Getting Your Deposit Back

morawa

Folks,

For the last year we were renting a small house. We decided not to continue our lease. Our landlord is actually a construction company, they own several properties in the area we were renting. The other day the woman who looks after the rental side of their business called me asking me to send on the keys to the house. Once they had a look over the place and were happy they'd post our deposit back to us (€1100).

Is this normal? Usually when I've been giving back keys/getting the deposit back it's a case of meeting up and handing over both items.

Should I insist we meetup or is this relatively normal?

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

This sounds normal to me. I normally hand over the keys to the agent and the landlord sends the money out to me after a few weeks. It all depends on your landlord. If you have reciepts and all that it's fine

BluePlanet

You are taking on all the risk. They have your money.
What do you have once you turn over keys?

Keep the keys until they give you the desposit, hand them over at the same time preferrably. These things are not spelled out in the lease so your really on your own.

The_Conductor

Also- I'd seriously advise that you take several photographs of each room, to document the state you leave the house in. We all have cash-flow problems at the moment- but Developers, with the best of wills in the world- are far worse than anyone else.......

There is a proposal to have a body (such as the PRTB) act as a holding party for deposits going forward- and to be honest, it won't be a moment too soon.

S.

D3PO

Personally I wouldnt be handing them the keys till i got my money back. why do they have to post your deposit to you ? why cant they hand you the cheque when you hand them the keys.

there is absolutly no reason if they have already acknowledged you are entitled to your full deposit back

J-blk

I wouldn't feel comfortable handing back the keys with no deposit in hand either. When you move in, you're expected to be able to provide the deposit immediately - so why should it be different for the landlord/agent when you're moving out?

Last place I was at, we agreed with the agent he could come do an initial inspection about 4-5 days before we moved out (so he could see in advance if there was any major damage, etc - things that would need to be deducted from the deposit). We then met again on our last day, he only did a quick check of the place to follow up, we gave him our keys and he returned the deposit then and there - simple as that.

morawa

Many thanks for all the replies folks. I did feel uneasy with the suggestion, so I'm going to ring them tomorrow and ask them to meet me there at some point. It'll go down well............. like a lead balloon.

gimme5minutes

Don't give them the keys back without getting your deposit. And don't take no for an answer. You only have to read the various threads that pop up every few days on this forum where people leave the property without getting their deposit back and end up getting screwed.

eightyfish

Definitely take photographs. It is usual for them to say they'll send money on, but in our case they wanted to keep half of our deposit for "cleaning" and they only told us after we handed back the keys. We had photographs of the condition we left the place in, and we used these via PRTB to get our full deposit back. It took months, but it worked.

itsonlywords

Do what I did in the past when I was nervous about a deposit being posted to me. I prepared a document that stated that the property was in good order and that no deductions would be made and that the deposit would be returned to me by..... Get them to sign and give them a copy. There is no comeback then. It is usual for agents to post deposits as I have found and the only problem is that they can find "faults" later that will "justify" them witholding monies.

Doop

Holding Keys to ransome does not make any sense, unless of course you want them to deduct the cost of changing the locks out of your deposit.

There can be issues with making sure theres no outstanding debts with utilities etc, which cant be done untill you have moved out. All being well you will get your deposit posted back to you...

gimme5minutes

Doop wrote: »

Holding Keys to ransome does not make any sense, unless of course you want them to deduct the cost of changing the locks out of your deposit.

There can be issues with making sure theres no outstanding debts with utilities etc, which cant be done untill you have moved out. All being well you will get your deposit posted back to you...

Well then I would inform that I would be staying in the house without paying rent until they give me back the deposit. I know of far too many cases where people have gotten screwed over on the deposit when the house was left in immaculate condition to leave €1000 of my money in the hands of someone who may or may not give it back. Either tell them you'll be staying in the house rent-free til you get it back, or tell them they can use the deposit as the last month's rent, whatever you do don't just leave the house and expect them to send it on.

D3PO

Doop wrote: »

There can be issues with making sure theres no outstanding debts with utilities etc, which cant be done untill you have moved out. All being well you will get your deposit posted back to you...

Im sorry but thats rubbish its the typical BS response and excuse not to hand a deposit back same day.

You can get an ESB & Gas reading on the day your handing over the keyts, the agent , landlord can inspect at the same time.

The standing charges , plus unit cost can easily be calculated and deducted right there and then and a cheque of the amount due back to the tennant can be written there and then.

There is NO excuse not to hand it back when the keys are handed over.

convert

I've found that letting agents tend to post out the deposit a month after the keys have been returned. Anytime I've used one, this has been the case. However, with the way things are going I'd be a little more hesitant to go down that route these days.

Taking pictures (with a camera that dates them, preferably) is a necessity these days. I like J-blk and itsonlyword's suggestions re. a pre-check and a written agreement. That way you've got something in writing that you can use at a later date if they refuse to return your deposit or make deductions from it.

D3PO

convert wrote: »

I've found that letting agents tend to post out the deposit a month after the keys have been returned. Anytime I've used one, this has been the case. However, with the way things are going I'd be a little more hesitant to go down that route these days.

Taking pictures (with a camera that dates them, preferably) is a necessity these days. I like J-blk and itsonlyword's suggestions re. a pre-check and a written agreement. That way you've got something in writing that you can use at a later date if they refuse to return your deposit or make deductions from it.

Thats not good enough to expect a tennant to wait. You deposit is your money not theirs its not good enough to have to wait and there is no reason to have to wait.

