Entitled to deposit refund?

whazy

myself and my boyfriend moved into an apartment four months ago. when we moved in the apartment was fine, no signs of damp or any other issues. however after living there a couple of weeks we noticed that there was a lot of condensation on the inside of the bedroom window and the front door in the morning and evening. opening the windows to air out the rooms seemed to help, however after another couple of weeks mould began to grow around the window in the bedroom and on the side of the bedside locker. i took photos to send to the agency before i cleaned the mould with bleach, which would kill it. we sent the photos to the agency and got a dehumidifier to eliminate excess moisture from the apartment. we have been using the dehumidifier constantly along with heat and ventilation for a month now and the mould is back! and is now beginning to grow on the bedroom wall and wardrobe. one of my jackets is now moldy. we took more pictures and sent it to the agency. the landlord response was to check if the vents in the apartment are open or closed. there are no vents in the apartment! anyway we are very fed up and i am very upset abut the situation and worried about the health implications. i should mention too that out sheets get damp. i feel we were miss sold the apartment and want to terminate the lease, giving one months notice. are we entitled to out deposit back? we signed a one year lease.

djimi

You are going to have to involve the landlord a lot more in an effort to resolve the issue before you would be entitled to move out Im afraid.

To be honest I have no idea how to tackle the problem, but if you have tried things like a dehumidifier and you are happy that the ventilation is up to scratch then you may need to get the landlord to call in a professional to take a look.

odds_on

Read this thread, especially posts #18 and #19:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056351823

whazy

odds_on wrote: »

Read this thread, especially posts #18 and #19:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056351823

Thank you for directing me to that post. having read posts 18 & 19 i think i fully understand what causes condensation and mould. and i accept that part of the issue could be us, the tenants.
however the heating is on all day, from 8 am. the windows are open when i am in the apartment which is most of the time, i only work 20 hours a week. i dont leave them open when im not there because its on the ground floor. yes i do dry my clothes inside, i dont have anywhere else to do it.
there is no ventilation in the bathroom but this was pointed out to the landlord when we moved in and never got fixed, same situation with the over head fan for the cooker, but i open the front door when im cooking to let the steam out. and there is no mould in the kitchen or bathroom. just the bedroom.so i dont see how it is really our won fault when we have done all these things. I have been rented various places over the last 7 years and part of that was when i was in college so i was living in awful places, that never had any heating on and i have never had a mould issue anywhere else.

I still cant figure out if we will be entitled to our deposit, so if anyone has advice on that issue i would really appreciate it. thanks.

whazy

djimi wrote: »

You are going to have to involve the landlord a lot more in an effort to resolve the issue before you would be entitled to move out Im afraid.

To be honest I have no idea how to tackle the problem, but if you have tried things like a dehumidifier and you are happy that the ventilation is up to scratch then you may need to get the landlord to call in a professional to take a look.

The agency are sending a guy over this evening to take a look. when we pointed out that there were no vents on the walls they said that the landlord would have to install them. however im not convinced that this will solve the issue. i really want to go at this point, perhaps i will just have to sacrifice the deposit in order to do so.

djimi

If you want proper advice on where you stand legally regarding breaking the lease then get onto Threshold who will be the best people to talk to. Id be very surprised if you are in a position to walk away from the lease just yet though.

You would need to outline all of the problems to the landlord officially in writing (registed letter), requesting a plan and time frame for a resolution to take place. Only if the landlord fails to either respond or act on this letter in a timely fashion can you consider the possibility of getting out of the lease.

confuseddotcom

I'm actually having the exact same problem at the moment. Green-mould on one of the wardrobes, 2 separate-room lockers, and a little table in the sitting-room. I don't know an awful lot about all this stuff, but the place in general isn't damp though. I've cleaned away any initial (wall) damp that was there before when I first moved in and that hasn't returned. House is storage-heating. I try and keep the house well-aired etc., but the thing is I could spend an hour cleaning all the furniture every single day and it just magically turns green again the following day. I've lived in a fair few houses so far to date and have never seen furniture like this it's un-real.


