Advice on landlord problems

Lorri_L

Hi, im just looking for some advice on where I stand with my landlord.

A bit of history, when I moved in there was issues with the previous tenant and the landlord badmouthed her and said several nasty things about her to me. I didn't put much pass on it at the time. So in november my heating broke. It actually broke the first night we had bad snow. I contacted landlord and told her, she said she would sort out a plumber. Then started avoiding my calls. It was the end of January when I finally hassled them enough to get the heating fixed.

I recieve a cheque for rent allowance and because it arrives in the post, my rent is sometimes a couple of days late. Landlord was always aware of this and it was fine.

So I contacted her a couple of weeks back saying I was moving out at the end of my lease (next week) and she said that was fine. And then she rang me yesterday saying that the rent for January wasn't paid. I pay the money in cash into her bank and did that month as well. Shes now been on the phone this morning getting quite annoyed saying she needs the full rent today because they're in arrears. I suggested she could use my deposit for the moment and she lost it saying she cant and didnt give a full reason why.

My main problem is that I haven't got my reciepts for payment. I stupidly kept them all in my purse which i lost a few weeks back.

Where do I stand with this? I'm getting so stressed out and dont know what to do. I'm a single parent and cant afford to pay double rent for one month

D3PO

hang on something doesnt sound right here.

If you paid Jans rent why would you offer to use your deposit to cover it ?

Nobody would do that, it makes zero logical sense. The natural conclusion to a comment like that is that you didnt pay the rent why else would you offer to pay a "second time"

Lorri_L

I didn't offer it up but she was screaming at me on the phone and when I said I would look into it (dont know how I can) she went mad saying she needs the money now and her account is in arrears. So I said to use my deposit for the moment until we get it straightened out.

alibaba12

Lorri_L wrote: »

I didn't offer it up but she was screaming at me on the phone and when I said I would look into it (dont know how I can) she went mad saying she needs the money now and her account is in arrears. So I said to use my deposit for the moment until we get it straightened out.

The landlord is not entitled to your rent in advance. You rent is due on day you move in and each month in advance, thats why you pay a deposit and a months rent upfront.

If you did pay Januarys rent like you were supposed to then the next payment is not due until February for the month ahead. If the landlord is in arrears then that unfortunately is their problem.

However if you didnt pay it or were withholding the rent as the heating wasnt fixed on time then this is wrong. There are guidlines on the PRTB website about LL's & their duties to tennants and vice versa.

Hope all goes well.

Lorri_L

Thanks but thats not really my issue.

The problem is that although I have paid all rent up to date, I have no proof for any payments as the receipts from the lodgement forms were lost with my purse. There is an amount on their statement equal to the rent but they are saying they lodged this money themselves.

Basically, its my word against theirs on this and I just dont know where I can go from here?

convert

Your landlord's arrears is nothing to do with you. It's their problem, and they can't blame you for that.

Did you ask your landlord why they're only raising the issue now, and didn't mention it back in January?

When lodging the cash to the account, do you use any reference (such as your name, or 'rent', or something to identify it) - most banks will ask if it's a cash lodgement, or do you use an express lodgement?

OS119

Lorri_L wrote: »

...There is an amount on their statement equal to the rent but they are saying they lodged this money themselves.

Basically, its my word against theirs on this and I just dont know where I can go from here?

if you're moving out anyway i wouldn't worry about it.

certainly the LL could could take you to court for the 'unpaid' rent as a civil debt, but this would entail them showing the judge the bank statement. it shows a person - you - making the exact same payment at or about the same date every month, with a disputed payment the right time and for the right amount and with no immediate attempt by the LL to resolve the issue.

personally, i can't see any judge believing the LL that they, purely by coinidence, put the right amount of money into the account at the right time while you took that same amount out of your own account but for once decided to spend it on coke and hookers.

he'll put the statements together, put two and two together and make four.

filmbuffboy

sorry to say this but you may lose your deposit if you have no way of proving that you payed your rent.

let this be a lesson to you to always keep receipts from now on! also, look on the bright side, if the landlord didnt care enough about her tenants to make sure heating was sorted during irelands coldest winter in decades then youre better off parting ways with her.

contact threshold and see what can be done about it. if you lodged money into her account there would be a record with the bank there about it.

hope it all works out for you!

Kenevil

when you lodged this money into your landlords account did the slip of paper you filled in not have a line on it for who it was paid in by?

BostonB

You should have a rent book. Both you and the landlord should have insisted on it.

The_Morrigan

OP, the banks keep electronic copies of all documents they process (lodgements, withdrawal, cheques etc) if you go into the bank in question that you paid your rent, explain the situation nicely and calmly they may provide copies of the dockets - which should be in your handwriting with your signature on it.

the_syco

The_Morrigan wrote: »

OP, the banks keep electronic copies of all documents they process (lodgements, withdrawal, cheques etc) if you go into the bank in question that you paid your rent, explain the situation nicely and calmly they may provide copies of the dockets - which should be in your handwriting with your signature on it.

As it's not the OP's bank, I'm pretty sure they'll quote the data protection act as the reason why they won't do this.

The_Morrigan

the_syco wrote: »

As it's not the OP's bank, I'm pretty sure they'll quote the data protection act as the reason why they won't do this.

Do you not think that the Op is entitled to a copy of the lodgement slip which should, if filled out correctly,also include their data?