etc. we were aware of this when viewing/ signing but we were happy to do so as the building seemed in a reasonable state of repair.

    these air tightness flaws i presume are where they are entering, vents/ air bricks/ poorly sealed entry points for services (mains gas retrofit etc).

    the discovery of some damp, although disappointing is as i say - relatively unchangeable. now, if the house were in (considerable) structural disrepair or a health risk that would be a different story, but one damp wall in such an old house, we'l have to chalk it up to experience. the best we can hope for is to tidy it up with a repair that will hold up for a few years until our time with the property has passed and (i know this is bad form) after that, i really don't care.

    we will see what the landlords next move is. if a professional can lay a poison or whatever to kill them all and prevent return, that would satisfy us. if the landlord won't be offering that as a solution i will continue to push.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,373 ✭✭✭✭foggy_lad


    the builder was around today, seemed like a very sensible man. he took a good look around and was genuinely shocked at the quantity of the woodlice.
    The builder will say whatever the Landlord tells him to say as the Landlord is paying him.
    he said there really wasn't much structurally wrong and they were most likely entering through the air bricks and the likes, which seems reasonable i suppose.
    He doesn't hava a clue or is just telling you lies! The woodlice are living in and under the floorboards and every other bit of wood in the house that has been affected by the long term dampness.
    he said he would get back to our landlord and make clear that it wasn't a structural issue but more likely something that a pest control company would have to deal with as there was so many - most likely living in the rubble and lime mortar wall which is the boundary wall at the rear.
    IMHO it is a major structural issue as the timbers all over the house including in the roof will be affected by this.
    so we will wait and see what happens next.

    he made reference that the damp skirtings were most likely rising damp etc, (and that the skirting were the houses original), which i appreciate is not something that can be solved lightly and that we will most likely have to endure. i know that this problem lends itself nicely towards the lice, so hopefully when the lice are gone, if we use some mould killer and do a new skim of plaster and wipe clean paint, it'l be bearable :).
    Take good pphotos of all the areas of damp and also the woodlice. Get into the attic with a good light and check for woodlice and a damp smell. look around and see if floorboards are loose anywhere and have a look under them for more woodlice.

    Build a case and get yourselves out before the place costs ye even more or falls to bits around ye. To start you need the landlord to start remedial works immediately/within a few days.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    The builder will say whatever the Landlord tells him to say as the Landlord is paying him.

    that's a fair statement to make, although maybe a little cynical.
    He doesn't hava a clue or is just telling you lies! The woodlice are living in and under the floorboards and every other bit of wood in the house that has been affected by the long term dampness.

    the house seems overall to be dry with the exception of one wall at the rear of the house which is where we are experiencing trouble. even that wall is currently dry, but i suppose that is thanks to a warm, rain free September.
    IMHO it is a major structural issue as the timbers all over the house including in the roof will be affected by this.

    i was wary of that, so i have lifted the carpet and a board or two at first floor level and it appears dry/ sound. the timbers looked in good condition. i have also had a quick peep into the attic (just standing on a chair with a torch) and it also looks "ok", its been insulated at some point and the timbers look ok from a distance (no signs of damp/ mould/ rot)
    Take good pphotos of all the areas of damp and also the woodlice. Get into the attic with a good light and check for woodlice and a damp smell. look around and see if floorboards are loose anywhere and have a look under them for more woodlice.

    i have photographed absolutely everything. i have also got a (disgusting) brown paper bag with all the swept up and captured woodlice in it. as i said, the first floor level floorboards look good, the house has a concrete/ stone floor at ground level.
    Build a case and get yourselves out before the place costs ye even more or falls to bits around ye. To start you need the landlord to start remedial works immediately/within a few days.

    Ideally i would like to do this, but the Irish mentality of "ah what are ye complaining about a few bugs for, the damp never killed me" seems to be preventing anyone from taking us seriously so it appears our best choice is to make do, unless we want to go to a solicitor etc to get out and at this point it doesn't seem worthwhile as the rest of the house is "so far, so good". i am curious to see where the landlord will take us from here.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    ok, two weeks on. nothing. numerous calls to the landlord got "the builder" around. solutions were offered that day, i was open to starting to work towards a resolution to stick with this property, but a fortnight of utter silence has passed.

    the place is ****ing riddled with them. finding them in the kitchen, living room, stairs, bedroom etc. came in last night to find a handful of huge ones in the kitchen maye 15-20mm in size.

    the landlord was around the day after the builder to see had any post arrived for her, but she was "in a rush" and didn't have time to discuss the topic at hand. havn't heard from her since.

    havn't heard from the builder since.

    my next rent payment is due this day next week. i feel like cancelling the standing order until i get a resolution. i know if i do this i will be in the wrong though. i feel trapped. i feel like the landlord is ****ed up with me pestering them with this, in fact that has been made clear by them, but you can be sure they wouldn't live in these conditions themselves.

    - if i cancel the rent payment to get the landlords attention i will be in the wrong. (i am aware that i am still living here, using the service, therefore i clearly do owe rent and have no issue with that, i just want to do something to get someones attention).

