Landlord Troubles

LegacyUser

hey not sure were this should go but since its affecting one of my friends and thats having a knockon affect on me id consider it a personal issue,

I live near a college and have a friend who was renting in a house. There was 4 people in the house and it cost them €260 per month, basically the landlord called my mate after they had all moved out (landlord was selling the house so gave em months notice then kicked em out but that wasnt a problem) looking for money towards unpaid bills and the landlord hadnt got the contact details of the other housemates so was looking for my mate to pay the lot, my mate doesnt know the other 3 at all n didnt keep in touch with them so would never get the money of them if he was to pay it all.

The landlords kicking up alot of fuss about this money but we think hes dodge out in that

He never asked my mate for his pps number, (<- I thought this had to be taken to register?)
There was never any lease he never got my mate to sign anything
No Bills ever arrived to the house
He never rang up eircom or gas company to have bills put in householders names

I'm trying to find out
Q1) does the landlord have to be registered anywhere?
Q2) How do I find out if he is registered?

I reckon at best hes underdeclaring the amount he takes in, most likely not declaring it at all,

skywalker

Ive absolutely no idea about laws regarding renting so take what Im about to say with a pinch of salt. But it seems fairly open & shut, its not his fault the landlord cant get in touch with the others, why would it be his responsibility to pay for them?

BoozyBabe

The Tenancy between your friend (& rest) & landlord has to be registered with the PRTB.
Check out the website. The address should be listed. If it's not, he didn't register it.
(Costs €70 each time he registers a new rental contract)

He also has to claim the rental income, but there's no way for you to find this out.

If your friend didn't sign a contract, then the landlord hasn't a leg to stand on.
If he didn't get the bills made out in your friends name, then he's even less legs to stand on, as there's absolutely no proof whatsoever that your friend even stayed in the place.

I'm a landlord btw!!! (or should that be lady) The landlord was an idiot to allow that to arise.

If their relationship was good prior to this, then the charitable thing on your friends behalf would be to divide the sum being asked for by 4 (if that's the total number of people that were living in the house), & pay the landlord that amount.
Tell him that's all your friend is accountable for.

If he doesn't want to pay anything, legally he doesn't have to.

Andy-Pandy

If there was never a lease, what proof is there he lived there. Also, having no lease signed would seem to indicate that the landlord was'nt paying tax against a rental income. If the landlord is that much of a pain in the ass, change the phone number.

Andrew

Agent J

Andy-Pandy wrote:

If there was never a lease, what proof is there he lived there. Also, having no lease signed would seem to indicate that the landlord was'nt paying tax against a rental income. If the landlord is that much of a pain in the ass, change the phone number.

Andrew

Screw that.

An unregistered Tenacy can be fined something like 5k. Just say that if he wants the bills he can put a case to the PTRB and that you'll abide whatever they say. Thats the way things are supposed to go now instead of small claims court.

Just as a side note,

He can't take a case to them if he isnt registered. If hes not registered then hes in break of the 2004 Tenacy Act and he can be fined a lot more than the bills are.

If he wont stop calling etc then the word harrassment arises.

BC

You say the landlord has no contact details for the other tenants. Who found the other tenants and who paid the rent - ie did everyone pay separately to the landlord or was your friend a head tenant and paid the rent on behalf of everyone?

Assuming everyone paid separately to the landlord, in my opinion Whether or not the landlord is registered is irrelevent really. Assuming your friend agreed that bills would be paid by the tenants not the landlord when they first moved in then your friend should be paying his/her share of the bill and not trying to skive out of paying.

I would ask the landlord to send on a copy of the bills in question and then your friend should send on his share of the cost. It is the landlords responsibility to chase the other tenants.

Canis Lupus

Yup, if you're 'mate' owes money then he should pay his fair share.

dudara

BC wrote:

Assuming your friend agreed that bills would be paid by the tenants not the landlord when they first moved in then your friend should be paying his/her share of the bill...

I would ask the landlord to send on a copy of the bills in question and then your friend should send on his share of the cost. It is the landlords responsibility to chase the other tenants.

This is the best advice. Your friend should pay his share, and no one else's.

If the landlord continues to pressure him, then you can start to mention PRTB, Revenue, etc.

BTW - this isn't really a PI, I'm moving it to Accomodation & Property

Victor

dudara wrote:

BTW - this isn't really a PI, I'm moving it to Accomodation & Property

Unreg2421 if you want to stay anonymous, post on PI and I'll merge it here.

the_syco

A couple of things.

First, OP, don't give a cent to the landlord untill he shows you legit bills. If he has none, he's probably just looking for some extra cash, as there'll be no-one in over the summer.
How was the place like when you left it? Think it would do with a new carpet? How about a lick of paint? By legit bills, I mean ESB bills, etc, otherwise he could mean the bills from the painter.

Secondly, if the house was let by room (as opposed to being let to a group of people), bills are usually included in the rent. If this is the case, you can say that this is what you assumed it to be.

Thirdly, I find it strange that the landlord was in a hurry to kick ye all out, but waited untill you were all out, before gettin the bills sorted? Most landlords would get contact numbers, if they knew that the bills would come in a month later...