Writing A Letter to the Landlord

Kintarō Hattori

Hey Folks,

Myself and the missus moved into a house at the end of January. We had been looking for somewhere that was quiet. We emphasized this to the letting agent and eventually after seeing some other properties decided on a little house that seemed ideal.

Long story short, the house is far from perfect. It's very noisey and there are a number of problems with it that weren't obvious when we were viewing the place.

I spoke to Threshold about the situation in particular the fact that we asked for somewhere quiet and it simply isn't and the floor not being level. They told that I didn't have a leg to stand on in regards to these issues but if I really wanted to move out I should write the landlord a handwritten letter asking them to fix several of the issues above and give them reasonable time to do so.
According to Threshold if I do this and the landlord hasn't fixed the various problems I am perfectly entitled to move out without getting any hassle from the landlord.

So my good folks. What constitutes a 'reasonable amount of time'? We've just paid the months rent and it isn't due until the end of this month. Would the time in between be reasonable? Should I mention in the letter that we'll be moving out if the problems aren't fixed or should I leave that out?

Below is a rough outline of the letter I intend to send. Is it OK, what do I need to change?

Hi XXX,

I'm writing to you in regards to a number of problems that we've found with the house since we moved in. I was hoping to have these issues resolved in a reasonable space of time, say sometime before the end of this month.

There is a large gap in the living room window where the window meets the frame. This is large enough for me to get my fingers between the window and the frame itself. It is letting out alot of hot air. Currently we have it stuffed with cotton wool, which is a less than ideal situation.

There is an alarm on the house which isn't working at the moment. When we moved in I had asked XXX about the possibility of getting it up and running. I feel this is especially important as each weekend we have witnessed plenty of unsavoury characters lurking in the laneway late at night.

At the moment there is a damp problem in the press under the kitchen sink and there is a smell coming from that area. This isn't ideal as we use that press to store pots, pans and other cooking utensils as well as vegetables.

In the smaller of the two bedrooms there is no window blind. This window looks out onto the main street to there is a lack of privacy at the moment but it also makes the room difficult to use when the sun is out as it shines into this room in the evening. It's a small issue I know but one never the less.

Almost all of the knobs on the radiators have worn threads so when I want to turn them on or off I have to use a pliers. This is again a small issue but it becomes time consuming going from room to room and adjusting the radiators.

astrofool

You use "isn't ideal" twice, and probably shouldn't, just from a readability point of view. You shouldn't really have to be adjusting the radiators all the time, though it sounds like a small issue, and borders on nitpicking, and may distract attention from the big issues.

Try and make it more succinct, you also probably don't need an anecdote for each query. e.g. damp should be fixed, it's a health hazard regardless of what is stored there.

Thoie

I'd go for bullet points for each item (like a checklist) and cut down on the narrative as astrofool suggested.

You mention the alarm, but don't say what the original XXX said - only that you had discussed the possibility of getting it up and running. Did they say "yes, we'll do that" or "I'm sure it will be fine"? If they made no commitment then it's not really a flaw, and should be couched as a request at the end.

A reasonable amount of time (IMO) to fix everything other than the damp is a month. For the damp I'd suggest that it would be reasonable if someone came to look at the situation within a month, but depending on the cause of the problem it could take longer to actually repair.

I'd mention something like "unfortunately these issues are making our residency here untenable, and without reasonable resolutions we will have to start looking for alternative accommodation."

Depending on the alarm promises, I'd put that in before the alarm and leave the alarm as a separate request.

20goto10

I don't think its a good idea to demand a time frame. Just put the issues to him in bullet points and tell him the agreement you had with the agency. Thats all. Don't threaten to move out, just wait X amount of time and if its not sorted give your notice. I'd give it a month to wait for a reply, after that you'll have to see about a time frame to fix the issues. Did you have to sign a PRTB form? Cause you're going to need them to get your deposit back if things turn nasty.

athtrasna

I would tend towards more formal language, less anecdotes but more direct.

havana

I too would be interested in what is considered a 'reasonable timeframe'. I've just written a similiar letter about the place i'm renting. There are loads of issues and for one reason or another i'm considering trying to terminate the lease

Kintarō Hattori

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the pointers so far. The other half went along to Threshold today and according to them we are within our rights to look for new tenants for the house and if the landlord refuses we can leave after 28 days without fear of the landlord taking us to court.

Is this true? If that's the case then it's fantastic news.

havana

This is true. But i wonder if you take up that course how does it work. It's something i may have to consider myself. So for example if you make a real effort to find someone but can't is that ok? Who decides if potential tenants are suitable? Who checks references etc?

has anyone any experience of doing this?

bladebrew

havana wrote: »

This is true. But i wonder if you take up that course how does it work. It's something i may have to consider myself. So for example if you make a real effort to find someone but can't is that ok? Who decides if potential tenants are suitable? Who checks references etc?

has anyone any experience of doing this?

hey,on that point
was looking at renting a house about 2 years ago now,as far i remember it was advertised by a letting agent,but the contact number was a mobile.
there were 3 guys living there and one of their friends bought a house so they wanted to leave a lease 5 months early to move in with him,it was left up to them to arrange meetings with people and show them around the property,
they passed our details onto the letting agent who were happy with our references etc,they then contacted the landlord and he said he didnt want two people moving into a 3 bed house:eek:, if they were to leave before finding new tenants they were losing 1100euro in a deposit!!

without a letting agent involved it would have been up to the landlord to decide who moves in,to leave a lease this way might be trickier with the amount of rentals around at the moment but its worth a shot

sorry about the long post:)

Amalgam

Get rid of the 'Hi', it just does not come across well. If you want a person to assess your grievances, 'Hi' won't start them off in a good frame of mind.