    - if i break the contract and just leave, best case scenario i lose my deposit and 1 months rent (€1000) so i am not keen on doing this. worst case, court? who knows?

    - we are very unhappy living here, the place is crawling and despite copious amounts of lousing powder and sweeping up ****loads of these bastards daily, there appears to be no let up in them.

    - we are trapped. what should we do? i really feel like we have been reasonable with the landlord and we are being fobbed off and are not being taken seriously.

    obviously we are happy to continue living here if a resolution is met, but i don't feel like a viable solution is coming. i don't really want to engage in some kind of drawn out, painful battle with the landlord, but am i already in too deep?


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    found some in the first floor bathroom. rang the landlord AGAIN, fuming! said that i was unhappy with the lack of correspondence on the issue and that if no action was taken by them by friday that i wouldn't be paying rent on monday.

    i was given a laxidasical "i think i have a friend who does pest control and i'l ring them and see if they could take a look see" but you could tell it was insincere. they also said, almost offered us to leave, but we would lose our deposit - which, if i'm honest, is quite tempting bar the hassle of having to move house again having just got settled in this one.

    so the ultimatum is set. no correspondence by friday and i guess we are out.


  • Registered Users Posts: 18,872 ✭✭✭✭Del2005


    found some in the first floor bathroom. rang the landlord AGAIN, fuming! said that i was unhappy with the lack of correspondence on the issue and that if no action was taken by them by friday that i wouldn't be paying rent on monday.

    i was given a laxidasical "i think i have a friend who does pest control and i'l ring them and see if they could take a look see" but you could tell it was insincere. they also said, almost offered us to leave, but we would lose our deposit - which, if i'm honest, is quite tempting bar the hassle of having to move house again having just got settled in this one.

    so the ultimatum is set. no correspondence by friday and i guess we are out.

    Do local council health inspectors have any power over rental properties? Give them a call about the infestation and they may be able to compel the LL to remedy the situation, that much wood lice has to be a H&S issue.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,373 ✭✭✭✭foggy_lad


    Lodge a complaint with the prtb and contact the local health services offices to enquire about the effects of these bugs on your health.

    You could stop paying rent until this is resolved but you would have to save that money safely to be paid when the landlady does their job.

    Sounds to me like they know about this issue and that it will require more to remedy than spraying or powders.

    Sounds like the whole place is infested and I would be concerned about the integrity of the floors as well as the roof and all structural timber.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,093 ✭✭✭rawn


    Since the landlady is dragging her feet so much, could you call in someone from pest control and take the money from the rent? Just keep the receipt for her.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    foggy_lad wrote: »
    Lodge a complaint with the prtb and contact the local health services offices to enquire about the effects of these bugs on your health.

    You could stop paying rent until this is resolved but you would have to save that money safely to be paid when the landlady does their job.

    Sounds to me like they know about this issue and that it will require more to remedy than spraying or powders.

    Sounds like the whole place is infested and I would be concerned about the integrity of the floors as well as the roof and all structural timber.

    i was in touch with threshold and the PRTB yesterday to get the ball rolling, i guess it all hinges on whether something happens on the landlords part this week.

    I think you are correct that it's now a cover up. purely because the landlord so often says "the previous tenants never complained", it makes me thing she is lying.
    rawn wrote: »
    Since the landlady is dragging her feet so much, could you call in someone from pest control and take the money from the rent? Just keep the receipt for her.

    i don't think this is viable unless the landlord agrees to us contracting someone. so far they have been hesitant to suggest we go to woodies to buy lousing powder, which there has been no mention of reimbursement for, never mind getting in touch with rentokil.

    it's all a shame as the house is otherwise ideal for our needs.

    thanks for everyone's advice this far in. would love to post a few photos but not sure if i should until the matter is resolved.


  • Registered Users Posts: 531 ✭✭✭biketard


    Any chance you could track down the previous tenants, OP?


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,088 ✭✭✭✭jmayo


    we are a "young professional couple" as a landlord would refer to us. both just out of college, but both working, paying rent in cash (€500 per month), no rent allowance etc.

    viewed a suitable property three weeks ago, it was a little rough around the edges but it ticked all the right boxes (location, facilities, parking, etc).

    the house itself is from the 1930's or 40's sort of area but with a modern extension and most of it was in need of a spruce up, (typical unloved rental property, needed a deep clean, a lick of paint and some new furniture) but seeing as it would be our "home" for some time to come we didn't mind offering a bit of TLC towards it. we agreed with the landlord that it would be ok to paint the walls, change some minor items and add some of our own furniture. this suited us all perfect and one week after viewing it we took the keys and moved in, having paid our deposit and one months rent up front.

    we immediately got to work, we painted the living room, kitchen, extension, stairway and landing. upon beginning this task we found a lot of covered up/ painted over damp, mainly around the window opes and rising walls which explains why the last paint job was so patch as it had been scrubbed and scrubbed to remove the damp spots. during the painting we also discovered that some of the ground floor skirting boards were so soft you could poke your are finger through them, i removed these as we "still" didn't mind replacing them, as we'd like the place nice for ourselves to live in. we made our landlord aware immediately of our findings, who said "their previous tenants never complained of those issues, but if we wanted to keep receipts, they would happily reimburse us for the skirting board etc".

