Do I stay or do I go?

Pompey Magnus

I have recently started sharing a house with 4 others, it has gotten off to a bad start. Soon after moving in I was talking to one housemate and I asked her how she liked the place, she said it’s ok but a few times she has had to call the gardai because one of the guys gets in violent arguments with his girlfriend when they have been drinking. She advised me not to get involved and leave them at it and to lock my door at night. As you can imagine I was delighted to hear this after paying the deposit.

Since then I discovered that the heating has not been paid in months and we have been cut off. Last night the bloke got in a row with his girlfriend at 4am and they were still at it when I was leaving for work at 8 this morning. I haven’t been there long but if this is a regular occurance then I won’t be able to put up with it (I’m rubbish without my sleep – I managed to get boiling water on my hand this morning in the canteen at work in my groggy state :rolleyes: )

Anyways, I have paid a deposit of 4 weeks rent but haven’t paid any actual rent yet. I didn’t sign a lease or contract but I had verbally agreed to stay for 3 months. I am thinking of cutting my losses and getting out but haven’t made a final decision. The landlord will be expecting this month’s rent soon.

Basically what I am wondering is firstly am I being too hasty in thinking of leaving so soon after arriving, and secondly if I do decide to go should I pay the landlord the month’s rent and give in my notice with the expectation of getting my deposit back, or do I tell him that I am leaving and he can use the 4 weeks deposit as my rent. Normally I would like to be straight with landlords but what with him not informing me that bills weren’t being paid and that I would be living with an aggressive chap I don’t really feel too sympathetic, plus as I have nothing on paper I am worried that I might not see my deposit again.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Supercell

Go, do not collect 200 € etc.

I once lived in a house share where a crazy biatch used to hold "dinner parties" for her friends and then pile the dishes outside the bedrooms afterwards for washing.

Its not worth the grief, you wont hold any lease here form the sounds of it..get the fup out of there asap .

I'm renting a long while now...heres what i've learned :-

1) Never ever deal with agents - they dont give a crap when things brake and only work office hours

2) Only ever deal with a land lord/lady - they are contactable 247 and in general are decent people if you treat them decently..see point 3

3) If the landlord is extremely protective of furnishings - make a list and make sure he signs on the current state of the furnishing and what he considers normal wear and tare (this will be the difference between getting your deposit back and not - be clear at the start)

4) Check out the cooker and fridge!! - make sure all rings work on the cooker and that the ice compartment on the fridge works - at some point you will want to cook for yourself - takeaways are a lot more expensive than cooking for yourself - if the cooker is broken its a reason to withhold deposit if you havent already agreed condition already.

stovelid

Go

BostonB

Run...

Zambia

Leave and leave quickly ....

patrickolee

I'm with the other posters... get the hell out of dodge. You'll probably lose your deposit, but if you haven't paid rent you won't have lost too much. Cut your loses and run.

Agent J

I can understand exactly what you are saying. You dont like to screw people over and like to deal straight.

What does your gut instinct tell you?

It probably says...


Get the hell out now.

Seriously though. Try and look at it objectively for a second.

1)Heating cut off.

Which means its going to have to be repaid to be turned back on. Odds are it will drag out with the landlord etc etc and probably wont happen for months.
Makes me wonder what else is going on with the other bills. How long before the power is cut off?

2)Arguements in the house.

Screw that. You have 1st hand experience of it yourself now. Do you want to have to put with it? Do you want to live in a place which you have to lock your door?


The way i see it is that the above can be fixed with a reasonable amount of effort but if i was a place i just moved into i wouldnt want to bother.

I would forget about the deposit and treat it as gone. However if you really want to push it. Has anything been said about the PTRB? Has the landlord asked you for your PPS number?

If not then just say you'll report them if they dont hand it back over. And tell them exactly why you are bailing out.

kmick

Tell the landlord about all the stuff that is happening. If he kicks out the rowing couple and pays the heating tell him you will stay. It is coming into winter after all. if he says no then hightail it.

To be frank I would just leave now - life is too short.

Dalfiatach

kmick wrote:

Tell the landlord about all the stuff that is happening. If he kicks out the rowing couple and pays the heating tell him you will stay. It is coming into winter after all. if he says no then hightail it.

To be frank I would just leave now - life is too short.

tbh I get the feeling from the OPs post that the landlord is a cowboy anyway and probably doesn't care. No lease, no signed contracts, nothing on paper? Meh. Unpaid bills and heating cut off for months? A long-term tenant who sounds like a psycho? Meh.

OP: run. Simple as that. The deposit is gone, there's nothing in writing, you'll probably never get it back anyway even if you do stay 3 months, so just leave. Don't pay the rent. See if you can convince a friend to let you crash on the couch for a couple of weeks till you get a new gaff and just move out tonight. Leave a note for the landlord if you like explaining the problems. Then report the gimp to the PTRB and the Revenue. There's no mercy for cowboy landlords, they deserve all the world of Official Pain that comes their way. Assholes.

And next time: insist on a formal signed lease, ask the landlord if he is registered with the PTRB, make sure there's an written inventory taken of all the goods and furnishings that came with the flat when you move in, and as said above when viewing the place check that the lights, the cooker, the fridge and the heaters actually work and there is no obvious signs of damp or mould anywhere. And ask about the other tenants if sharing - what age are they, what do they do for a living, where are they from....innocent-sounding questions like that can sometimes be very revealing about the kind of people you'll be living with.

A good professional landlord will actually appreciate a good professional tenant who treats it like the business arrangement that it is. A dodgy cowboy will want rid of you the second you ask any questions at all.

