Damage to flatmates Property

Damoedge

Hi Im looking for advice and would appreciate any help,I have a flatmate who is moving out in three weeks time as she is going back to her own Country,the problem is she borrowed some DVDs for viewing from my collection that I have,recently I did a spot check and was missing about thirty DVDs,some double disc worth in total about 400euro, I confronted her about them,as I know she was the only one who watched them,she gave back a few that were totaly scratched and damaged and unplayable,I know that recently she has posted back boxes of her belongings to her Country and have a funny feeling the rest of the missing dvds were in those boxes,I asked her to replace or pay for all missing and damaged dvds but she refusing and says its not her problem,(she is also running down her deposit with the landlord)so can I report her to police for theft and damages to my property(dvds)or do I have any leg to stand on as she is leaving in three weeks?? Would Appreciate any advice

petethebrick

If the DVD's are posted back to her country there isn't much the police can do about it I don't think. Are you 100% certain she took them i.e. did you have any parties where they might have been stolen etc
If you're totally certain my advice is to take something valuable from her room (eg stereo, mp3 player, laptop) and leave it at a friends house. Refuse to return said goods until she has compensated you for the stolen property.

AnonoBoy

Damoedge wrote: »

Hi Im looking for advice and would appreciate any help,I have a flatmate who is moving out in three weeks time as she is going back to her own Country,the problem is she borrowed some DVDs for viewing from my collection that I have,recently I did a spot check and was missing about thirty DVDs,some double disc worth in total about 400euro, I confronted her about them,as I know she was the only one who watched them,she gave back a few that were totaly scratched and damaged and unplayable,I know that recently she has posted back boxes of her belongings to her Country and have a funny feeling the rest of the missing dvds were in those boxes,I asked her to replace or pay for all missing and damaged dvds but she refusing and says its not her problem,(she is also running down her deposit with the landlord)so can I report her to police for theft and damages to my property(dvds)or do I have any leg to stand on as she is leaving in three weeks?? Would Appreciate any advice

I'd say the police would probably not give much time to it but you could try them. Maybe tell your landlord saying that she has taken x euros amount of DVDs from you and probably sent them home to her country and is now refusing to replace them. He could threaten to keep her deposit. This might make her come up with them.

Although the old adage 'neither a borrower nor a lender be' springs to mind. I doubt you'll get satisfaction out of this as she's leaving the country so soon.

Damoedge

No parties at all its a quite flat and she also brings around a lot of friends now and again, we also noticed the weighing scales missing from the bathroom and the other flatmate asked her about it and she said its around in her friends flat because they neded to weigh bags, so thats what probably happened to the DVD's as well

Hobart

Damoedge wrote: »

Hi Im looking for advice and would appreciate any help,I have a flatmate who is moving out in three weeks time as she is going back to her own Country,the problem is she borrowed some DVDs for viewing from my collection that I have,recently I did a spot check and was missing about thirty DVDs,some double disc worth in total about 400euro, I confronted her about them,as I know she was the only one who watched them,she gave back a few that were totaly scratched and damaged and unplayable,I know that recently she has posted back boxes of her belongings to her Country and have a funny feeling the rest of the missing dvds were in those boxes,I asked her to replace or pay for all missing and damaged dvds but she refusing and says its not her problem,(she is also running down her deposit with the landlord)so can I report her to police for theft and damages to my property(dvds)or do I have any leg to stand on as she is leaving in three weeks?? Would Appreciate any advice

Take the hit buddy, there is really SFA you can do about it. The Guards will not be interested in it. Learn a lesson, and move on...

Damoedge

AnonoBoy wrote: »

I'd say the police would probably not give much time to it but you could try them. Maybe tell your landlord saying that she has taken x euros amount of DVDs from you and probably sent them home to her country and is now refusing to replace them. He could threaten to keep her deposit. This might make her come up with them.

Although the old adage 'neither a borrower nor a lender be' springs to mind. I doubt you'll get satisfaction out of this as she's leaving the country so soon.

i think she is starting to run down here deposit as she has not paid the last 2 weeks....so that wont work...think should i take her passport??

helimachoptor

Damoedge wrote: »

i think she is starting to run down here deposit as she has not paid the last 2 weeks....so that wont work...think should i take her passport??

