Gave deposit on condition

Owen101

Hi, Does anyone know the position of where a verbal agreement is in place regarding return of a booking deposit from landlord to potential tennant?

The situation is my gf viewed an apartment, liked it, and gave full deposit on condition that the landlord would return it if I found it un-satisfactory. Landlord said 'no problem' regarding this point and gave her receipt for deposit. The apartment wasnt satisfactory and we then sought return of our full deposit the next day. The landlord avoided all calls, wouldnt answer, until we eventually met up 2 weeks later to return us our deposit. He gave some excuses to explain lack of contact (holiday, at a match etc) and then said he was now down 2 weeks rent and 'to be fair' would split the difference and instead withhold 1 weeks rent out of our deposit. A day or two ok but a full weeks rent seems a bit rich.

Does this seem right to you and if not would small claims be best course of action?

thanks for your input.

Zamboni

Did you take the three weeks deposit back off him?

You can look at it as a lesson learned or you can hunt him down and take the other week off him.

Ray Palmer

Verbal agreements are worth the paper they are printed on

Riskymove

I take it you paid cash

Probably a mistake in the circumstances

godtabh

Owen101 wrote: »

Hi, Does anyone know the position of where a verbal agreement is in place regarding return of a booking deposit from landlord to potential tennant?

The situation is my gf viewed an apartment, liked it, and gave full deposit on condition that the landlord would return it if I found it un-satisfactory. Landlord agreed and said 'no problem' and gave her receipt for deposit. The apartment wasnt satisfactory and we then sought return of our full deposit the next day. The landlord avoided all calls, wouldnt answer, until we eventually met up 2 weeks later to return us our deposit. He gave some excuses to explain lack of contact (holiday, at a match etc) and then said he was now down 2 weeks rent and 'to be fair' would split the difference and instead withhold 1 weeks rent out of our deposit. A day or two ok but a full weeks rent seems a bit rich.

Does this seem right to you and if not would small claims be best course of action?

thanks for your input.

Wait what? She saw an apartment and liked it. Put a deposit down. Then 24 hours later it was un-satisfactory. A lot more going on here I'd say

Danbo!

godtabh wrote: »

Wait what? She saw an apartment and liked it. Put a deposit down. Then 24 hours later it was un-satisfactory. A lot more going on here I'd say

She liked it, he didn't.

BostonB

If he wasn't contactable he couldn't rent out the apartment anyway. The fact he lost rent is nothing to do with the OP. Hes ripping them off.

I think it has to go to the PRTB. Not the small claims court. You've nothing to lose by trying anyway. The PRTB tends to be quite fair they'd probably award you most of the deposit, less a day or so. But you might wait a long time to get it back.

Owen101

godtabh wrote: »

Wait what? She saw an apartment and liked it. Put a deposit down. Then 24 hours later it was un-satisfactory. A lot more going on here I'd say

Just to add the un-satisfactory reason was there was no proper parking on the premises. She didnt note that at the time of handing over deposit. Upon realisation of this I immediately sought return of the full deposit she gave him.

Owen101

Zamboni wrote: »

Did you take the three weeks deposit back off him?

You can look at it as a lesson learned or you can hunt him down and take the other week off him.

Yes got 3 weeks back off him so was something. It was a lesson learned of course but still a full weeks rent was a bit much when he spent that week on holidays and a match after we tried to notify him we couldnt take the apt.
I assume nothing but he must surely have at least picked up the numerous voice mails, texts and an email from daft over the 2 week period to say we wanted our deposit back.

Owen101

I thought the prtb is for landlords only ? There was no lease signed or anything. She just got receipt for the full deposit paid to him.

Also if I go to prtb do I need his full contact home addess or will the address of the rental premises do?

cheers for the help.

horgan_p

I would say put it down as an expensive lesson learned.
you could try asking for BER certs , make mutterings about revenue,threshold and the prtb but where would it get you.
I'd take the 3 weeks back and be glad you didn't have serious problems further down the line with him.
It seems that hobby landlords are now turning into desperate landlords (I know of one who is relying on rent coming in as a main source of income) who have no leeway financially for repairs or paying to replace fittings etc.


Walk away OP and be smarter the next time.

not even wrong

Owen101 wrote: »

and then said he was now down 2 weeks rent

His fault not yours. Don't let this scumbag rip you off, tell him if you don't get the entire deposit back you'll be taking a case to the PRTB and small claims court, in that order.

Owen101 wrote: »

I thought the prtb is for landlords only ?

I don't know where you got that idea.

odds_on

I doubt if the PRTB will do anything as there was no tenancy agreement. They can only deal with situations where there is/was a tenancy agreement - it's in their remit.

Zamboni

Owen101 wrote: »

I thought the prtb is for landlords only ? There was no lease signed or anything. She just got receipt for the full deposit paid to him.

Also if I go to prtb do I need his full contact home addess or will the address of the rental premises do?

cheers for the help.

Did you give him a receipt for the 3 weeks he returned?
It would be funny if you pursued him through the PRTB for the 4 weeks and denied he gave you a cent back
Not something I would condone of course but it might be a way to leverage the other week back from him.

Owen101

Zamboni wrote: »

Did you give him a receipt for the 3 weeks he returned?
It would be funny if you pursued him through the PRTB for the 4 weeks and denied he gave you a cent back
Not something I would condone of course but it might be a way to leverage the other week back from him.

No I didnt actually good suggestion.

As someone else said though there is no tenancy agreement in place here so not sure if the PRTB will be of use. Will try them 1st anyway and see how goes.

BostonB

Small court doesn't deal with deposit issues.

I'd assume the exchange of deposit is a tenancy agreement itself

What else is it an agreement about?

Kosseegan

BostonB wrote: »

Small court doesn't deal with deposit issues.

I'd assume the exchange of deposit is a tenancy agreement itself

What else is it an agreement about?

Wrong.

PHILIP M. HOWLIN
.v.
THOMAS F. POWER (DUBLIN) LIMITED

Judgment McWilliam J. delivered the 5th May.1978 High Court

Payment of A DEPOSIT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THERE IS A CONCLUDED CONTRACT.

BostonB

I did say assume.

Well if it falls outside the small courts and the prtb, time to go to a solicitor then.

Milk & Honey

It is the supply of a service. There is a chance the Small Claims Court would entertain it.

BostonB

Dunno it specifically mentions deposits.

Claims for the non-return of a rent deposit for certain kinds of rented properties, such as, a holiday home or a flat in a premises where the landlord also lives. ...

The above doesn't apply but the next bit does...

The Private Residential Tenancies Board handles such claims for the mainstream private rented housing sector.

odds_on

Quote:

The Private Residential Tenancies Board handles such claims for the mainstream private rented housing sector.

As I said before, there was no tenancy agreement (a deposit does not constitute a a lease - Rent paid in advance would indicate that there was a tenancy agreement; therefore, nothing could be registered with the PRTB who can only intervene where there is a tenancy.

BostonB

I don't think its that clear cut.

A tenancy may be oral or in writing or implied

Tenants can avail of the dispute resolution service even though the tenancy may not be registered with the PRTB, provided the tenancy is not exempt from registration under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004