Some tips on formality here:

http://www.speakspeak.com/html/d2h_resources_letter_writing_phrases.htm

Opening lines

Why do we need an opening line in a business letter or formal email?

- to make reference to previous correspondence
- to say how you found the recipient's name/address
- to say why you are writing to the recipient.

10 Good Opening Lines:

With reference to your letter of 8 June, I ...

I am writing to enquire about ...

After having seen your advertisement in ... , I would like ...

After having received your address from ... , I ...

I received your address from ... and would like ...

We/I recently wrote to you about ...

Thank you for your letter of 8 May.

Thank you for your letter regarding ...

Thank you for your letter/e-mail about ...

In reply to your letter of 8 May, ...


Closing lines

Why do we need a closing line in a business letter or email?

- to make a reference to a future event
- to repeat an apology
- to offer help

10 Good Closing Lines:

If you require any further information, feel free to contact me.

I look forward to your reply.

I look forward to hearing from you.

I look forward to seeing you.

Please advise as necessary.

We look forward to a successful working relationship in the future.

Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Once again, I apologise for any inconvenience.

We hope that we may continue to rely on your valued custom.

I would appreciate your immediate attention to this matter.



When 'Yours faithfully' and when 'Yours sincerely' in a business letter?

When the recipient's name is unknown to you:

Dear Sir ... Yours faithfully

Dear Madam ... Yours faithfully

Dear Sir or Madam ... Yours faithfully



When you know the recipient's name:

Dear Mr Hanson ... Yours sincerely

Dear Mrs Hanson ... Yours sincerely

Dear Miss Hanson ... Yours sincerely

Dear Ms Hanson ... Yours sincerely



When addressing a good friend or colleague:

Dear Jack ... Best wishes/Best regards



Addressing whole departments:

Dear Sirs ... Yours faithfully

More included at the link.

Kintarō Hattori

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the pointers so far. The other half went along to Threshold today and according to them we are within our rights to look for new tenants for the house and if the landlord refuses we can leave after 28 days without fear of the landlord taking us to court.

Is this true? If that's the case then it's fantastic news.

Can anyone confirm or deny this for me?

dolly13

Hey Kintaro

I look after lots of rented properties. Threshold are normally right but I don't think that they are correct on this occassion. I think you should get get on to the PRTB. The PRTB act overrides anything that is in your lease, it is basically a lease in itself and it favours hugely towards the tenant most of the time. Have you spoken to the PRTB? If not I would get in touch with them asap. If their is a dispute in the end you and your landlord will end up in front of the PRTB so its probably best to get in with them as early as possible.

There is little point in telling the landlord about the lack of window blinds unless you specifically requested one and were told you could have one in writing prior to signing a lease. I would write a nice letter to the landlord explaining that you are not happy and the reasons why.

Ask him if he would be agreeable to you finding alternative tenants for the property subject to his approval. Include any relevant corresponence you have from the agent that back up your claims i.e alarm etc..

I think your best bet is to send your landlord a nice letter and hopefully he will be nice back there is no point in getting off on the wrong foot with him. It Probably would be a good idea to email your queries to Threshold and the PRTB they will respond to your e-mail and you can then include their responses in your letter to your landlord.

Good Luck!

kazzer

One very important thing, if it has not been mentioned already, post all correspondences via registered post.

Amalgam

I found threshold very pro-tenant, they tend to tell you advice you'd want to hear, the PRTB on the other hand, will generally be quite clinical, spelling out any legal risks that might arise out of a particular action you decide to engage in.

http://www.prtb.ie/

Carawaystick

These are the legally minimum standards allowed for rental accomodation
http://www.myhome.ie/pdf/Rental%20Acc%20Standards.pdf

Section 5 (2) mentions damp
7(1)(a) mentions heating appliances
8(2)(f) mentions presses for storage need to be adequate,

shrapnel222

with regards to the blinds issue, unless you agreed prior to moving in that they would be responsible for putting some up, then it would be up to you to do so.

Kintarō Hattori

Guys,

I double checked what Threshold had to say with the PRTB and if the landlord says we can't find new tenants then we do have the right to give our notice and move out.

Shortly after moving in I spoke to the landlord on the phone and they said we couldn't find new people. Last week I sent them a letter and I'm waiting on a response to that. My question is, the landlords response, does it have to be written or is their saying no verbally enough for us to give our notice.

I ask as trying to get them to say no on paper would be quite difficult I imagine.