No.. Then she'll call the cops and do you for false imprisonment or something!

You ain't getting them back just forget about them and chalk it down to experience.

Damoedge

There is no way she is getting away with it why should i let her???

Chucky the tree

Damoedge wrote: »

There is no way she is getting away with it why should i let her???

Because, unlike her, your not a thieving scumbag?




Obviously not though

Hobart

Damoedge wrote: »

There is no way she is getting away with it why should i let her???

What monetary value would you place on the damage? €400? Tell you what, ring the Guards and tell them that this person is fecking off, and she owes you €x amount. Let us know what the response is. Holding onto her passport, will only land you in more trouble than she already is in.

Damoedge

Well i know that but its not the just the steeling of the dvds, she is cheeky about it and knows she did wrong and she does not care cause she is out of here in a few weeks, she is only 20 and smug about the whole thing....

Hobart

Damoedge wrote: »

Well i know that but its not the just the steeling of the dvds, she is cheeky about it and knows she did wrong and she does not care cause she is out of here in a few weeks, she is only 20 and smug about the whole thing....

So you have an issue with her attitude? Welcome to the world buddy, tickets are €400,000 each, the ride may not be steady....:rolleyes:

valleyoftheunos

petethebrick wrote: »

If you're totally certain my advice is to take something valuable from her room (eg stereo, mp3 player, laptop) and leave it at a friends house. Refuse to return said goods until she has compensated you for the stolen property.

This is bad advice, you aren't entitled to take her property on the suspicion that she has taken some of yours, you would be committing a theft

Damoedge wrote: »

i think she is starting to run down here deposit as she has not paid the last 2 weeks....so that wont work...think should i take her passport??

Definitely do not do this, it would be illegal and could get you into quite a bit of trouble. Again it is a theft and a serious one.

There isn't really a lot that you can do here, considering the time frame involved. Notify your land lord of your suspicions although no doubt they will say its nothing to do with them. You can also contact the Gardai to get their advice but again I wouldn't expect much help form them.

Really a solicitor is the only way to get good legal advice on the matter but considering the possible cost of that and the likelihood of getting any money back from her it probably isn't worth it.

Your best option is to just talk to her frankly, ask her to explain the missing DVDs and the bad condition of the ones she did return to you. Refuse to be stonewalled and dont let her off the hook. she may agree to repay for some of it which is better than nothing. At the very least you will learn an expensive lesson and know that by pursuing her you did everything you could to get your things back.

Damoedge

Hobart wrote: »

What monetary value would you place on the damage? €400? Tell you what, ring the Guards and tell them that this person is fecking off, and she owes you €x amount. Let us know what the response is. Holding onto her passport, will only land you in more trouble than she already is in.

yea its about €400 and the only proof is a list i made up before she moved in of all the dvds and there is loads missing its unreal...

Hobart

Damoedge wrote: »

yea its about €400 and the only proof is a list i made up before she moved in of all the dvds and there is loads missing its unreal...

Tell the Guards about it. Tell us what the response is. FFS, it's a few DVD's. Get over it, I don't advocate damaging anybody else's property, but if you are foolish enough to lend them.....

valleyoftheunos

Damoedge wrote: »

yea its about €400 and the only proof is a list i made up before she moved in of all the dvds and there is loads missing its unreal...

Did you get her to sign this or any other contents list or inventory when she did move in?

Damoedge

valleyoftheunos wrote: »

Did you get her to sign this or any other contents list or inventory when she did move in?

No i did not, i should have but even if their was one i dont think she would care....

ARGINITE

Tell her you are reporting her to the guards and see what happens.

Damoedge

ARGINITE wrote: »

Tell her you are reporting her to the guards and see what happens.

i did and she laughed at it and she said !i know people here in Dublin too you know" what ever she meant by that i duno...

petethebrick

Hobart wrote: »

Tell the Guards about it. Tell us what the response is. FFS, it's a few DVD's. Get over it, I don't advocate damaging anybody else's property, but if you are foolish enough to lend them.....

