Can the letting agency do this?

emiliawhp

Hi everyone!

Could you please give me advice?

We had only 2 weeks to find a place before moving out from last place. It was really hard (because we want to be honest with a landlord that we have a cat.And when we finally found a lovely house, when finally they chose us for tenats, they asked for deposit and copy of documents. Everything fine so far but....

...Thenn they prepared the contract....

They want us to sign an added agreement
to the normal contract that when we move out we will pay for professional cleaners to clean the place (200 euro). Noone ever mentioned that on the add nor on viewing.


Do we have to pay it? If they start like treating us like that, should we not be afraid that they will be sneaking us out the whole time?



I would really appreciate the answer as we need to sing the contract today

djimi

You would only be responsible for cleaning that would be required above and beyond what would be considered to be normal wear and tear. Even if you were to sign such an agreement it would not be legally binding if a deduction would not normally be due from the deposit. They are chancing their arm.

Tell them that you are happy to pay the €200 cleaning but that you would be taking it out of the last months rent.

gaius c

In fairness, it's probably going to need a bit more cleaning because of the cat.

emiliawhp

Hi gaius!

Cats are very clean animals. Only male cats not nutured spray smell but our cat is a girl. And all our landlords have always been amazed by the clinity and state of the place before. The only thing they can do is scraches wich would be covered with a deposit.

djimi - and what if when we refuse this as you said, will they reject us as tenants and find someone else instead?

miezekatze

I'd talk to them about this again, I think you should be able to clean the place yourself first and if you can't get it clean then they would be entitled to take it out of your deposit. Maybe even offer to pay a slightly higher deposit. I also have a cat and told my previous landlord about this. I had to send them confirmation that I would take responsibility for any damage the cat would cause. I thought that was understandable since it is possible for a cat to cause quite a bit of damage ('accidents', clawing up furniture, etc.). When we moved out of the place, I cleaned the place very thoroughly myself and it was fine, got the full deposit back. It was really difficult to get all the (white) cat hair out of the (mostly black) carpets etc. though, a quick clean up definitely wouldn't have been enough.

runawaybishop

emiliawhp wrote: »

djimi - and what if when we refuse this as you said, will they reject us as tenants and find someone else instead?

They will probably reject you as tenants.

djimi

emiliawhp wrote: »

djimi - and what if when we refuse this as you said, will they reject us as tenants and find someone else instead?

Well then so be it. I wouldnt want to be dealing with someone who shows such a blatent disregard/ignorance of the law either way; its not a particularly good sign for what would be to come in the tenancy anyway.

The system is there for them to handle damage/cleaning that is required above and beyond normal wear and tear; they have no right to try and circumnavigate this system by trying to make you sign something that goes against your rights as a tenant.

If you are finding it hard to rent with a pet them the first thing Id be doing would be to get references from all your previous landlords regarding the pet. It also might be worth offering an additional deposit (say 6 weeks instead of 4). Show them that you are prepared to take the initiative and responsibility for the animal.

runawaybishop

djimi wrote: »

Well then so be it. I wouldnt want to be dealing with someone who shows such a blatent disregard/ignorance of the law either way; its not a particularly good sign for what would be to come in the tenancy anyway.

The system is there for them to handle damage/cleaning that is required above and beyond normal wear and tear; they have no right to try and circumnavigate this system by trying to make you sign something that goes against your rights as a tenant.

If you are finding it hard to rent with a pet them the first thing Id be doing would be to get references from all your previous landlords regarding the pet. It also might be worth offering an additional deposit (say 6 weeks instead of 4). Show them that you are prepared to take the initiative and responsibility for the animal.

It looks like they are assuming that the tenant will not be able to clean whatever mess the cat causes properly and instead of taking it out of the deposit they are baking it into the lease. Maybe they have had tenants skip off with last months rent or something. Anyway, i agree re paying a higher deposit.

The_Conductor

Its pretty standard to seek a higher deposit- if a tenant has a pet. It doesn't matter how neat, clean and tidy the pet may be- its a fact of life.

In a case where there are pets- its also pretty standard to get the place professionally cleaned after the elapse of the tenancy.

I've s friend who is allergic to cats- its not so much the smell- but the hair etc- and even the cleanest cat, does shed hair. She had to leave a previous house- because a tenant who had long since vacated the property, had kept a cat (despite the fact that you couldn't smell a thing- and other people had lived in the property in the intervening period of time).

