Apartment not as advertised...

ibh

Hi,
I recently rented a ground floor apartment. The description on Daft included Burgler Alarm, but after we moved in we saw that it has been wired for an alarm but it hasn't been installed. We rented it from a letting agent and when i called to ask to have it sorted the guy told me it was a mistake / misprint and that it was not going to be fitted. I told him that i wanted it sorted or i would move out, he said if i did then i would lose my deposit.. Is he for real??
My argument was that the place wasn't as advertised therefore he was obliged to make it as advertised. I don't see why I wouldn't get my entire deposit back should i choose to leave.
I assume he isn't putting the alarm in because it was his cock-up therefore he can't get the landlord to pay for it.
I would really appreciate any advice on this because it really is a problem for us. We have spent a lot of money moving in, (days off work etc) and if we move out it'll cost us again, plus the hassle of looking for something..

Thanks,

lostexpectation

ibh wrote:

Hi,
I recently rented a ground floor apartment. The description on Daft included Burgler Alarm, but after we moved in we saw that it has been wired for an alarm but it hasn't been installed. We rented it from a letting agent and when i called to ask to have it sorted the guy told me it was a mistake / misprint and that it was not going to be fitted. I told him that i wanted it sorted or i would move out, he said if i did then i would lose my deposit.. Is he for real??
My argument was that the place wasn't as advertised therefore he was obliged to make it as advertised. I don't see why I wouldn't get my entire deposit back should i choose to leave.
I assume he isn't putting the alarm in because it was his cock-up therefore he can't get the landlord to pay for it.
I would really appreciate any advice on this because it really is a problem for us. We have spent a lot of money moving in, (days off work etc) and if we move out it'll cost us again, plus the hassle of looking for something..

Thanks,

I presume that was in the little italiscised list at the bottom of the ad rather then in the text itself, I don't hink it really matters what it says on the ad,but he I don't why he shouldn't go and get an alarm anyway.

Ste.phen

So it's in the 'i clicked all the appropriate checkboxes' part of the ad, instead of the 'i copied this from what the landlord emailed me' part of the ad?
That shouldn't make a difference, as far as I see it. The ad said there'd be an alarm, there should be an alarm.

ibh

Thanks Igy, that's what I thought. I have had a few shouting matches with the letting agent already about this, so i think i will prepare myself for another round today. I think it probably was a mistake but it actually was one of the features that convinced us to go for it. I don't think we would have taken a Ground Floor without it.. The letting agency are so lazy, they have a similar apartment advertised on Daft and have just used the pics of our apartment.. Description hasn't got an alarm on it though!

Agent J

Question.

Do you still have an copy of the ad saved somewhere?

How much do you want to push it?


You could raise a case with the PTRB with it...

ibh

I can get a copy of the advertisement if I want. So far the letting agent has admitted that it was their mistake, but he still doesn't feel obliged to sort it out. I don't really want to move out and i'm not paying for the alarm, so I am really considering taking this up with the PTRB.

robd

ibh wrote:

I can get a copy of the advertisement if I want. So far the letting agent has admitted that it was their mistake, but he still doesn't feel obliged to sort it out. I don't really want to move out and i'm not paying for the alarm, so I am really considering taking this up with the PTRB.

OK. Basically, what you need to do (this is what the PRTB will tell you also). Send a letter to the agent detailing your complaint. It has to be a letter and should ideally be registered. CC the landlord also if his address is on your lease. Get a copy of the ad which shows the Alarm part. You need this or else you have not a leg to stand on. If it's not resolved in 30 days send a letter giving 28 days notice to quit the premises as requested fixes have not been done. Move out and give keys back etc. The are not entitled to hold your deposit as you have given details of problems and they have not resolved them (this is as per Tenancy Act). If they withhold part or all of you deposit then arrange for arbitration with PRTB. Be prepared to take financial hit of not getting your deposit back for up to 6 months (and of course you lose all your personal moving in and out costs).

Screaming matches with Agent. This is personally familiar to me. Waste of time as it just gets you more annoyed. I was amazed at how unprofessional and uninformed my agent was. The letter thing (and CCing landlord) sorted her out quick smart. She was hiding away by saying the landlord this, the landlord that, when it was all her.

antoinolachtnai

You are on soft legal ground here. There is no requirement for an apartment to be as advertised, at least as far as I know, though I am open to correction. You cannot require a landlord to make improvements that he hasn't agreed to in writing, and which aren't required to make the apartment habitable.

Obviously, you should seek professional legal advice if this is important to you.

dellas1979

Why dont you check with the threshold (http://www.threshold.ie). They are a free service for renters and landlords/letting agencys and will give you advice.

Incidentally, if you moved out in the morning, the landlord/letting agent cannot hold on to your deposit.

They can only hold onto the deposit if there is something wrong with the property.

Again, threshold will inform you of this.

antoinolachtnai

The landlord can certainly retain his deposit if he signed a lease with a defined time period and he is in the first 6 months of it.

Victor

Also www.asai.ie

ibh

Had no luck in getting hold of my letting agent yesterday so no progress as of yet.. I do want to have the problem sorted, but I would prefer not to have to move all my stuff again, plus I don't really have anywhere to go in the mean time so I can't really do anything too rash.
I think the problem lies in that the landlord probably had nothing to do with the advertisement as I think it would have been done by the letting agent. Therefore he is probably saying that he never mentioned it so he isn't doing it.. Meanwhile trying to get a letting agent to sort it himself will be like trying to get blood from a stone..
One bonus at the min is that the letting agent never even bothered to sort out my Direct debit details and rent is due next week, so hopefully that will give me some bargaining power. If not, then i'm pretty f***ed because I really don't want the hassle of calling in solicitor..

Thanks for the advice / comments...

antoinolachtnai

I would not advise you to 'bargain' with the rent. If you don't pay the rent, they will serve notice on you right away, and if the case ends up before PRTB or some other court, you will be in a weak position. Still, up to you how you want to play it.

jubi lee

erm stupid question but did you not go and look at the apartment before you rented it? I.e. after seeing the add and before signing contracts?

if so you should have checked the alarm... you signed the contract... i wouldn't think you have any come back regardless of what the ad said.

ibh

antoinolachtnai: I didn't mean to suggest that I was going to boycott paying the ol Duke of Kent.
I have a really hard time trying to get a hold of the letting agent on the phone, and I work 50miles away so I can't call in. The bargaining that I was refering to was that he will have to contact me now and stop avoiding my calls. (has yet to call me back after any message I left) I am still waiting for some other snags to be sorted, such as a faulty washing machine and freezer.

Jubi lee: To be honest it was 'her indoors' that did most of the house hunting and although I did view the apartment, it was late one night and only for a couple of mins and I didn't notice the alarm, or lack therof.. We did bring it up with the agent within 2 days of moving in.

The less impressive this letting agent proves to be, the more I question if it was a mistake in the first place or just a 'hook'. List a load of features and hope that you don't get pulled up on it...