A few DVD's - the OP says it's 30! that's a lot of money.
Plus don't all housemates borrow stuff of each other? What's foolish about lending - it's just common decency no?
I know I'd be pretty miffed if I asked a flatmate could I have a lend of a few of his DVD's and he said no.

Hobart

petethebrick wrote: »

A few DVD's - the OP says it's 30! that's a lot of money.
Plus don't all housemates borrow stuff of each other? What's foolish about lending - it's just common decency no?
I know I'd be pretty miffed if I asked a flatmate could I have a lend of a few of his DVD's and he said no.

I'd be pretty "miffed" aswell. I don't think that your answer actually addresses the issue though. What would you do?

valleyoftheunos

Pursue her, annoy her, demand that she compensate you, remain cool at all times. if you keep this up she may decide that paying you is better than listening to you nag her constantly.

In future, always have an inventory done of a flat before you move in or someone else moves in with you.

Finally be careful about your possessions. you clearly take good care of your things and no doubt those things that you borrow from others, there are however plenty of people who don't give a damn about other peoples stuff and will treat it like garbage simply because it belongs to someone else. This girl is one of those, learn to spot them and don't let them use your things.

Victor

You just might be able to go the small claims court route, but you need to get in there fast.

While SCC is normally for complaints against commercial organisations, it can aslo be used with certain complaints about accommodation.

valleyoftheunos

petethebrick wrote: »

A few DVD's - the OP says it's 30! that's a lot of money.
Plus don't all housemates borrow stuff of each other? What's foolish about lending - it's just common decency no?
I know I'd be pretty miffed if I asked a flatmate could I have a lend of a few of his DVD's and he said no.

How miffed would you be if you lent a DVD to your flat mate and when you asked for it back he told you no!

Damoedge

So the police ant do a thing even though its teft??

MagicMarker

Thieving scumbag or no, if you know for certain she took your property and you have absolutely no come back (because she's leaving the country!) then by all means take something of value from her.

There's being the ''bigger person'' and there's not taking shít from people with absolutely no respect for the property of others, hopefully she'll learn a lesson!

edit: My apologies, shouldn't have recommended theft, however the bluff of taking something valuable and threatening to not return it unless you receive your property or the value of your property is still a valid option imo.

Plek Trum

I'm not sure if it covers possessions or just loss / damage to actual property (as in buildings) but it may be worth having a look:

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/justice/courts-system/small_claims_court

Hope you get some satisfaction, I hate it when people take advantage!

petethebrick

valleyoftheunos wrote: »

How miffed would you be if you lent a DVD to your flat mate and when you asked for it back he told you no!

Of course I'd go mental - how often does that actually happen though. 99.99% of the people I've lived with we've shared each others things fine with no problems

Victor

Folks, advocating theft or other revenge is not acceptable. Constructive answers only please.

Three people have infractions already, the next step will be bans.

LegacyUser

Damoedge wrote: »

So the police ant do a thing even though its theft??

Is it? You didn't see her take them, she won't admit to taking them and presumably a search of her room wouldn't turn them up. Where's the theft? Gardai can't help there.

If you took something of hers and told her so, that would be theft though as you have admitted it to her. Tricky.

It's very unsatisfying, but advice to let it go is probably best. Was she trying a threat with 'I know people in Dublin'? Vandalising her stuff in retaliation is not going to bring your gear back and might have unpleasant consequences.

Damoedge

Im just wondering has anything like this ever happen to any of ye and if so what did ye do???

meganj

I wouldn't compare the situations but I had a very messy move out of an apartment a few years back and it was only after I moved out that I realised some of my cd's were missing. I let it go, mostly i was just glad to be out of there.

If you want to go to the guards go, these are recession times, but don't be dissapointed if they do nothing, bigger fish to fry i suppose. At the end of the day (i know this is condescending) but they're only dvd's download them illeagally

SpookyDoll

Maybe you could let the landlord know that she has ripped off valuable stuff of yours, is being very arrogant about it and has indicated she has no intentions of returning the stuff, indeed has shipped it off safely already.

