No word on deposit back.

Maowee

Im looking for some advice with regards to my landlord and deposit.I moved out of my rented accommodation 2weeks ago but still have not heard anything about my deposit or any deductions being made. upon leaving the house I ensured the place was as clean as the day I moved in,scrubbing fridges,ovens etc. there was some damage caused to the carpet, a burn, which I know my landlord will be keeping some deposit for as it is above 'general wear and tear' this I agree with. however after contacting the agency twice to be told landlady was still looking I have heard nothing back and am in desperate need of the money.but now I see the house being advertised to move in immediately. Can they move someone in when they haven't given back our deposit yet? how much do landlords keep to replace carpets?it was a cheap carpet around 7.95euro sq metre(sitting room about 10 sq metre).Our full deposit was 1,300 euro (3bed)they are also arguing about a pet on premises.We do not own a pet but were taking care of a friends cat for 5days as she had go away.If they cannot prove cat is ours can they hold it against us? We have no copy of our contract and are renting through an agency. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Agent J

1) There is no relation to them moving someone in and your deposit. However it may not hurt to raise it next time you are speaking to them. "Well you obviously have it fixed up before someone else moved in so you can take it off the deposit & provide the reciepts..)

2) Ring them tomorrow & ask when. Get a firm commitment. If they dont then ask to speak to some one else. Be polite but firm and feel free to make repeated phonecalls.

3) Any deductions they make you should ask for a reciept. If they refuse tell them you'll take it to the PRTB. They have to be able to justify any deduction

4) All else fails escalate it to PRTB & contact threshold. Fair warning though PRTB take forever.

I have no idea bout the pet. What are they arguing? Damage? Hair?

I would be expecting the deposit back within a week or two. Only time i dealt with an Agency it took about 3 weeks. (Never again...)

Agent J

Additional. I know this is too late for this time but...

For future reference take photos on the last day you leave a place always. It's for your own protection incase you ever end up in a deposit dispute.

ProudDUB

Maowee wrote: »

Our full deposit was 1,300 euro (3bed)they are also arguing about a pet on premises.We do not own a pet but were taking care of a friends cat for 5days as she had go away.If they cannot prove cat is ours can they hold it against us?

They do not need to prove who owns the cat, just evidence that the property was damaged by the cat being there in the first place. Was there a "No Pets policy" set out in your lease? It will be hard for you to say that no there was not (easy for the LL to say yes there was) if you don't have a copy of your lease/contract. (Why don't you btw? It is a legally binding document. Are you sure that none of you asked for a copy of it?)

The smell of cat urine is very, very hard to get out of carpets or furniture even if they are professionally cleaned. That could be a factor in the delay in getting your deposit back. Was the furniture damaged by the cats claws? What do you mean by " they are arguing about a pet on the premises?". What have they said specifically? There must be some sort of evidence left behind of the cat being there, other wise how would they know about it?

belle2e

Landlords are bstards.
this one deducted me and my girlfriend 200 euro on or deposit,even do when had the place shining.
We never paid the ESB for 278 that was in 2009
leaving us up a total of 78 and her being a **** for trying to rob people.
I also took a crap up in her attic

petethebrick

Lesson learned - always tell the landlord to use your deposit for the last months rent. Tell them to send you invoices for any damage repair and you'll sort them out. Anyway, all the best getting it back this time.

djimi

petethebrick wrote: »

Lesson learned - always tell the landlord to use your deposit for the last months rent. Tell them to send you invoices for any damage repair and you'll sort them out. Anyway, all the best getting it back this time.

This is illegal and is extremely bad advise. Some landlords may allow you to use your deposit as the last months rent, but the vast majority wont, and if you try this stunt then you are deemed to have not paid your last months rent, and they are both fully entitled to keep your deposit and persue you for the last months rent.

djimi

OP you need to write a letter to the landlord/agent requesting an update and send it via registered post. If you do not get a responce in reasonable time (a week at most) then send another letter outlining your intent to raise the issue with the PRTB.

