Landlords obligations regarding repairs

MariMel

I know I have read the information I need at some stage in this forum, but try as I might I cant seem to locate the relevant thread/s.

My friend with some others have been renting a property since feb of this year.
When they viewed the house they noticed a few things wrong with it.
These were spoken about and they were told that they would be fixed once they moved in as the LL didnt want to fix them until he was sure he was going to get rent for the house.

Anyway, further on to now and all but one of these issues have not been addressed.
Initially the were without a washing machine for 3 weeks while the LLs regular plumber was away, but my friend was refused permission to use another person even though they had 20yrs experience fixing washing machines.

What I want to know is how to word a letter to the LL given them written notice to do the repairs etc. I know I read somewhere about a 14day notice, but I am not sure what exactly that notice is. If it is a legal requirement for LLs to give them time to deal with an issue.

The issues are:
2 Toilets seats were broken and taken away by aforementioned plumber as they were of an unusual shape. 6 months later.....still not toilet seats.
There had previously been a serious leak in the property and there is substantial cracks in the kitchen ceiling which was promised to be fixed.
There is a leak coming from the ensuite upstairs shower into the second living room.(I know people may say to use the main bathroom but the property is rented to 2 couples and as such each couple has use of one bathroom and one living room and its not really the issue)
There is breeze blocks in the fireplace in the living room which also were promised to be removed.
Most of the internal doors are sticking, one of which leading to the back door takes great strength to open.
Internal painting work was also promised.
The window in the main bedroom will not open and has a sign on it not to open it.
The tenancy is registered with the PRTB, yet no rent book or BER cert have been furnished.

I understand that all these works should have been carried out before they moved in, but given the respectability of the LLs occupation and social standing, they trusted the work would be done.

All rent has been paid up to date and they are very careful tenants.
In previous properties they were called ideal tenants and their last place they were told the place looked before when they left than it had ever looked. So it is not as if they are good tenants for this LL to have.

I have offered to draft an email for them to send as they have been phoning regularly to no avail. Any help with the regulations and relevant acts etc on the responsibilities and obligations of LLs would be greatly appreciated.

odds_on

What to do if there is a problem your accommodation

The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 states in Part 2, Section 16:
(d) notify the landlord or his or her authorised agent of any defect that arises in the dwelling that requires to be repaired so as to enable the landlord comply with his or her obligations, in relation to the dwelling or the tenancy, under any enactment,

This is very important. Very few tenants actually do this correctly, as a result, repairs or problem issues are not remedied and the tenant is constantly phoning or texting the landlord. This goes on for weeks and weeks if not months. Never ever rely on verbal agreements for repairs etc. either before signing a lease or once you have taken up occupancy.
If the tenant has an issue with anything in the property (appliance failure, pest infestation, problems with windows, floors, leaks, heating, etc) that the landlord should maintain under his obligations, then the following steps should be taken:
1. Advise the landlord immediately either by phone or text.
2. Follow up immediately by writing to the landlord (keep a copy), date it and state the failure and give the landlord a reasonable time to remedy the failure. A reasonable time would normally be 7 – 14 days but may be less in serious cases. If the tenant does not give the landlord a time limit for the rectification of the failure, the problem will to drag on and on and on …….
3. Under normal circumstances, if the landlord does not rectify the failure within the time limit then he is in breach of his obligations. However, if he has to wait for new parts, then he would not be considered in breach as this is out of his control.

If you have done the above, and the landlord has not remedied the problem then you should be free to leave after a written Notice of Termination (usually 28 days notice but could be 7 days in cases where serious injury or damage to tenant or property are possible) and be entitled to the return of your deposit. Again, keep a copy. There is an Example of Notice of Termination of Tenancy (with notes on its completion) on the PRTB web site which can be used by either tenant or landlord.
You could also make a claim to the PRTB for "damages" - inconvenience, stress, loss of quiet enjoyment of the property etc depending on the type of failure. Financial rewards to the tenant are often made in these cases.
By keeping a copy of the letter requesting repairs (make sure it is dated and specifies by when the repairs/replacement should be done) advising the landlord about the failure, you have evidence to back yourself up should there be a claim with the PRTB as regards the landlord’s breach of his obligations.

Under the RTA 2004 Section 12 (g), if you feel inclined and would like to remain in the property, you could have the repairs/failures remedied yourself, having:
a) received several quotes for the work and
b) informed the landlord (in writing, keep a copy) that as he has not remedied the issue you will have the work effected using the lowest quote (provide a copy) and withhold rent to cover the cost of same.

RTA 2004 Section 12
(g) without prejudice to any other liability attaching in this case, reimburse the tenant in respect of all reasonable and vouched for expenses that may be incurred by the tenant in carrying out repairs to the structure or interior of the dwelling for which the landlord is responsible under paragraph (b) where the following conditions are satisfied—
i) the landlord has refused or failed to carry out the repairs at the time the tenant requests him or her to do so, and
(ii) the postponement of the repairs to some subsequent date would have been unreasonable having regard to either—
(I) a significant risk the matters calling for repair posed to the health or safety of the tenant or other lawful occupants of the dwelling, or
(II) a significant reduction that those matters caused in the quality of the tenant’s or other such occupants’ living environment,