You could ask the landlord to tell her to leave on the grounds that she has been stealing from a decent housemate who is remaining as a tenant.

I know strictly speaking thet Landlord can say "its nothing to do with me" but if you indicate she is a thief and a brazen one at that, landlord may become uncomfortable with allowing her to remain on (using up the deposit as I understand it)

Might be worth a try.

Plek Trum

Does your landlord have insurance for contents on the flat? Might be worth ringing him, be straight up and tell him about the theft and her attitude and the predicament you are in...

Damoedge

Plek Trum wrote: »

Does your landlord have insurance for contents on the flat? Might be worth ringing him, be straight up and tell him about the theft and her attitude and the predicament you are in...

Good idea i will have to find that out....thanks

Damoedge

What about locking her out till she pays up....?

Varkov

This is the kind of reason I got content insurance when I moved out, you think "Its just a few DVD's or Games or whatever, but that all adds up" About €150 a year got my insured up to about €5000, and you only need to list specific items over 2k.

You could say to the guards that she owes you €400 and is trying to leave the country without paying. If you say that you told her you informed the guards and she just laughed, they might get a bit rilled up.

TheZohanS

Damoedge wrote: »

What about locking her out till she pays up....?

Ah ha...I think now we may be getting to the bottom of the problem.

Is this more about the fact that you will miss her and don't actually want her to go rather than the missing/damaged dvd's?

Is there perhaps some underlying sexual tension that you want to eradicate before she goes back to her own country?

valleyoftheunos

Damoedge wrote: »

What about locking her out till she pays up....?

Thats exceptionally drastic and also unlawful. She could get the guards and the Landlord involved straight away, you could easily find yourself evicted and down your deposit aswell as the DVDs.

Any sort of reponse involving taking her stuff or trying to hold her ransome in anyway plays entirely into her hands. Even if you had proof such actions wouldn't be permissable. Ultimately you dont have any proof that she took your DVDs only your suspicions. and they aren't goin gto get you very far with either the guards or anyone else.

Damoedge

so im supposed to just standby and let the cheeky so and so get away with it???.....NO Way

valleyoftheunos

You do what ever you feel you have to do but remember that if you do anything serious like take her passport, lock her out, damage or remove somethign valuable of hers, its you who could be in trouble with the guards or your landlord and that is the exact opposite of the result you are looking for.

Pub07

Hobart wrote: »

Take the hit buddy, there is really SFA you can do about it. The Guards will not be interested in it. Learn a lesson, and move on...

Why should he just take the hit? If someone living with me damaged property of mine to the tune of €400 and lauged about it to my face I certainly wouldn't just 'take the hit' like some sort of twat. Im not in a position to advise the op on what to do but if it was me personally I would be confiscating some of his/her property until I was reimbursed, Id probably even be willing to compromise, say €300 instead of the full €400 ...and before someone says 'that's illegal you'll be in trouble with the law', shure isn't the girl in question in the op's post doing exactly that and she is gonna get away scot free as the guards have bigger problems to deal with than minor matters such as these. Even if they did get involved I would just deny it as the girl who damged the op's property undoubtedly would and that would be the end of the matter.

valleyoftheunos

Pub07 wrote: »

Why should he just take the hit? If someone living with me damaged property of mine to the tune of €400 and lauged about it to my face I certainly wouldn't just 'take the hit' like some sort of twat. Im not in a position to advise the op on what to do but if it was me personally I would be confiscating some of his/her property until I was reimbursed, Id probably even be willing to compromise, say €300 instead of the full €400 ...and before someone says 'that's illegal you'll be in trouble with the law', shure isn't the girl in question in the op's post doing exactly that and she is gonna get away scot free as the guards have bigger problems to deal with than minor matters such as these. Even if they did get involved I would just deny it as the girl who damged the op's property undoubtedly would and that would be the end of the matter.