Do everything in writing; making phone calls is not official and is not traceable.

Jesus Shaves

djimi wrote: »

This is illegal and is extremely bad advise. Some landlords may allow you to use your deposit as the last months rent, but the vast majority wont, and if you try this stunt then you are deemed to have not paid your last months rent, and they are both fully entitled to keep your deposit and persue you for the last months rent.

So is withholding a deposit for no valid reason!

djimi

darokane wrote: »

So is withholding a deposit for no valid reason!

Two wrongs dont make a right. By withholding the last months rent you are going from being in the right to being in the wrong...

Jesus Shaves

djimi wrote: »

Two wrongs dont make a right. By withholding the last months rent you are going from being in the right to being in the wrong...

True, But landlords withholding deposits results in more people using their deposits as the last months rent, It's a vicious cycle.

djimi

darokane wrote: »

True, But landlords withholding deposits results in more people using their deposits as the last months rent, It's a vicious cycle.

Im sure it is, but it doesnt make any sense to put yourself in a position where you are definately in the wrong just because you might end up hard done by. If you withhold the last months rent and the landlord persues you, then you could end up losing both your deposit and still owing the last months rent. In effect you end up owing two months for the sake of trying to get back one.

petethebrick

djimi wrote: »

This is illegal and is extremely bad advise. Some landlords may allow you to use your deposit as the last months rent, but the vast majority wont, and if you try this stunt then you are deemed to have not paid your last months rent, and they are both fully entitled to keep your deposit and persue you for the last months rent.

Nonsense, it may be illegal but good luck to any landlord trying to fight it. I've done it many times.....
Of course if I have a good relationship with my landlord I wouldn't feel the need to resort to doing this. If I have a feeling I'm going to get shafted on my deposit there is no way I'm paying last month's rent. Of course I settle all outstanding bills and would happily pay for replacing anything I was perceived to have broken or damaged provided satisfactory receipts were provided.

Jesus Shaves

petethebrick wrote: »

Nonsense, it may be illegal but good luck to any landlord trying to fight it. I've done it many times.....
Of course if I have a good relationship with my landlord I wouldn't feel the need to resort to doing this. If I have a feeling I'm going to get shafted on my deposit there is no way I'm paying last month's rent. Of course I settle all outstanding bills and would happily pay for replacing anything I was perceived to have broken or damaged provided satisfactory receipts were provided.

Exactly, My past landlords behaviour towards me and houses i was renting have made me make the choice to do this on more than one occasion.

OS119

djimi wrote: »

...If you withhold the last months rent and the landlord persues you, then you could end up losing both your deposit and still owing the last months rent. In effect you end up owing two months for the sake of trying to get back one.

very unlikely - the law adjudicates these matters on a 'cost' basis, not a 'punishment' basis. therefore, assuming that the property is fine and there's no money needed from the deposit by the LL to rectify damage/bills, the court will just say 'you've got the deposit to cover the last months rent - jog on'.

the chances of any sentient LL persuing a former tenant for the last months rent when they have the intact deposit to cover that cost is minimal - and the chances of getting a court to authorise recovery action in that circumstances is zero.

i'm a LL, and TBH its what i'd advise any of my friends or family to do - there are, sadly, too many LL's out there who will try and scam the tenant out of the deposit either because they don't understand what is and is not covered by the deposit, or they are just greedy, for me to do otherwise.

djimi

petethebrick wrote: »

Nonsense, it may be illegal but good luck to any landlord trying to fight it. I've done it many times.....
Of course if I have a good relationship with my landlord I wouldn't feel the need to resort to doing this. If I have a feeling I'm going to get shafted on my depositthere is no way I'm paying last month's rent.Of course I settle all outstanding bills and would happily pay for replacing anything I was perceived to have broken or damaged provided satisfactory receipts were provided.

