retention of deposit query given unusual circumstances

JemimaPD

Hey, need advice for my best mate in Dublin.

To give you a bit of a backround, When she had her first child (who is now 4) she applied to be put into council house but was refused due to her living with her mum and the house was a three bed so it had ample room as she is an only child. Fastforward to a few months ago. She discovered she was pregnant then went for scan to be told it was twins. She was very sick for the first 4 months and when she was well enough she went to the council to be put on the housing list. She also applied for Rent allowance as there is no room at her mums house for her, the first child and now twins (due in 2 months). She was given false hope/information by a lady in the county council that they will post out a letter with reference number for her being on housing list and to go to social welfare and there she will be given rent allowance for an ideal apartment she had found. She hastidly put down a deposit on this apartment and signed an agreement. Today she was told when she went back to social welfare to finish signing paperwork that no letter existed and that her application for rent allowance was declined and she had to wait to be officially assessed by the county council for housing which has a waiting time of 6-8 months. When she explained that there is no room in her mums house for everyone and that her mum wants her out before the twins are born she was told by the welfare official that she should check herself into a hostel. :mad:

To make matters worse she called the person whom she signed the agreement with for the apartment and explained the whole situation and that she couldnt afford to pay for the apartment without having the rent allowance she was told that she will lose her €950 deposit that her mum and herself had paid.

To say the least my mate is fuming with the officer for being a cheeky b*stard and with the women in the council for giving her false hope/information. From signing the agreement she has declared that the deposit is non refundable but given the strange yet frustrating circumstances does she have any comeback at anyone in particular or will she just have to accept that the deposit is gone and she is so screwed right now?

Please give advise on what she can do.

Victor

Your friend seems a little naive. Council workers can't vouch for what Social Welfare might decide.

Did she pay a booking deposit? Because if you cancel the booking after paying a booking deposit, you don't get it back.

3DataModem

It would be a very harsh landlord who wouldn't give most of the deposit back.

Legally it appears to be she has no comeback. Best bet is to explain situation to landlord.

Best of luck with it, and the twins.

Alkatraz

Have they discovered the cause of the pregnancies yet?

I hope it is a lovely apartment for a 950 euro deposit. Generally speaking the deposit is one months rent, so was she really planning on spending nearly a thousand euro a month on rent alone?

Does each child have their own room?

I am not trolling but what does she expect will happen? "Oh don't worry, Nama have given you this lovely 4 bedroom house in clontarf and you dont have to pay anything!"

Jo King

She should go to her local TD and tell her story.

nuac

She gets pregnant twice, and complaints because taxpayer subsidised housing hasn't worked out so far. Where is/are the father(s)?

Agree €950 is a very large deposit.