Advice please

SaceyFlynn13

I'm renting a property since December last year. We are dealing with agent if anything happens to property but i am paying landlord directly to her bank.. In April or May sometime the window in our kitchen got rotten and broke away so there is a bad draft coming in and we have a 6 month old baby. I have emailed he agent serval times about the window and she got in touch with the landlord then on 18th of July they send out somebody to check out the window. He then got onto our agent and she got onto landlady.. Since the 18th of July there had been 4 different ppl out to view the window and to get different quotes.. But I have read our contract and it states that the landlord is after breaking the agreement by not fixing/replacing the window so I emailed the agent telling her that if the window is not fixed I will not be paying my rent I gave her a full 2 months notice about the window broken and a full month saying I will not be paying rent I have read contract over and over and the prbt booklet and she now came back to me saying since I did not pay rent she is going to issue a letter for my eviction. Can she even do that since she is the one breaking the contract and was I right in not paying my rent as it's not replaced? Need your advice please and sorry for the long message

Mrs OBumble

Did you get the window fixed and provide a receipt for this and deduct the cost, or did you just stop paying totally?

SaceyFlynn13

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Did you get the window fixed and provide a receipt for this and deduct the cost, or did you just stop paying totally?

I did not get the window fixed as the agent said the landlady would fix it I told her I would pay it as soon as it's fixed I just didn't pay for this month only have been paying whole time

NSAman

SaceyFlynn13 wrote: »

I did not get the window fixed as the agent said the landlady would fix it I told her I would pay it as soon as it's fixed I just didn't pay for this month only have been paying whole time

Fix the window yourself and deduct it from the rent, send the bill in with the rent.... problem solved.

SaceyFlynn13

NSAman wrote: »

Fix the window yourself and deduct it from the rent, send the bill in with the rent.... problem solved.

Thanks I would love too it's two windows and I don't have that kind of money..

Mrs OBumble

SaceyFlynn13 wrote: »

I did not get the window fixed as the agent said the landlady would fix it I told her I would pay it as soon as it's fixed I just didn't pay for this month only have been paying whole time

In that case, you're bang out of order, and they're well within their rights to begin proceedings against you.

Pay your rent ASAP and you might just get away with having mucked them around.


(Note: if you'd sorted the window, the answer would be totally different.)

salamanca22

They will have to issue a 14 day's notice to clear arrears before they can issue eviction proceedings.

You could wait til day 13 of the notice and then pay and they would not be able to issue eviction notice on the basis of unpaid rent. (Not saying you should do this, just making my point)

Get in contact with threshold. They will tell you exactly what to do and how to do it.

threshold .ie

Michael D Not Higgins

How did witholding rent become the first defence during a dispute with a landlord? Was it accepted before the RTA 2004? I never rented in Ireland before the RTA came into effect so I'm not sure how the market worked back then or what the law was like then.

TheDriver

How about opening a dispute with tenancy board looking for mediation, or at least tell the agent this, or maybe get in touch directly with landlord

Eldarion

You played this all wrong unfortunately OP. Withholding rent without express permission from the Landlord is going to land you on the wrong side legally speaking every time.

I know you've been hard done by in this instance but the correct course here would have been to notify the Landlord in writing of the issue and state a reasonable time frame to have the issue completely resolved by (2 weeks would be pushing it in this instance). If the Landlord failed to comply with the request by this time then you have grounds to break the lease entirely or possibly take further actions to resolve the issue yourself, e.g. having the issue fixed yourself and deducting the difference from the rent. You'd need to notify the Landlord, again in writing, that you are doing this and provide receipts for the exact amount after the work had been carried out.

SaceyFlynn13

Eldarion wrote: »

You played this all wrong unfortunately OP. Withholding rent without express permission from the Landlord is going to land you on the wrong side legally speaking every time.

I know you've been hard done by in this instance but the correct course here would have been to notify the Landlord in writing of the issue and state a reasonable time frame to have the issue completely resolved by (2 weeks would be pushing it in this instance). If the Landlord failed to comply with the request by this time then you have grounds to break the lease entirely or possibly take further actions to resolve the issue yourself, e.g. having the issue fixed yourself and deducting the difference from the rent. You'd need to notify the Landlord, again in writing, that you are doing this and provide receipts for the exact amount after the work had been carried out.

I don't deal with landlord as I don't have her email or address I'm not even sure if she's even in this state.. All I have from my landlord is just her bank details and names I have giving the agent plenty of notice to for her to fix my window iv read through my contract serval times and since she is not replacing it or even fixing the window she is therefore breaching the contract I also have read over the private rented tenants boards booklet and it states that it's within the landlords rights to replace any thing within the house that needs repairing.. I do not have money to replace window myself I know it was stupid to not pay the rent I realise that now.. I'm dealing with an agent and the agent then deals with landlord I have everything saved in my emails if it do get brought to court I have evidence of me staying window is broken..

Michael D Not Higgins

SaceyFlynn13 wrote: »

I don't deal with landlord as I don't have her email or address I'm not even sure if she's even in this state.. All I have from my landlord is just her bank details and names I have giving the agent plenty of notice to for her to fix my window iv read through my contract serval times and since she is not replacing it or even fixing the window she is therefore breaching the contract I also have read over the private rented tenants boards booklet and it states that it's within the landlords rights to replace any thing within the house that needs repairing.. I do not have money to replace window myself I know it was stupid to not pay the rent I realise that now.. I'm dealing with an agent and the agent then deals with landlord I have everything saved in my emails if it do get brought to court I have evidence of me staying window is broken..

How much is a window and how much is your rent?

Rachiee

Pay your rent and file a complaint with the prtb.

odds_on

Look at Post #5 in this thread.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057264297

Eldarion

odds_on wrote: »

Look at Post #5 in this thread.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057264297

Wonder if it would be beneficial to get that post stickied. Could make the argument to sticky the entire RTA altogether but that post is very informative.

I'd be interested to see if anyone has any anecdotes in regards to tenants receiving financial rewards from the Landlord in such cases.

odds_on

Eldarion wrote: »

Wonder if it would be beneficial to get that post stickied. Could make the argument to sticky the entire RTA altogether but that post is very informative.

I'd be interested to see if anyone has any anecdotes in regards to tenants receiving financial rewards from the Landlord in such cases.

Extracts from PTRB dispute DR1375/2007
1. The Respondent Landlord shall pay the Applicant Tenant the sum of €1,500 within 7 days of the date of issue of this order, being compensation for a breach in obligations under Section 12 (1)(b)** of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, in respect of the tenancy of the dwelling at 9 The Hibernian, Barrow Street, Dublin 4.
2. The Respondent Landlord shall, within 21 days, remedy any defect in the dwelling, brought to his attention by the Applicant Tenant, in respect of the tenancy of the above dwelling.

** carry out to—
(i) the structure of the dwelling all such repairs as are, from time to time, necessary and ensure that the structure complies with any standards for houses forthe time being prescribed under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992, and (ii) the interior of the dwelling all such repairs and replacement of fittings as are, from time to time,
necessary so that that interior and those fittings are maintained in, at least, the condition in which they were at the commencement of the tenancy and in compliance with any such standards for the time being prescribed,

SaceyFlynn13

Hey guys and gals, thanks so much for all yer advice an update on the current situation is I have paid my rent Tuesday have my sincer apologise to the landlady for withholding it and I went into threshold and they gave me great advice and I have giving the agen the letter to say that it needs fixing and nothing yet has happened but I'm gonna keep paying my rent