Bad/Funny experiences with landlords

Uncle Ruckus

So, about a month ago I needed a new gaff. I checked out this place in north inner city Dublin. Therey was a communal kitchen, a washing machine and the rent seemed reasonable.
So I parked my arse there, paid 450 quid deposit and a weeks rent. Fair enough.
One week later I went down stairs to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and there was a massive bolt on the kitchen door. The landlord had rented the kitchen and a room out exclusively to a couple and had not told anyone. Access to the washing machine was denied due to it's locale. To compensate he "gifted" me with an antique of a fridge with exposed wires and a microwave which didn't even close. He told us that if he wanted to wash our clothes we should go next door to the property which he also owns. (Real, convenient.)

A few days later he attempts to open my door, which thankfully was locked, in the morning to check the boiler without an appointment. Anywho, eventually I had enough and moved in with my girlfriend. The prospect of doing my dishes in my bathroom sink and washing my clothes in the bog was about as appealing as an arrow through the head with a gigantic gas bill attached. So I went up to the chap and asked for my deposit back. I only got 160 of the 450 deposit back. Lord have mercy...

I guess we live and learn. So what bad/funny stories do ye folks have with landlords?

fasttalkerchat

Rogue landlords is one thing. My worst case was an agency who sent out maintenance and gave them a key without telling me. And when I was moving out I had to wait over a month for the deposit back because they couldn't get the landlord to answer the phone. I ended up having to refuse to leave the office and they lost a few customers before they would pay up. Even he was pissed off with them for that.

Lapin

Uncle Ruckus wrote: »

I only got 160 of the 450 deposit back. Lord have mercy...

Why? What did you break?

Christ have mercy.

Areyouwell

Thread is so fantastic, AH needed two of them.

cloud493

Landlord of the place I love before where I am now, tried to insist I had a dog, and that was why the deposit wasn't going to be returned. We tried explaining that not only had we not had a dog, at no point had it ever been stimulated, in any contract or conversation, that having a dog was a forbidden thing in this house, but he claimed to have hired a private investiagtor to follow us walking our dog

Eventually he relented after we left, he asked to consider moving back in, then about a year later he sent us the deposit back in cash through the post. Absolute nut job :pac:

bodhrandude

Three threads actually. :pac:

Omackeral

Areyouwell wrote: »

Thread is so fantastic, AH needed two of them.

There are now 3.

bodhrandude

And now one, good work mods.

Uncle Ruckus

Lapin wrote: »

Why? What did you break?

Christ have mercy.

Sod all. The gaff was a hell of a lot cleaner when I left it before I entered. We did not sign a lease. I just got a receipt for a deposit for 450. He was bitching about how I didn't give a months notice but there was no lease signed-just a weeks rent in advance.
I'm kind of angry about this in retrospect. Is there anyway I can report him?

Uncle Ruckus

Omackeral wrote: »

There are now 3.

I'm using a ****ty Meteor dongle. Sorry, it's pretty wonky.

razorblunt

First place I rented over here (UK) the cutlery and plates were rank. We went and bought our own stuff in ikea, on checkout they were going throught the inventory and complained about the state of them. We agreed and showed them the email chain where we sent picture of our own stuff and got approval from one of their colleagues to store them away.

They followed it up with "this ... Is a dog bowl you can't replace a bowl you've clearly broken over the tenancy with this" ... 'We didn't, that's why you had it classified as a serving bowl (metal) on the list on day 1".

Cowboys,we lost 90 on our deposit that we couldn't be arsed fighting over but it all worked out well when they overpaid us (owner was moving back in and we agreed to leave 3 weeks early, we already found a new place so it worked out well.

Lapin

Uncle Ruckus wrote: »

Is there anyway I can report him?

After Hours for the shoot the bastard type of replies.

I'd try here for some helpful advice.

branie2

I was in accommodation provided for students whenI was in college, and I can't say I had a bad experience with the manager/landlord

SpaceTime

We had a situation where the landlord (without agreement) gave the key to a maintenance man to install a bathroom mirror.

He arrived at 9pm on a Sunday night to do this. Didn't press the intercom and let himself in.

He had a very strong Dublin accent which my housemate (female in her 20s) couldn't understand and he barged in while age was just coming out of the kitchen in her dressing gown. On her own in the apartment.

