Am I entitled to my deposit back?

Triona1206

June 30th an ad went up on Daft for a 2 bed apartment share with an owner occupier for €550 a month. Available to move in Monday August 4th, sharing with her, who would only be there the odd weekend.

I viewed on July 1st. She explained that as she was being made redundant from her job at the end of July she would be mostly in Cork, but wanted to keep her room in Dublin for a base / weekend trips to see her friends etc. and that Id have the place mostly to myself.
That sounded ok for the price (in an area where a rental like this would usually be about 100 euro less a month)
We agreed I'd take the room.
I gave her €550 which was (as far as I was concerned) the security deposit.
(ie: On moving in I would then be giving another €550 which would be the 1st months rent).

On the 8th of July the owner contacted me saying that another girl had gotten on to her about the apartment and that she might give her the second room. (I then discovered she had kept her ad on Daft for a week after saying the room was mine)
Now, the initial situation, the one under which i was agreeing to move in, was that the owner would be keeping her own room for numerous months (until at least January she said) and so I would have the place mostly to myself.
Its a 2 bed 1 bathroom place, so 550 for a room and shared bathroom is more expensive than Id be willing to pay in this area.
I told her Id have to think about this situation now as this was not what was planned when I decided to take the room.
We said Id sleep on it.
I slept on it and decided not to take the room (there is cheaper places in the area for better accommodation, sharing)

Now she is saying that I cannot have my €550 deposit back.

She says that if she doesn't get someone else to move in she will be keeping it for the rent for the month of August!
She never stated that the €550 she took from me would be used as a holding deposit if I decided against moving in. It was taken as a security deposit.
Nothing at all is in writing except that I gave her a deposit of €550.
The note just says "Deposit received", with the date and my name, and her name.

Is this legally correct? That she is entitled to keep the entire €550 for the rent of the month of August when she changed the initial terms of the rental?
I never moved in and have given her at least 2 weeks notice before my supposed move in date that I no longer want to rent there?

Please advise!!
Thanks.

goz83

As I would see it....no contract in place, no right to keep your money. Plus, as you say, she changed the agreement you had discussed.

The_Conductor

Unfortunately- the PRTB are likely to wash their hands of this- as strictly speaking, you are not a tenant. Do lodge a case against her though- as if she is playing loose and fast with you- you can be certain she is behaving in a similar manner towards others. You will in all probability get the money back- but it could take a while.........

odds_on

You made a verbal agreement to rent the room and you paid your security deposit. An agreement made and a consideration paid, therefore a contract exists.

However, that contract was a licence agreement for you to live in the home of the landlord with your landlord. No PRTB registration required as you would not be a tenant but a licensee (lodger).

However, if the landlord decided to rent out the other room and not live there herself, that may well change the situation into a tenancy (but not necessarily, depending on the agreement) and would have to be registered with the PRTB plus all the obligations of the Residential Tenancy Act 2004 and tax implications.

If I were you, I would point out that by her not living there, you would have a tenancy agreement and she would have to register the tenancy with the PRTB and she would have to abide by the laws of the Residential Tenancy Act, the Housing Standards Act for rented Accommodation etc.etc.

fasttalkerchat

She's playing a silly game. By holding the €550 and claiming that she has accepted it as rent for August, she is allowing you to walk in to her house at any time for a month since she has made a verbal contract with you.

Triona1206

Thanks for your replies.
I suggested to her since my last post that I could help try and get someone else into the room.
She said she would put the ad back on Daft and put my number down along with hers, which I suggested (so that I know if people are trying to contact her shes not putting them off, or they'd call my number etc). She did this but only kept my number up there for half a day.
I checked again this morning and my number has been taken off since Friday, the rent amount has changed (now €500) and she no longer states that the person to rent would be sharing with the owner.
I have a suspicion that she has already gotten someone to take the room that would have been mine (€550) and now has that ad back up to get someone else into the other room,
but is not being honest with me about the situation so that she can try to keep my 550.
Should I go to the Guards with this situation?
I'm very stressed out as 550 is a lot of money to me and I cant really afford to lose it.
Thanks

Lemming

Triona1206 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.
I suggested to her since my last post that I could help try and get someone else into the room.
She said she would put the ad back on Daft and put my number down along with hers, which I suggested (so that I know if people are trying to contact her shes not putting them off, or they'd call my number etc). She did this but only kept my number up there for half a day.
I checked again this morning and my number has been taken off since Friday, the rent amount has changed (now €500) and she no longer states that the person to rent would be sharing with the owner.
I have a suspicion that she has already gotten someone to take the room that would have been mine (€550) and now has that ad back up to get someone else into the other room,
but is not being honest with me about the situation so that she can try to keep my 550.
Should I go to the Guards with this situation?
I'm very stressed out as 550 is a lot of money to me and I cant really afford to lose it.
Thanks

You should not have volunteered to make yourself a party to her problems, and tbh it's bordering on fraud. She's taking you for a mug. I think you'll need to go legal with this, in addition to sticking it to her with a few state bodies.

The_Conductor

I have to agree with Lemming.
I don't understand why you decided to make it your problem.
She screwed up- and you've facilitated her.
If you ever want your money back- take appropriate action.