They might not persue you but whats to say they wont? They bring a case against you and its said that you didnt pay your last months rent then you saying you suspected you might get shafted is not going to be a very valid excuse. You dont pay your last months rent then you are liable to lose your deposit, and still end up owing the last months rent if persued. Each to their own but personally Id not be looking to go down that road in case I came across the one landlord who would take me all the way for the money.

Jesus Shaves

djimi wrote: »

They might not persue you but whats to say they wont? They bring a case against you and its said that you didnt pay your last months rent then you saying you suspected you might get shafted is not going to be a very valid excuse. You dont pay your last months rent then you are liable to lose your deposit, and still end up owing the last months rent if persued. Each to their own but personally Id not be looking to go down that road in case I came across the one landlord who would take me all the way for the money.

If you had come across landlords who in the past shafted you for the deposit would you think the same?

djimi

OS119 wrote: »

very unlikely - the law adjudicates these matters on a 'cost' basis, not a 'punishment' basis. therefore, assuming that the property is fine and there's no money needed from the deposit by the LL to rectify damage/bills, the court will just say 'you've got the deposit to cover the last months rent - jog on'.

the chances of any sentient LL persuing a former tenant for the last months rent when they have the intact deposit to cover that cost is minimal - and the chances of getting a court to authorise recovery action in that circumstances is zero.

i'm a LL, and TBH its what i'd advise any of my friends or family to do - there are, sadly, too many LL's out there who will try and scam the tenant out of the deposit either because they don't understand what is and is not covered by the deposit, or they are just greedy, for me to do otherwise.

Its in my lease that I lose my deposit if I break the lease (which not paying my rent would certainly fall under). I would assume that my landlord is within his rights to look for the money owed on top of that.

They probably wont end up out of pocket by any more than the amount of the deposit, but my initial point is that its pretty stupid advice to be giving out as it could lead to a whole lot more trouble for the tenant, and its puts them from a position of being in the right to being in the wrong should a dispute arise. Even if its only a small chance of it going wrong, if someone wants advice then they should get given the proper advice, not some "this is what I do and Ive always gotten away with it" nonsense.

djimi

darokane wrote: »

If you had come across landlords who in the past shafted you for the deposit would you think the same?

Maybe I would, but its not the advice Id be handing out to people. I cant say hand on heart that in the case of the OP their landlord wont persue them for the rent should they simply not bother paying it, and considering most leases Ive ever seen have a clause in them clearly stating that the deposit cannot be used to cover the last months rent, I certainly wouldnt be handing out advice that instructs people to potentially break the terms of their signed lease.

gurramok

djimi wrote: »

They might not persue you but whats to say they wont? They bring a case against you and its said that you didnt pay your last months rent then you saying you suspected you might get shafted is not going to be a very valid excuse. You dont pay your last months rent then you are liable to lose your deposit, and still end up owing the last months rent if persued. Each to their own but personally Id not be looking to go down that road in case I came across the one landlord who would take me all the way for the money.

Ain't gonna happen. Is there a landlord out there who will pursue a tenant where the costs of the action exceed the 1,300euro cost in this instance? The only case a landlord might do it is if their property is criminally destroyed by the tenant and that's not very common.

Maowee

ProudDUB wrote: »

They do not need to prove who owns the cat, just evidence that the property was damaged by the cat being there in the first place. Was there a "No Pets policy" set out in your lease? It will be hard for you to say that no there was not (easy for the LL to say yes there was) if you don't have a copy of your lease/contract. (Why don't you btw? It is a legally binding document. Are you sure that none of you asked for a copy of it?)

The smell of cat urine is very, very hard to get out of carpets or furniture even if they are professionally cleaned. That could be a factor in the delay in getting your deposit back. Was the furniture damaged by the cats claws? What do you mean by " they are arguing about a pet on the premises?". What have they said specifically? There must be some sort of evidence left behind of the cat being there, other wise how would they know about it?