She started screaming and grabbed a carving knife and started waving it at him and he kept trying to explain who he was. She then locked herself on the balcony screaming that there was a murder in the house and called 999

Could have ended very very badly!

Landlord rang me telling me that "my girlfriend" was crazy.

Landlord couldn't seem to see ANYTHING wrong with what he'd done.

I'm just glad nobody was injured!

We insisted he change the lock and that nobody should ever enter the apartment without prior arrangement or without pressing the intercom.

UCDVet

I moved out of an apartment, leaving everything in great condition. The landlord came by to inspect and said it was in great condition.

I asked for my deposit. And he said 'Oh sure, I'll get that to you. Just as soon as the new tenant moves in.' He said he didn't have any money to give me, but once the new tenant paid his deposit, he'd give it to me. He didn't seem to grasp that the deposit was money I'd already given to him, that he was meant to hold. It was never his money. He didn't care.

I've lived in a few cities, but nowhere compares to Dublin in terms of shady landlords that I've seen.

SpaceTime

UCDVet wrote: »

I moved out of an apartment, leaving everything in great condition. The landlord came by to inspect and said it was in great condition.

I asked for my deposit. And he said 'Oh sure, I'll get that to you. Just as soon as the new tenant moves in.' He said he didn't have any money to give me, but once the new tenant paid his deposit, he'd give it to me. He didn't seem to grasp that the deposit was money I'd already given to him, that he was meant to hold. It was never his money. He didn't care.

I've lived in a few cities, but nowhere compares to Dublin in terms of shady landlords that I've seen.

Try London!
Overpriced hovels, misleading descriptions, amateur landlords and arrogant agents everywhere.

All mod cons = running water and a cheap supermarket ownbrand microwave.

Near public transport : within 3 miles of tube. And so on...

suicide_circus

The profession of "landlord" seems to attract the shadiest shiitehawks going

SpaceTime

The issue is that in most places with developed rental markets you're usually dealing with a long term investment entity that operates the properties as an on going business. This could be a group of investors, a pension fund, a property company, a bank etc.

In Ireland and Britain they're mostly individuals with badly manages small numbers of properties or a single property.

They've tight budgets, everything is done on a personal shoestring cash flow and mostly they're invested with the notion that they can sell on when markets rise (which may never happen now).

So largely in this part of the world you're dealing with small time speculators who see you as an inconvenient necessity / annoyance rather than a paying customer.

There is also a cultural notion in Ireland and Britain that renting is temporary, second rate and only every a foot step to the property market where all "respectable" people live.

You've also got almost no notion of long term rental or structures to support it. Most places are furnished (usually as cheaply as possible) where as in say Germany you almost always rent unfurnished and people have their own things which are high quality and to their own taste.

Basically Ireland and the UK are all about funneling you into a mortgage and a house in the suburbs at the earliest opportunity

You can see that any concept of moving to that model is being strongly resisted too. We'll be back to flipping and heavy speculation before long.

It's not Irish or British culture or psyche differences, it's a straight forward political decision that our governments and electorates make.

Look at BBC.... Loads of shows about buying cheap, refurbishing cheap and whack it on the rental market to some greatful / desperate renter for some stupid amount per month. Bit of paint over that mould, few bits of MDF value kitchen components, bit of lino in the bathroom - Lubly Jubly!

Sure isn't it good enough for them they're probably a student or working class or something like that.

Sadly, these countries housing markets are entirely about speculation and not about developing a quality, affordable accommodation sector. Even in the purchase side it was and is pack 'em tight, build them cheap, hike the prices and squeeze every last cent out of the economy.

When you think about it too, the more money that gets spent on over priced housing the less disposable income is available to spend on the real economy. So, we're really just handing our hard earned cash over to a few uber-speculators granting the mortgages at the very top of the ladder.

Until we regulate the housing market and see it as a valuable resource that needs to be managed, we'll just be exposed to extreme market forces. Some markets don't work and need regulation - telcos, energy etc etc .. Not sure why we don't gave proper regulation of housing too.