A written letter is all well and good, but its no use if the EA , Builder etc goes bust before you get your deposit back is it ? 2 words UNSECURED CREDITOR

Like I said utilities owed can be worked out on the day of leaving. If tennants here actually stood up for themselves and refused to accept this tripe of an excuse there would be a heck of a lot less sob stories of witheld deposits on here.

J-blk

D3PO wrote: »

Thats not good enough to expect a tennant to wait. You deposit is your money not theirs its not good enough to have to wait and there is no reason to have to wait.

Absolutely agree with this. A month is completely unreasonable (even a week is TBH). A deposit is not meant to be used for anything else during the tenancy, so there should never be an issue of a landlord or agent not having it available.

And most people need the amount back as soon as possible, as they will be under the increased pressure of having just paid another deposit + first month's rent on their new place...

The best thing would be for some official solution to exist, like Smccarrick posted, to maybe have the PRTB hold deposits during the tenancy. However, I don't see that happening any time soon...

D3PO

J-blk wrote: »

The best thing would be for some official solution to exist, like Smccarrick posted, to maybe have the PRTB hold deposits during the tenancy. However, I don't see that happening any time soon...

I have many times considered setting up a business to do just that.

Charge a small fee €50 perhaps which covers inspection of the property prior to rental taking notes of any pre existing damages etc

Hold the deposit when tennant moves out tennant gets deposit back with agreement from the landlord unless the landlord raises a dispute (€25 dispute resolution fee) in which case said business would immediatly mediate the sitaution and make a ruling in one or the others favour.

Clearly it wouldnt be 100% binding if one or the other was still unhappy with the decision they could raise a PRTB dispute, but it would at lease instill confidence in tennants that they wouldnt be ripped off of their deposit

Seems like a good way to position your rental accomadation above those that done have a similar service in place. Im just not sure that a takeup rate would exist to make it worthwhile

J-blk

D3PO wrote: »

Im just not sure that a takeup rate would exist to make it worthwhile

Yep, I think that unless an "official" organization like the PRTB took up this role, people simply would not go for it with a private company and suspect it of being some sort of scam instead...

convert

I think my point was slightly misinterpreted. I didn't mean to say that it was OK for the EA to hold onto the deposit for a month, I was just stating that it seems to be something they seem to think they're entitled to do.

I've used an EA twice, and after that I took the decision not to use any EA if at all possible, and thus far it has worked out much, much better (*fingers crossed*) and my deposit has always been returned either when I'm leaving or via using it as the last month's rent (though the latter will depend on the individual landlord).

D3PO

J-blk wrote: »

Yep, I think that unless an "official" organization like the PRTB took up this role, people simply would not go for it with a private company and suspect it of being some sort of scam instead...

exactly what I thought

J-blk

convert wrote: »

I was just stating that it seems to be something they seem to think they're entitled to do.

Fair enough, but it's up to the tenants in this country to show them that they are most certainly not entitled to do so - especially now that it is a renter's market....

+ 1 on dealing with landlords directly over agents too, much better in most cases IMO.

eastwest

The daughter of a European friend was renting an apartment (with another girl) through an agent in Dublin. In December they moved out due to problems (one of them was attacked in the neighbourhood), but they gave all the correct notice etc. Two months on, they have been unable to get back their deposit, although there was no issue with the condition of the apartment etc. The agent initially was giving excuses that the landlord was away, or that she (the agent) was away etc etc. Now she doesn't answer their calls, although she is still active in the business. I believe that she is deliberately targeting these two girls because they are foreign, and hence what she sees as an easy target.
Any ideas on what can be done to get them back their money? Suing is not an option; the agent is renting her own house, and has moved several times in the last year. Her business addresses as shown on her web presence are completely out of date and she occasionally uses another name as far as I can see. Such people seem to be able to operate with impunity, and are not answerable to any law.
As a landlord myself, I know all about the bad tenants and the "strokes" that they pull, but if somebody has done everything right then they should get their money back, surely?

eightyfish

eastwest wrote: »

Any ideas on what can be done to get them back their money?

Call the agent and tell them (leave a message) that you are lodging a complaint with the PRTB. Then contact the PRTB immediately and lodge a complaint. If the agent is a member of the IAVI (though from the sounds of their behaviour I presume that are not), you can contact them also to lodge a complaint about a member.

eastwest

Would it be acceptable to "out" the dodgy agents on boards.ie? At least it would give their names an internet presence and might help to warn off potential tenants (and landlords). The problem as I see it is that these crooks get away with stealing other peoples' money since tenants eventually get tired of chasing them for it. In the case of foreign tenants, the agents figure that the foreigners will go home eventually and forget about it, just assuming that Ireland is a country full of crooks.

The_Conductor

No- it is not acceptable to 'out' dodgy landlords on Boards. Irrespective of how awful your dealings with them have been- and believe you me, I am fully aware of just how appalling some are, you are *not* to out them or anyone else here.

Regards,

SMcCarrick

eastwest

That's why I asked first! I'm thinking of involving the media in this one though, the racial overtones bother me as much as the theft of the money.

The_Conductor

eastwest wrote: »

That's why I asked first! I'm thinking of involving the media in this one though, the racial overtones bother me as much as the theft of the money.

Get the media involved by all means- but we'd rather it not be discussed/dissected here. We've had a few issues with litigious comments in the past and moderators have been warned to steer clear of contentious issues.

Best of good luck to your friend- I hope she gets her deposit back.

As per above in this thread- if she has not already done so- she should immediately commence a PRTB dispute process.