First time renter - major problems

jahalpin

I have recently rented a room in a shared house in north county Dublin. This is my first time renting since I left university in England. I currently have a few problems.

1. The house is extremely dirty and unhygenic, there's mould in the bathroom and I had to replace the bathmath as it had serious mould on it. There is also a fairly rotten smell throughout the house.

2. The housemates aren't very friendly

3. The bed is broken as it has obviously been dragged around and has seriously damaged the supports which means that they collapse when any weight is put on the side of the bed.

Even though I have only stayed for a few days I realise that I have made a huge mistake and wish to move. I did not sign any lease or other agreement when I moved in and the person I was dealing with also wanted the first months rent and deposit in cash and was upset when I gave them a cheque instead.

I was just wondering where I stand from a legal point of view with minimum notice etc.

PS: I know I should have noticed this when I went to view the room, but I had had a very rough day at work and thought that the smell etc was only temporary.

talkingclock

Move out asap. This is really disgusting! Normally you have 4 weeks notice time. Can you cancel the cheque? Then do it and move immediately.

johnnyskeleton

Talk to the landlord before you do anything else. At the very least tell him or her that you have genuine concerns about the quality of the room.

talkingclock wrote:

Can you cancel the cheque? Then do it and move immediately.

I would ask you to ignore this poster's advice - remember that while you feel you may have made a bad deal, you nevertheless have made a deal with the landlord and have lived there for a few days. Even if you feel you don't owe the landlord the entire amount of the money, you do owe them something, and cancelling the cheque and moving out immediately could have VERY SERIOUS LEGAL CONSEQUENCES.

If you are going to cancel the cheque, I would urge you to get legal advice from a solicitor first. You should also notify the landlord prior to cancelling the cheque, and explain the circumstances.

jahalpin

Thanks for the replies. I had no intention of cancelling the cheque. I paid the deposit of one months rent and one months rent in advance, so I have already paid this months rent.

If I were to move out before the end of the month would I have to pay for the next month?

I had no contact with the landlord and have only dealt with one of the other tenants, I don't even know who the landlord is, which in itself is a bit weird.

When I have rented in the past, in England, I have signed either a licence to occupy (University Halls of Residence) or a lease (private house). I would appreciate if somebody could tell me if there is any kind of leaglly enforcable contract between me and the landlord which would require me to give any notice period after living there for only 1 week.

johnnyskeleton

If you only dealt with another tenant, then this could mean that:
(a) they have sublet it to you,
(b)they have assigned the last tenant's interest to you on behalf of the landlord,
(c) they have sub-licened it to you,
(d) they have licened it to you, or
(e) they have illegally offered the room to you without the authority of the landlord. (it could mean other things, so don't take this as legal advice or authoritive).

If they did (a) or (b) it depends on the terms of the lease, but if you haven't had sight of the lease then it depends on any representations made to you by the landlord or the tenant (if the tenant was acting on the landlord's behalf).

If it is (c) or (d) then (and here I really stress that this is not legal advice and contact a solicitor if you are not sure) I think you only owe that portion of rent for which you have had beneficial use of the room (so if it is weekly rent, a week, if monthly, probably the whole first month, but you might agree to reduce this).

In all (a) to (d) above, there is a legal contract and it depends on the terms agreed between you and the landlord/other tenant. I seriously doubt you would have to pay next month's rent. However, the landlord may try to keep your deposit. Contact them and find out what the story is. There is a body called the Private Residential Tenancies Board who resolve disputes between landlords and tenants if he does try to keep it.

As for (e) if the tenant had no right to offer the room to you (either if their lease excluded his right to sub-let or if the landlord did not ask him to find another tenant) then I don't think you owe him or the landlord anything other than the value of 4-5 days (whatever you spent there) rent.

Hope this helps.

BTW, there are penalties for a landlord who does not register for the PRTB, so it is highly likely your landlord is registered for it.

antoinolachtnai

Just my opinion, but it doesn't look like the OP here has any relationship with the landlord as it is, so the PRTB won't intervene. Anyway, it's not the landlord's fault that your housemates don't clean and aren't friendly. It may not be his fault that the bed is broken either (though it may be).

I would still agree that it would be wise to contact PRTB.

Worst case is: gives 28 days written notice immediately; asks for deposit back at end of the month; if he doesn't get the deposit back at the end of the month, he moves out anyway and goes after whoever he paid the deposit to through either PRTB. If the PRTB refuses to accept the case for some reason, he gets a letter stating this from PRTB and then goes to the Small Claims Court.

You might have to pay for a few days of next month. I would suggest that you vacate by the end of this month and let them take the extra 5 days out of the deposit.

In your notice letter, you should be sure to mention that the bed was broken and anything else that is amiss in your room, and ask for it to be repaired immediately. It is unlikely that it will be repaired, but you'll have something in paper just in case they try to lay the blame for that on you when it comes to deposit-getting-back time.

OP, don't let this stuff get you down or get upset with it; you made a bad deal and you might lose a month's rent - so what? Just get on with finding a better place.

I am not a lawyer and none of this is legal advice. It's good to get legal advice, but in a case like this, is it really worth the hassle? Just try to recover as much money as you can and try not to escalate things before you can move out.