Oops I hadn't refreshed the page and there's 5/6 more replies lol. I must examine the other Thread's posts' that someone has directed to cheers. Whazy I could have written Post No: #4 myself!

whazy

confuseddotcom wrote: »

I'm actually having the exact same problem at the moment. Green-mould on one of the wardrobes, 2 separate-room lockers, and a little table in the sitting-room. I don't know an awful lot about all this stuff, but the place in general isn't damp though. I've cleaned away any initial (wall) damp that was there before when I first moved in and that hasn't returned. House is storage-heating. I try and keep the house well-aired etc., but the thing is I could spend an hour cleaning all the furniture every single day and it just magically turns green again the following day. I've lived in a fair few houses so far to date and have never seen furniture like this it's un-real.

iv'e stopped cleaning the mould away, although iv'e taken photos i want it to be there if the landlord comes to have a look. its my belief that the damp and mould was an issue previous to us moving in and the landlord covered it up by cleaning and painting the place. the agency asked him if it was ever a problem before but they said he was very surprised to hear that there was mould in the apartment. i really want to go, im miserable and have cried numerous times on the discovery of the mould growing back and new mould showing up. everyone i speak to, parents, family, friends all tell me to get the hell out of here. but it looks like i wont be entitled to my deposit

whazy

Iv'e called threshold and they are getting an advisor to call me back as they are very busy. i will put up a post of what advice they give me when they call me back.

confuseddotcom

Whazy where-abouts are you located may I ask?! I'd laugh if we were with the same Agency! Well my 2 Maintenance guys who are both usually sound-out lads know what it's like. Anything going on generally goes through them soooooo I don't know. It's either that their stumped for a solution themselves lol and can't think of anything or they know well but they can't take care of it within budget or whatever.

I know you're hoping to get out of there. Personally have to be ready to move in line with Course/College/employment-prospects etc. sooooo I can't really settle into a place lol in case I have to uproot and move elsewhere in a jiffy lol (which is sh1tty enough in itself.) But like, long-term, I don't think I'd like to stay in a place like this for a long-term stay unless there's a solution found. Now that you've brought it up I'm kinda back to worrying a bit about it now! I'm trying to think back, it definitely was there when I moved in. I'm not sure how long previous tenants would have been gone out of here before me. Need to get knowledgeable on these things! All these things should be bloody taught in school, house-maintenance. car-maintenance definitely! Cookery as a full subject another thing! Sorry I'm going off-thread now I better stop.

odds_on

whazy wrote: »

Thank you for directing me to that post. having read posts 18 & 19 i think i fully understand what causes condensation and mould. and i accept that part of the issue could be us, the tenants.
however the heating is on all day, from 8 am. the windows are open when i am in the apartment which is most of the time, i only work 20 hours a week. i dont leave them open when im not there because its on the ground floor. yes i do dry my clothes inside, i dont have anywhere else to do it.

The law requires that you have either access to a private area for drying clothes or a dryer / washer-dryer or a communal washer / dryer area (for multi complex apartments).

The Standards for rented property state:
2 (g) Washing machine, or access to a communal washing machine facility within the curtilage of the building, and
(h) Where the house does not contain a garden or yard for the exclusive use of that house, a dryer (vented or recirculation type).
(h) Where the house does not contain a garden or yard for the exclusive use of that house, a dryer (vented or recirculation type) or access to a communal dryer facility.
(3) All facilities under sub-article (2) shall be maintained in good working order and good repair.
(4) Responsibility for maintenance of facilities under sub-article (2) shall rest with the landlord.

there is no ventilation in the bathroom but this was pointed out to the landlord when we moved in and never got fixed, same situation with the over head fan for the cooker, but i open the front door when im cooking to let the steam out.

As regards ventilation, the Standards for rented property state:
9. (1) Every room used, or intended for use, by the tenant of the house as a habitable room shall have adequate ventilation.
(2) All means of ventilation shall be maintained in good repair and working order.
(3) Adequate ventilation shall be provided for the removal of water vapour from kitchens and bathrooms.

I still cant figure out if we will be entitled to our deposit, so if anyone has advice on that issue i would really appreciate it. thanks.

In order to vacate a property due to a landlord's breach of obligations and retain your deposit, you should:
1. Put your complaints in writing giving the landlord a specific time in which to remedy the issues - usually about 14 days is reasonable.
Also advise the landlord that you will issue a notice of termination to leave should the issue not be remedied within that time-frame. Keep a copy of the letter.

If you wish to leave the property even if the problems will be / have been remedied:
2. Seek written permission from the landlord to assign the lease to another person/s. You are responsible for finding the new tenants and any costs in doing so and the new tenant must be acceptable to the landlord's criteria for tenants (acceptable references etc). You are responsible for the rent until the new tenants are paying the rent. If you do not find a new tenant, the landlord is entitled to retain your deposit.

If you feel that the property does not comply with the Housing standards you could also contact your local housing authority who may come and inspect the property and if necessary, issue an Improvement Notice. I have seen that some authorities are sending inspectors to rented properties to check their compliance with the law.

The authorities are apparently using either information from their own records or PRTB information as to where properties are being rented.