How can you deny it when the whole point is that she knows you have her stuff and wont give it back until she pays you? All the OP has to go on are missing DVDs and his suspisions that she has taken them and disposed of them by either posting them to her home or giving them to her friends. Suggesting he take something of hers is just bad advice.

Damoedge

Its also a matter of principle im not gona let a 20 year old get away with it!! she has to grow up and take responsibility for her actions!!

m83

If I was in your situation I'd definitely be getting even, and I'd make sure I was going to enjoy it too.

I'm not recommending any of the below but it is what I would personally do (but then again I'm an utter backstard)

Wipe her hard drive clean/ infect her laptop/computer with a virus if she has one.

Ruin her clothes by taping a sock containing clothes dye to the top inner rim of the washing machine drum.

Go through her book collection and neatly tear out the last 5 pages from each.

Get live grubs from a pet shop and put them in her pillow.

Scratch her cd's/dvd's with a nail.

Get her email address and sign her up to every perverted newsletter under the sun.

Write her number in sleazy toilets offering free blowjobs.

Half empty her shampoo bottle and fill up with Veet.

Get some fish and put it in her clothes/suitcase/favourite dress/jacket pocket.

Take off her shower head. Poo in it. Put it back on.

---

That's all for now of the things I would do.

Eric Cartman

whatever you do , take stock and pics of your remaining stuff, theres a similar problem going on with a few american students in my college, some friends in accom with american students have noticed things (cd's, books, drink, jewelery) going missing and the american students are the only ones there, there leaving in 1/2 weeks so show nothing but contempt for the irish housemates and steal food etc... . chances are you can do nothing but just make sure it doesnt get worse

LolaLuv

m83 wrote: »

Half empty her shampoo bottle and fill up with Veet.

That one hurt my soul.

OP, your situation really sucks. She sounds like a horrible person. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to sit back and do nothing, but don't do anything illegal. A person that dishonest is gonna have something bad coming eventually anyway, she just sounds miserable.

Pub07

valleyoftheunos wrote: »

How can you deny it when the whole point is that she knows you have her stuff and wont give it back until she pays you? All the OP has to go on are missing DVDs and his suspisions that she has taken them and disposed of them by either posting them to her home or giving them to her friends. Suggesting he take something of hers is just bad advice.

First of all, in the hypothetical situation in my post I meant I would deny it if by some miracle the guards got involved in such a petty matter (for them). Obviously I would not be denying to whoever's property I had confiscated (not stolen), I would be telling them straight out I have taken it and they'll get it back when they reimburse me for my loss or come to a compromise with me. I cant see whats wrong with doing this, I would have nothing to lose and the possiblity of gaining what is rightfully mine back (or at least the monetary value of it). And even if I didn't reimbursed at least it would wipe the smug grin off their face and let them know there are consquences to treating other peoples property like crap.

Victor

Pub07 wrote: »

Obviously I would not be denying to whoever's property I had confiscated (not stolen),

Legally thats still theft. One of the modern act has an offence of depriving someone of their property.

OP, I think go and talk to the local gardaí, mention that she has admitted to taking the bathroom scales, but is denying the rest. They may not want to be involve, but its a possibility. Otherwise, I think your only realistic option is to sue.

Damoedge

Its too late for the sue option she is leaving Ireland in 3 weeks....

valleyoftheunos

Pub07 wrote: »

First of all, in the hypothetical situation in my post I meant I would deny it if by some miracle the guards got involved in such a petty matter (for them). Obviously I would not be denying to whoever's property I had confiscated (not stolen), I would be telling them straight out I have taken it and they'll get it back when they reimburse me for my loss or come to a compromise with me. I cant see whats wrong with doing this, I would have nothing to lose and the possiblity of gaining what is rightfully mine back (or at least the monetary value of it). And even if I didn't reimbursed at least it would wipe the smug grin off their face and let them know there are consquences to treating other peoples property like crap.

You have no right to "Confiscate" someone else's property. I realise you would intend to deny anything to the Gardai but that isn't necessarily such a simple prospect hen you have in fact take her property.

there is a serious fault in the logic of proposing to teach someone a lesson about looking after other people's property by abusing their's. What makes you any different or any better than her?