Advice: Very Stressful Situation

theredletter

Hi there,

I am going to start a new thread detailing everything that has happened since moving into the accommodation I'm living in at the moment. I'd really appreciate your advice.

First of all, for context's sake, I've lived in various rented accommodation and never had problems with the landlords... I'm generally a helpful tenant, I hope!

It all started in December. I was trying to move to a closer area to where I am attending college courses. I found a perfect college house, I had thought, that seemed very warm, organised and had a very nice landlord. The landlord told me that he wasn't a landlord, per sé, but that he would deal with our complaints and relay any information to the owner, his aunt. The situation included would be non-lease, and 350 every month including a 350 deposit. I agreed to it, and the conditions was that a month's notice was given if I wanted to move out. I said that seemed fair enough.

A few days later the landlord asked me when I wanted to move in as the tenant I was replacing was going to need a few extra days. I was a bit miffed at this, but agreed to holding out a few days. Finally, a day was reached and I brought all my stuff up to the house to meet the landlord at a specified time. He wasn't there (and I had paid the rent/ deposit at this point). He then texts me telling me there was an emergency but he'll be there that night. The side door happened to be open, so I put all my things in the living room and took the side key with me and informed the landlord who said that was fine.

I then noticed a few things were wrong with my room. The curtain poll was broken and the windows were dodgy. One wouldn't open at all and the other wouldn't close. I also found questionable things left behind by the previous tenant... The landlord had told me he wouldn't have had time to clean the room as I was *pressuring* him to get into it, but I told him that it was fine, that I'd clean it again. I found a lot of things in the room (books left behind, clothes etc.), the kitchen (gone off food left on the shelves, in the fridge/ freezer etc.) and the sitting room (phonebooks from the 1990s, broken DVD cases etc.) and the bathroom (around 20 empty shampoo bottles) . I cleared the house of all the junk and asked the landlord what the deal was with rubbish - he said he didn't deal with it and it was up to the house to sort out refuse. Fair enough, I thought, and organised bin service as the other tenants were using another method to getting rid of it until then. He also told me he'd fix the blind at some point. Never happened.

Then some work was getting done on the house in February, carpets were being laid and a few other things. I was off during that day and was asked by the LL to let the guy in and 'offer him a cup of tea', which I did happily. I also had to let the delivery guy in with the carpet, and another two other days with the carpet layer.

Another new tenant was getting annoyed at things he was finding broken (a window fell out of the frame at one point..), and then other things. Particularly, he was annoyed that he was paying a little less than me (-10e or so) for a single room. The bathroom hadn't been cleaned in years, i'd say, and the toilet bowl was BLACK. I managed to get most of it off with cleaning products I bought. This was annoying us at this stage. Then we noticed that a lot of windows were either locked or not opening, that there was a fungus growing on one of the older carpets, that there was a leak coming from the washing machine etc. etc. Our skylights in the kitchen then went and they're hard enough to put in and so I asked the LL to do it for us - he said it was up to us and then eventually did it VERY relunctantly.

Finally, it all came to ahead when he told us he was getting the surface of the house repainted and that some of the walls. He wanted us to vacate when it suited us for four days as it was a 'messy enough job'. I have another topic about that here, so won't get into that. Then he told his his brother was the painter and that he wanted us to clean the house when he was evaluating the cost because he didn't want to be embarrassed of our cleanliness.. Although I had cleaned the entire house after the last tenants. I said yeah I'd do it, and I cleaned around a bit but was in a rush and had to leave. He gave us one day's notice to clean the house, by the way. The following day I realised I couldn't leave the house when he had asked and told him could he put me up in a hotel or whatever so I can be near the college. He said he would change the date rather than doing that, fine by me! But then I asked was the house clean enough for his brother. He then gets angry saying that the house better be spick and span when we leave or we'll lose our deposit... Even though the house was dreadful when I first moved in and cleaned it. I said it will be cleaner when I leave then when I arrived...

In fairness, we ended up making a list of all the problems with the house and he is now properly tackling them one by one, but after all that he has proved to be completely incapable of being a LL. I gave him two months notice yesterday because it is stressing me that much. He said that the house better be left in the way I found it which angered me SO much. Today, another tenant calls me (as I'm away atm) saying a work guy has taken some of the roof off???!? And now plaster was ALL over the kitchen...