OP- if you're not happy to pay an additional deposit- find somewhere else, simple as.

The deposit is indeed to cover damage incurred over and above normal wear and tear. However, this goes out the window- when you involve a pet- and the PRTB are satisfied with this (I'll see if I can dig out a few determinations for you).

djimi

The_Conductor wrote: »

In a case where there are pets- its also pretty standard to get the place professionally cleaned after the elapse of the tenancy.

But surely this is something that would be up to the tenant to arrange if necessary, and could be taken from the deposit if it is not done when required? I find it hard to believe that the PRTB would allow a somewhat arbitrary figure to be set for manditory cleaning before the tenancy has begun?

whippet

when I rented and had the dog with us, we paid an extra couple of hundred euros deposit for the dog. And when we moved out we got contract cleaners in to clean up to make sure that there wasn't a trace of dog hair etc .. and also ensured that the garden was as we got it.

I love animals and always have had pets ... but I know that regardless of how clean you think your pet is especially cats and dogs a non-pet owner will know the instant they walk in to a house that a pet is or has been living there. It takes a proper deep clean to get the smell / hair out and I would imagine many pet owning tenants don't do this before leaving and thus the EA is requesting this fee up front so they can ensure that the place is ready for the next tenancy.

BTW .. if you don't play ball, they will find another tenant.

ted1

emiliawhp wrote: »

Hi gaius!

Cats are very clean animals. Only male cats not nutured spray smell but our cat is a girl. And all our landlords have always been amazed by the clinity and state of the place before. The only thing they can do is scraches wich would be covered with a deposit.

djimi - and what if when we refuse this as you said, will they reject us as tenants and find someone else instead?

Rubbish, cats hair goes everywhere twinned in to carpet , sofas etc.

Kintarō Hattori

If you've found somewhere you really like then paying €200 to have the place professionally cleaned after you leave is quite reasonable. You've become accustomed to having a pet but other prospective tenants could have an allergy as it's not the hair of a cat that causes issue for people, it's the skin particles they shed.

Your potential landlord sounds like they are taking a professional approach to their tenancy by showing some consideration to those that will follow you.

runawaybishop

djimi wrote: »

But surely this is something that would be up to the tenant to arrange if necessary, and could be taken from the deposit if it is not done when required? I find it hard to believe that the PRTB would allow a somewhat arbitrary figure to be set for manditory cleaning before the tenancy has begun?

A professional cleaning after pets would always be necessary. The landlord may be concerned about potential damage to furniture also which, combined with the cleaning bill, would mean the the deposit wouldn't cover the costs. Still, they just need to request a higher deposit.

djimi

runawaybishop wrote: »

A professional cleaning after pets would always be necessary. The landlord may be concerned about potential damage to furniture also which, combined with the cleaning bill, would mean the the deposit wouldn't cover the costs. Still, they just need to request a higher deposit.

My point is though should it not be up to the tenant to have the cleaning done rather than imposing a set cost on them? Only if its not done should it then be taken from the deposit?

No other deduction would be allowed to be prearranged.

runawaybishop

djimi wrote: »

My point is though should it not be up to the tenant to have the cleaning done rather than imposing a set cost on them? Only if its not done should it then be taken from the deposit?

No other deduction would be allowed to be prearranged.

I agreed with you

Mrs OBumble

So the landlord is taking the risk that the extra cleaning will only cost E200, no matter how long you are there for.

You like the house on all other points.

Get over yourself, and sign the damn contract before they change their mind!



(Former cat-owner here: of course the place needs to be professionally cleaned after a cat.)

davo10

djimi wrote: »

My point is though should it not be up to the tenant to have the cleaning done rather than imposing a set cost on them? Only if its not done should it then be taken from the deposit?

No other deduction would be allowed to be prearranged.

Are you quoting some law or piece of legislation with this statement? if you are I would like you to provide a link to it. Earlier you said the LL showed a "blatant disregard for the law", which law?


The LL is inserting this as a clause in the T&Cs of the contract before the tenant signs it and moves in, not sneakily applying it after and holding on to a deposit at the end of the tenancy.

The OP can agree to it or not, no law is being broken here. The contract was prepared after the LL was informed that tenant has a cat , cats can cause damage above and beyond normal wear and tear, also as stated by other posters, allergies to cat hair are common and can be especially dangerous to asthmatics.

You are being naive if you think most tenants clean thoroughly when leaving a rented house.