Renting agreement gone wrong.

AndyTheDude

My story:

I go for a viewing of a 3-bed house that I'm going to share with a friend of mine. The landlady seems to be ok, and the house is a dream. After a while of haggling we bring the rent down from the initial €1150 to €1000 a month, and we hand out €500 each to secure the deal. We get a receipt that says "received €1000 by way of rent, date, address, signed by..." We agree on moving-in date and promise to fax the references from our employers.
That was on last Friday, 09.03.

I fax my references on Tue, 13.03; my friend faxes hers one day later. Obviously we both give the notice to our landlords saying we're going to move out on Sat, 17.03.

Today I text the landlady saying that we're ready to sign the contract on Thu, 15.03. and I get a reply "I have a small prob, will ring you after 7pm". Nothing happens, so I ring her at 7.30pm and she doesn't pick up the phone. Finally she rings me at 8pm saying that she's gotten a better offer and actually there are people moving in as we speak... I go ballistic and say that I'll take her to the court as I'm facing ending up on the street. She hangs up. Not a word about the €1000 we handed over. I send her a text along the lines of "I either get my deposit back tonight or I go to the local garda station and report theft and fraud". She texts me back after an hour asking for the bank account numbers so she can make the transfer "first thing in the morning". I ring her explaining that my branch is in Co.Cork and I can't afford waiting another 5 days for the transfer to come through, she says she's afraid of meeting with me as I've been intimidating. I'm a gentleman, mind you. Finally I propose to meet up in front of the garda station, so she can feel secure. We meet and she gives us our money back.

I'm absolutely fed up with this kind of sh!t, TBH. I've thought all the rouge landlords are long gone, but I've been wrong on that...

My question is, what can I do to make her pay for all the stress I went through today. She didn't bother to get in touch with me during last few days and she put me in a very difficult position. I am ready to go to see a solicitor, no matter how much it's going to cost and get this b!tch sorted. I'm sick of bending over. Any advice?

ProudDUB

Wow. Calm down there. You want to "sort this b!tch out?" No wonder she didn't want to meet you in person.

I can see why you would be upset about this, but no solicitor would be willing to take this case on as you did not have a signed lease that you can go after her for breaking the terms of. She got a better offer and changed her mind about having you as a tenant. There is no crime in that. She handled it in a rather crappy, unprofessional manner, but you can't sue someone simply for being a dick.

A verbal agreement could be construed as being legally binding, and your having a receipt that says it was for "rent" would definitely strength your case over all. But the small sum of money involved, the fact that she gave you your deposit back and the relatively short amount of time that this all took place over, would not work in your favour in getting someone to come on board and help you " sort this b!tch out."

Chalk it down to experience. Next time, don't give notice of your intention to quit your current home until your are 110 % certain that everything about your new one is rock solid.

RasTa

Not worth the hassle of going to a solicitor, it'll end up costing ye more then what will happen to the LL. You got your money back, calm down and move on imo.

silja

I think to sue you need to show damages. Are you actually out any money? Ie, did you loose your previous place and have to rent a more expensive one or some such?

djimi

AndyTheDude wrote: »

I've thought all the rouge landlords are long gone

What made you think that? Welcome to the era of the unwilling amateur landlord...

To be honest I think youd be absolutely wasting your time to persue this any further. Considering the time, effort and cost involved I cant see how its worth your while.

For the record, based on what you have said it sounds like you were intimidating, or at least you went over the top. I dont blame her for being reluctant to meet up with you again if Im honest.

vandriver

Rouge landlady,watch out! by vandriver

housetypeb

AndyTheDude wrote: »

We get a receipt that says "received €1000 by way of rent, date, address, signed by..

Wouldn't this have counted as a contract?
I don't think that you can do much now as you have taken your deposit back which shows that you agreed to the breaking of the contract.
If you had stood your ground and demanded that she honor her contract you might have had a chance.

AndyTheDude

ProudDUB wrote: »

No wonder she didn't want to meet you in person.

djimi wrote: »

For the record, based on what you have said it sounds like you were intimidating, or at least you went over the top. I dont blame her for being reluctant to meet up with you again if Im honest.

I did let some steam off here in my OP, but that doesn't mean I acted in an intimidating manner when dealing with that b!tch - pardon me, a nice old lady... Sure, I said I'm not going to leave it like this and that we'll see each other in the court, but I wouldn't describe it as "intimidating". Are you joking me here, what was I supposed to do, hand over a box of chocolates and a bunch of roses?! WTF is wrong with this country? Have you all completely lost your integrity in pursue of few more euros? Savage stuff... and disgusting too.

silja wrote: »

I think to sue you need to show damages. Are you actually out any money? Ie, did you loose your previous place and have to rent a more expensive one or some such?

No, no damages here... just me and my friend facing a few nights on the street, 'cos some greedy b!tch - pardon me, a nice old lady doesn't give a flying f**k about anything but her own financial gain... No damage here at all, boy.

vandriver wrote: »

Rouge landlady,watch out! by vandriver

Just a typo, mate. No need to butcher me over that. You may want to go through this post, or any other one for that matter, and you'll see things way worse than this... and I'm not even a native English speaker...

djimi

AndyTheDude wrote: »

No, no damages here... just me and my friend facing a few nights on the street, 'cos some greedy b!tch - pardon me, a nice old lady doesn't give a flying f**k about anything but her own financial gain... No damage here at all, boy.

Youre free to retract your notice period so why would you be facing nights on the street?

djimi

AndyTheDude wrote: »

I did let some steam off here in my OP, but that doesn't mean I acted in an intimidating manner when dealing with that b!tch - pardon me, a nice old lady... Sure, I said I'm not going to leave it like this and that we'll see each other in the court, but I wouldn't describe it as "intimidating". Are you joking me here, what was I supposed to do, hand over a box of chocolates and a bunch of roses?! WTF is wrong with this country? Have you all completely lost your integrity in pursue of few more euros? Savage stuff... and disgusting too.

Youre right to be angry; Id probably feel the same myself, and I am in no way siding with the landlady on this. However the way you described your conduct in the OP did come across as intimidating, and I can see how a woman be reluctant to meet you in person again based on it. My apologies if I misinterpreted what you wrote.