There was absolutly no damage done by the cat and it never urianated on anything was fully litter box trained.the house was well aired after she left.They are arguing that we had a pet living on the premises.But I cant 100% remember about the pet policy in contract.He was meant to give us a copy but never did. The cat was there a week at most and only reason they know is because the handy-man came over to fix the sink and seen her.This was 6 months ago and they are only saying it to us now?there is no evidence of haor,smell or damage by a pet

Victor

belle2e wrote: »

Landlords are bstards.
this one deducted me and my girlfriend 200 euro on or deposit,even do when had the place shining.
We never paid the ESB for 278 that was in 2009
leaving us up a total of 78 and her being a **** for trying to rob people.
I also took a crap up in her attic

Can we keep it on topic and constructive please?

pawnacide

gurramok wrote: »

Ain't gonna happen. Is there a landlord out there who will pursue a tenant where the costs of the action exceed the 1,300euro cost in this instance? The only case a landlord might do it is if their property is criminally destroyed by the tenant and that's not very common.

Landlord can use the PTRB just the same as a tenant for virtually no cost.

gurramok

pawnacide wrote: »

Landlord can use the PTRB just the same as a tenant for virtually no cost.

Yes, the PRTB will rule down the line. And then on non-payment from the tenant it goes to the circuit court as a civil action, correct? Hence extra cost and time.

pawnacide

gurramok wrote: »

Yes, the PRTB will rule down the line. And then on non-payment from the tenant it goes to the circuit court as a civil action, correct? Hence extra cost and time.

The PTRB will take the case .. not the Landlord.

19. What are the consequences if I do not comply with an Order?
If you do not comply with an order the PRTB or the other party may initiate court proceedings against you.

a. The PRTB or the other party may apply to the Circuit Court for an Order directing you to comply with the Determination Order of the PRTB under section 124 of the Act. Please note that if the PRTB succeeds in obtaining an Order of the Circuit Court and there is a continuing failure to comply, it is open to the PRTB to apply for an Order for attachment and committal of the non-compliant party. While such matters rest with the discretion of the Court, an application for attachment and committal may result in imprisonment.

b. The PRTB may pursue Criminal proceedings against you through the District Court, in accordance with section 126 of the Act. Section 126 of the Act provides that a person who fails to comply with one or more terms of a Determination Order is guilty of an offence. In summary, if convicted, you face a fine of up to €4,000 and/or a term of imprisonment of up to 6 months. Please also note that on conviction the Court is required (except in special circumstances) to award the PRTB the costs and expenses, measured by it, that were expended by the PRTB in the investigation and prosecution of the offence. Conviction for the offence can have serious implications for you, including an adverse impact on the ability to secure loan approval from lending institutions. In addition, if you are convicted of an offence under Section 126 of the Act you run the risk of having entry restrictions imposed on you, should you, for instance, attempt to travel into some foreign countries.

OS119

djimi wrote: »

Its in my lease that I lose my deposit if I break the lease (which not paying my rent would certainly fall under). I would assume that my landlord is within his rights to look for the money owed on top of that..

no, he's not.

he is allowed to chase a tenant for the money owed to him, he is not allowed to chase a tenant for the money owed to him, and to keep the deposit as a 'sorry for your trouble' payment.

if, for example, your rent was €600pcm, and your deposit €600pcm, and you witheld the last months rent, your LL would be entitled to chase you for the sum of €0.00.

if, in this case, your LL was able to prove that as well as the issue with the last months rent, there was - for example - €x payable for damages outwith wear and tear then he could chase you for €x, but not €x + €deposit +€ 1 months rent.

djimi

Fair enough; Ive always been told otherwise (that they can keep your deposit plus chase you for the outstanding rent) but Im happy to be proven wrong!

Builderfromhell

Another consideration is that you may need a reference from your last landlord. This could be a problem if you have used the deposit as the last months rent.

You could also have the LL hassling you for the last months rent by constantly calling you fort her duration of the last month