Far, far, far too many Irish people refuse to speak up. "Don't be rocking the boat, ye can't be saying that, keep the head down, say nothing, shure it could be worse, be grateful for what you get". And that mentality is why so many things in this country don't work and we are all mercilessly ripped off at every turn.

Pompey Magnus

I think that the responses have been a pretty conclusive in favour of leaving and I think I will take the advice. It will look odd me moving out as soon as I moved in but to hell with it .

Dalfiatach wrote:

Far, far, far too many Irish people refuse to speak up. "Don't be rocking the boat, ye can't be saying that, keep the head down, say nothing, shure it could be worse, be grateful for what you get". And that mentality is why so many things in this country don't work and we are all mercilessly ripped off at every turn.

Pretty much summed up my thinking there, keep the head down and think "It could be worse". There is no need for putting up with it though. I will get looking for a new abode I think and chalk this one down to inexperience.

Dalfiatach

Depeche_Mode wrote:

It will look odd me moving out as soon as I moved in but to hell with it .

"Look odd" to who, exactly?

Everyone who has ever rented has shared with psychos at some stage, or moved into a place that turned out to be damp-ridden or rat-infested. You just shrug and say "Mad psycho couple in the house always fighting at 4am. I'm not putting up with that". Or if you prefer not to speak ill of people behind their backs, a little white lie of "place looked clean enough on the viewing but turned out to be a dirty kip, cockroaches and mice and stuff man, place was stinkin".

Trust me, we've all been there before.

99% of people will just assume it was one of the usual list of reasons for leaving a flat and won't even bother asking.

qwytre

Depeche_Mode wrote:

I have recently started sharing a house with 4 others, it has gotten off to a bad start. Soon after moving in I was talking to one housemate and I asked her how she liked the place, she said it’s ok but a few times she has had to call the gardai because one of the guys gets in violent arguments with his girlfriend when they have been drinking. She advised me not to get involved and leave them at it and to lock my door at night. As you can imagine I was delighted to hear this after paying the deposit.

Since then I discovered that the heating has not been paid in months and we have been cut off. Last night the bloke got in a row with his girlfriend at 4am and they were still at it when I was leaving for work at 8 this morning. I haven’t been there long but if this is a regular occurance then I won’t be able to put up with it (I’m rubbish without my sleep – I managed to get boiling water on my hand this morning in the canteen at work in my groggy state :rolleyes: )

Anyways, I have paid a deposit of 4 weeks rent but haven’t paid any actual rent yet. I didn’t sign a lease or contract but I had verbally agreed to stay for 3 months. I am thinking of cutting my losses and getting out but haven’t made a final decision. The landlord will be expecting this month’s rent soon.

Basically what I am wondering is firstly am I being too hasty in thinking of leaving so soon after arriving, and secondly if I do decide to go should I pay the landlord the month’s rent and give in my notice with the expectation of getting my deposit back, or do I tell him that I am leaving and he can use the 4 weeks deposit as my rent. Normally I would like to be straight with landlords but what with him not informing me that bills weren’t being paid and that I would be living with an aggressive chap I don’t really feel too sympathetic, plus as I have nothing on paper I am worried that I might not see my deposit again.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Ask for your deposit back and get out. Its not the kind of place you want to live in and under these bad circumstances you should be entitled to your deposit back. You have been misled you on the heating not being paid and being cut off, they have also misled you on the arguements. Its not the kind of thing you expect from a normal house sharing situation. It is their problem, you get your deposit back and leave.

the_syco

Depeche_Mode wrote:

Soon after moving in I was talking to one housemate and I asked her how she liked the place, she said it’s ok but

Always ask a tenant what the place is like. I always have, and never regreted asking. You'll also know who you'll be sharing the house with.

Depeche_Mode wrote:

Since then I discovered that the heating has not been paid in months and we have been cut off.

Was heating one of the reasons you moved in? Then move out, and if you can't get your deposit back, look into the small claims court.

Depeche_Mode wrote:

Basically what I am wondering is firstly am I being too hasty in thinking of leaving so soon after arriving, and secondly if I do decide to go should I pay the landlord the month’s rent and give in my notice with the expectation of getting my deposit back

"Hi, here's freeeeee MONEY. I'll be breaking my rental agrrement, so can I get my deposit back"... :rolleyes:

OP, how much was the deposit? A months rent? And you want to give them another months rent? And then leave? WTF?:eek:

Pompey Magnus

I've been doing house hunting today. Last night there was a row that lasted from 03:00 - 4:00, started up again later on and off from 6 - 10, and yet another one at about 14:00 where plates were being smashed and chairs thrown around the place. I am living with psychos and am getting out asap. F*ck the deposit, I will ring the landlord to say I am outta here but I don't expect to get it back. I'm tired, in a bad mood, and annoyed with myself for not doing my research properly with this place but I won't do it again :mad: .

Dalfiatach

Depeche_Mode wrote:

I'm tired, in a bad mood, and annoyed with myself for not doing my research properly with this place but I won't do it again :mad: .

Live and learn dude, we've all been through it. I've been renting for 16 years now and I've moved into some right disasters of apartments with total loons for flatmates before

It's well worth being hard-nosed and asking all the awkward questions both of the landlord and the other tenants before you take a place. Sure, it might mean it takes a week or two longer to find a decent gaff and the hunting can be stressful - but if you aren't happy with your home and can't relax there it messes up your whole life, work etc. so if you just take the first thing that comes up to avoid the stress of house hunting, you just end up with months of far worse stress living in a kip.

Good luck with the house hunting!