I'm at my wit's end. I don't think he is registered with the PRTB, and I didn't sign anything/ photograph anything as I didn't realise it was going to get this bad. I pay on the 12th of every month.. I am due to pay soon and thinking of giving a month's notice rather than the two months.. Am I entitled to anything even, or do I even have rights even though I didn't sign anything and he isn't registered? I had witnesses to everything; me getting the conditions of the tenancy verbally, the state the house was in when we arrived and evrything else that has happened. One tenant has already left due to it being so bad. IN comparison to other houses in the area I'm probably paying over 50 more than most other single rooms...

Very, VERY annoyed.

Any advice?

ztoical

How could you not see how dirty the house was before moving in? Give your months notice and either pay the rent and get ready to fight to get your deposit back or don't pay the last months, use your deposit to cover it and move out. Seriously what are you waiting for?

theredletter

ztoical wrote: »

How could you not see how dirty the house was before moving in? Give your months notice and either pay the rent and get ready to fight to get your deposit back or don't pay the last months, use your deposit to cover it and move out. Seriously what are you waiting for?

I'll give my month's notice tomorrow. I will pay for two week's rent on the 12th and then ask her to give me the deposit I'm due. I'm waiting for students to leave so I can get a better house for over the summer, I suppose. There are few around the college at the moment.

The house was dirty, but it was more hidden.. Like the toilet seat was down and all the food was hidden away, ya see.. He told me he got 'professional cleaners' in before I moved in. No way is that true.

I'm going to ring the university's residence office on Monday, Citizen's Advice and the PRTB.. see what they say.

Do ye think I'm being petty? I think since another tenant has moved out it's clear I'm not the only one thinking this.

Pkiernan

I am always surprised at how people don't understand their basic rights.

OP - your LL is breaking the law.

Tell him you want all your money back, or you will report him to the PTRB, the SEIA (for not having a BER Certificate) and the Inland Revenue.

You say you are annoyed - then I hope you do something about it.

theredletter

Pkiernan wrote: »

I am always surprised at how people don't understand their basic rights.

OP - your LL is breaking the law.

Tell him you want all your money back, or you will report him to the PTRB, the SEIA (for not having a BER Certificate) and the Inland Revenue.

You say you are annoyed - then I hope you do something about it.

I thought I might be breaking the law having been living there, ya see. I am going to give my month's notice tomorrow and ask for the deposit back. If there is any resistence I will threaten reporting him (but I'll do this regardless after I move out).

I know it's crazy that most people don't know their rights, but they're hardly readily available (particularly to college students who don't have a clue).

I'm the kind of person who wants to know what's going on, so if you can link me stuff I'd be happy to get informed

irishdude11

This landlord is not going to give your deposit back. The amount of LLs ripping peoples deposits these days is crazy and if ever there was case where someone was almost guaranteed to get a deposit robbed its yours. No lease, a dump of a house, and a cowboy landlord is not a good combination. The chancer LL has as good as said it, saying that you will lose the deposit if the place isn't 'spick and span' when you leave, even though it was an absolute sh*thole when you moved in and he has got you to clean the entire place. He is taking you for a complete mug, it would cost him hundreds to get a kip like that cleaned and here he is getting you to do it for free twice...

Do not pay any more rent on this place. Give your months notice and tell the LL he/she can use the deposit as the last months rent. That is the approach alot of people are taking these days, myself included. And dont listen to him if he says he won't accept this and you 'have' to pay the rent. You don't and there is sfa he can do about it, no matter how much he protests.

theredletter

Too true! OK plan of action is to not play him on the 12th of April as I usually do. Do I say I can't pay until the next week and then move out? Or what? I'm afraid he will change the locks and dump my stuff out or something..I could move out next week but I'd be down 350 euro.. I do have electricity to pay, though, and I'd say that's going to be a huge bill this period..

So is that a good POA? Not give notice and leave on the 12th? I'd be annoyed not getting my 350 to be honest, I know the other tenant who got out of there hasn't received his yet either (apparently because he stayed three days more than he intended, he's going to have three days worth of rent deducted.).

Also, I'm right to report him to the PTRB regardless, yes? I'll call them on Monday to inquire about it further.

Thanks for all the replies. Delighted with the advice. Calming down and getting into fighting mode

BostonB

How you moved into such a kip I just don't understand.

But can I borrow €50?

theredletter

BostonB wrote: »

How you moved into such a kip I just don't understand.

But can I borrow €50?

Yeah, that's grand! Sure send me your offshore bank details.

Yes, BostonB... he saw me coming.

I moved onto it out of TOTAL desperation.

BostonB

Lesson learned so.