Management company issue

aaron_d

Hi

My girlfriend is living in an apartment and the landlord has not being paying the water bills for two years and they have told my girlfriend that they will be changing the locks to the building, locking her out. She has paid till middle of november. Can the management company do this and she has been given one days notice?

Aaron

mbiking123

Hello

According to Robert Gogan (2008)'The Essential Guide to Apartment Living in Ireland' M1 publications

On p7 - the Leesee has the right to travel through the common areas of your development to get to your apartment

Contact the managing agent and explain your circumstances, possibly come to an arrangement that the key will be given back to them

Expalin that this is not the correct course of action and the lease allows them to charge interest and bring them landlord to court and get him in Stubbs Gazette. Possibly a court ruling will get them to cough up

regards

athtrasna

The tenant's issue is with the landlord, not the management agent. She can try appealing to the agent but bearing in mind the changes affect other people in the building and the locksmith has probably been booked and new keys distributed...success is unlikely.

The tenant actually has no rights to any service from the management agent or the management company, the relationship is with the landlord. If the MA gave her new keys, who's to say the landlord wouldn't get a copy. Changing the locks would be a last resort, the landlord must owe serious money.

I feel sorry that your girlfriend is in this situation, the landlord would have been notified about this and they are the ones who are doing this to her. She needs to make contact immediately.

aaron_d

Thanks for that. But is that an official rule though?

aaron_d

The landlord owns all the apartments there and isnt returning the management calls. They gave her one days notice which is pretty poor form even if they are allowed to do it.

athtrasna

The rule (and the law) is that the landlord is a member of the management company, they have signed legally binding documents to state that they will pay the fees. Failure to pay fees means that they are in breach of this lease and can be excluded from management company services (such as insurance, and refuse) and property. The MC actually owns the common areas so can restrict access to those, they can't change the lock on the apartment but can change the block access locks.

The management agent is simply carrying out directions from the directors of the MC and/or an AGM. They would have taken legal advise before doing something so drastic.

uberwolf

they may even be pretty restricted about what they are allowed to communicate to her. Their relationship is with the landlord, who was doubtless told about this prospect and didn't pass it on.

It is poor form, and there are better ways of dealing with these things.

athtrasna

aaron_d wrote: »

The landlord owns all the apartments there and isnt returning the management calls. They gave her one days notice which is pretty poor form even if they are allowed to do it.

Technically they have no relationship with or responsibility to the tenant. Any notice is above and beyond what they would be obliged to give.

mbiking123

Under section 187 of the residental tenancies act 2004, if a tenant makes a written complaint to the owner for something which the MA is responsible for then the landlord must forward it on to the MA. The directors are also obliged to reply indicating the steps, if any that were taken to deal with the complaint. Landlord is obliged to forward this letter to the tenant.

athtrasna

mbiking123 wrote: »

Under section 187 of the residental tenancies act 2004, if a tenant makes a written complaint to the owner for something which the MA is responsible for then the landlord must forward it on to the MA. The directors are also obliged to reply indicating the steps, if any that were taken to deal with the complaint. Landlord is obliged to forward this letter to the tenant.

That isn't much use to this tenant, it's almost the entirely opposite situation. The landlord is obliged to contact the MA on behalf of the tenant, the MA is not obliged to contact the tenant without contact from the landlord.

mbiking123

The management agent is simply carrying out directions from the directors of the MC and/or an AGM. They would have taken legal advise before doing something so drastic.

Galway Property Management may be in trouble, need to be very careful what you do when it comes to taking action with regard to collecting unpaid management fees

The Commission for Energy Regulation is to investigate the issue of management companies cutting off electricity to apartment tenants where a landlord has not paid management fees.

Last week, Galway Property Management cut off the electricity supply of tenants in Kilmainham Square, Dublin, where the owners of the apartments allegedly owed management fees.

The tenants received a letter dated last Tuesday, saying that ESB services would be ‘‘withdrawn by the management company’’ the following day. The letter, signed by Galway Property Management managing director Joe Gaffney, added: ‘‘I suggest that you contact either your landlord or letting agent as soon as possible, as we have already advised the landlord/letting agent of the situation."

Lantus

If the same landlord owns every apartment there as a previsou tenant indicated then who is the director of the MC that is advising changing the locks? Typically only owners can be drectors so it's odd he would deny himself access to his own property's.

I would say that the MC needs to of shown that it took all reasonable actions prior to this action. That may well include taking to court. I doubt that the courts would deem it reasonable that people be excluded from their properties just because a bill has not been paid.

It's not fair to use a tenant as a victim to provoke the landlord to take action.

However, that being said the common place non payment of landlord buy to let who dont live at the property is well documented. They are happy to take the rents so they should be made to pay the fee's.

Marcusm

This seems bizarre, I would not have thought that the MC has any entitlement to breach the lease which is what is occurring if they deny entry to the lessee, its subtenant etc. It is true that the lessee (the sub tenant's landlord) is in breach by not paying the service charges but the usual remedy for that would be court action followed by bailiff followed by a court application for forfeiture of the lease in extremis.

There are likely to be issues arising in the event that the MC acts to cut off the water or even the mains electricity apply. The penalties for interference with those services can, I believe, include criminal-like penalties.

ABajaninCork

I note from the OP's opening post that the landlord has not been paying the water bills.

I thought there wasn't as yet any water rates here in Ireland. Do you have to pay water for an apartment building here then or is the OP in the North?

Just a bit confused...