    Ok how long a lease did you get ?
    If it was only a one year lease then sorry, but I think you were idiots.
    It is one thing to give the odd wall or odd room a lick of paint, but you are basically renovating someone elses property for them.
    You painted a big chunk of the house (living room, kitchen, extension, stairway and landing) and then you proceeded to replace skirting boards.
    Yes they may well pay for materials, but are they paying you for the labour and basically the inconvenience of living in almost a building site.

    What do expect at the end of the lease ?
    I would guess you either get a rent hike because the place now is much more attractive or you get the door.

    Sorry for being brutal, but in future I would really advise you don't rent places on the basis you reckon you can tidy (paint, clean, etc) them up.
    That is fine if you either buying the bloody property or if you were getting long term leases ala other countries, but you are not getting either.
    Also older properties often have underlying hidden problems as you have just found out to your cost.

    And yes the landlord needs to do get something done about the infestation, because that is now what it is.
    Tell him you will call some exterminators and send him/her the bill.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    @jmayo,

    we made the stupid mistake of thinking we could have a good relationship with the landlord and were trying to show that we would be good, reasonable tenants (not the sort who will be calling them when a lightbulb blows) and that we wouldn't be a pain in the proverbial. little did we know the landlord as the dishonest one :rolleyes: you have made some very valid points.

    anyway, there was aggravation today again, so we are leaving, it's final. my only query now is that, seeing as we are technically "breaking the contract", albeit through no fault of our own, how does this shine upon us with our next potential landlord? it's a small area and if our potential new landord speaks to our current one, they will tell them we are a bunch of complainers and not to rent to us i'd imagine.

    how do we go forward from this situation? we have a number of new viewings for later in the week and hope to be out by friday.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,088 ✭✭✭✭jmayo


    @jmayo,

    we made the stupid mistake of thinking we could have a good relationship with the landlord and were trying to show that we would be good, reasonable tenants (not the sort who will be calling them when a lightbulb blows) and that we wouldn't be a pain in the proverbial. little did we know the landlord as the dishonest one :rolleyes: you have made some very valid points.
    Listen my point isn't that you might have bad relationship with landlord and thus risky putting work in.
    Of course that is one consideration, but the much bigger point is that you don't want to put too much work into a place when you may only be staying one year.
    I assume you were on a typical one year lease.
    If you had security of tenure for say 5 or 10 years then some of the work could be justified.
    Solving structural issues and even replacing flooring or skirting would be a big no no in my book.

    The other mistake you made was you started doing work on an old rental property.
    Old properties are bad enough, but once you have one that has belonged for years to some old dear who never modernised or was a long time rental then there is a good chance loads of issues may have mounted up over the years.

    I don't want to keep harping on about mistakes because trust me we all make mistakes and mis judgements, we later call it experience.
    anyway, there was aggravation today again, so we are leaving, it's final. my only query now is that, seeing as we are technically "breaking the contract", albeit through no fault of our own, how does this shine upon us with our next potential landlord? it's a small area and if our potential new landord speaks to our current one, they will tell them we are a bunch of complainers and not to rent to us i'd imagine.

    how do we go forward from this situation? we have a number of new viewings for later in the week and hope to be out by friday.

    I think if the landlord is not helping to clean up the infestation problems then you have no choice but either spend to help right it or move out.

    I don't know if it would be wise to tell new prospective landlords about how you tried to do up the last place up, how you discovered dampness and ended up with woodlice infestation.

    The prospective landlord may just see warning bells that you are some eejit mad into DIY and then just leave a mess for the landlord to clean up.
    Sorry I am playing devils advocate here.

    Sometimes being honest pays, sometimes it doesn't.
    It often depends on who you are being honest with.

    Anyway best of luck with the hunt.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    devils advocate is an important point of view, don't worry.

    at the end of the day, we took a shine to the property as it was absolutely ideal for us, it had clearly not seen any modernisation in a long time but we felt a lick of paint, some of our personal items around the place and a good clean and we could be happy. we didn't mind investing a little for our own comfort and to be honest (time aside) financially we probably havn't spent over €150 on the place.

    at the same time, renting is a service and certain requirements have to be met, we were reasonable in our expectations, requests and time frames and so far all we have been is dicked around. we are paying someone for use of this place and we won't be paying for use of something that isn't comfortably habitable and shows no signs of ever being so.

    we wouldn't mind paying up front for the work, but at this stage i would be hesitant to do so as i would be very doubtful i would get it back. we have been fair, honest and up front with the landlord and i can hold my head high in that regard. they on the other hand can't even return a phone call, but i assume that is always the case once the paperwork is signed. we just (foolishly) took for granted that if it was up for rental at a price that didn't suggest it would be a dive, that it would be in a reasonable state of repair.

    as an aside, the house is tiny, so painting most of it only took like a day when there was two of us at it, and we only used around 10 foot of skirting board, so no major love lost there, it was worth a punt for the sake of happiness. i just pity the next victims.


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