Uncle Ruckus

I can see both perspectives. My oul' fella' is a land lord and he is feckin paranoid about squatters. I can't blame him.
Then again, I'm transsexual. I pay cash with no rent allowance. I have a ****e load of discrimination to deal with. I know there are some folk who take advantage of landlords but in my experience landlords seem to behave like they have narcissistic personality disorder.
At the end of the day it's like a few chimps fighting over a banana horde.

punkyy8

By law he must supple adequate means for cooking facilities, you can report the landlord to the PRTB and you can also report the landlord to Environmental Health in Dublin City Council

Magenta

branie2 wrote: »

I was in accommodation provided for students whenI was in college, and I can't say I had a bad experience with the manager/landlord

Err, great, good for you.

stateofflux

was living in old georgian apartment in Ranelagh during the mad winter a couple of years back. It got so cold the Olive oil in the kitchen had solidified and i could leave most of the food out of the fridge. Landlord rings me up saying that due to new regulations i am due to get a new freezer installed. I laughed and said 'if i want to go to the freezer i can just open my bedroom door"

AlekSmart

SpaceTime wrote: »

The issue is that in most places with developed rental markets you're usually dealing with a long term investment entity that operates the properties as an on going business. This could be a group of investors, a pension fund, a property company, a bank etc.

In Ireland and Britain they're mostly individuals with badly managed small numbers of properties or a single property.

They've tight budgets, everything is done on a personal shoestring cash flow and mostly they're invested with the notion that they can sell on when markets rise (which may never happen now).

So largely in this part of the world you're dealing with small time speculators who see you as an inconvenient necessity / annoyance rather than a paying customer.

There is also a cultural notion in Ireland and Britain that renting is temporary, second rate and only every a foot step to the property market where all "respectable" people live.

You've also got almost no notion of long term rental or structures to support it. Most places are furnished (usually as cheaply as possible) where as in say Germany you almost always rent unfurnished and people have their own things which are high quality and to their own taste.

Basically Ireland and the UK are all about funneling you into a mortgage and a house in the suburbs at the earliest opportunity

You can see that any concept of moving to that model is being strongly resisted too. We'll be back to flipping and heavy speculation before long.

It's not Irish or British culture or psyche differences, it's a straight forward political decision that our governments and electorates make.

Look at BBC.... Loads of shows about buying cheap, refurbishing cheap and whack it on the rental market to some greatful / desperate renter for some stupid amount per month. Bit of paint over that mould, few bits of MDF value kitchen components, bit of lino in the bathroom - Lubly Jubly!

Sure isn't it good enough for them they're probably a student or working class or something like that.

Sadly, these countries housing markets are entirely about speculation and not about developing a quality, affordable accommodation sector. Even in the purchase side it was and is pack 'em tight, build them cheap, hike the prices and squeeze every last cent out of the economy.

When you think about it too, the more money that gets spent on over priced housing the less disposable income is available to spend on the real economy. So, we're really just handing our hard earned cash over to a few uber-speculators granting the mortgages at the very top of the ladder.

Until we regulate the housing market and see it as a valuable resource that needs to be managed, we'll just be exposed to extreme market forces. Some markets don't work and need regulation - telcos, energy etc etc .. Not sure why we don't gave proper regulation of housing too.

How do we propose SpaceTime for Taoiseach ?

Great Post-SO many spot-on-the-money points......should be a BIG STICKY !

Bpmull

My parents are landlords and I can tell you one thing it's not all fun and games quite the opposite really. It's not there main source of income far from it but the amount of time and effort they sunk into it over the years. Tenants that seemed so genuine and straight and still they could absolutely wreck the place. People kicking doors and leaving in the middle of the night. They walked into a house they were renting one day and the guy had done a runner wrecked the place and robbed the brand new shower ffs and that's not even close to being the worst experience they've had.

Some of the stories I could tell. They have grown to absolutely detest being landlords they would do anything to get out of it at this stage. It can be really disheartening as you put a lot of money into these house and try and keep them reasonable and then it only takes one bad tenant to come in and ruin the place. Sure you get the good tenants too but there few and far between and believe me it's not as easy to spot the bad ones as you'd think.

bleg

Current landlord is great. Absolutely excellent. Gets things sorted straight away. Dealing with the direct owners is a pleasure.

Dealt with an agent previously. As dodgy as they come. Handed in our notice that we were leaving within a month. They then sent us a letter of eviction saying that we had a house party on x date. Funny thing was, none of us were in the apartment that night and no Gardai called. Probably trying to keep the deposit or something.

The One Doctor

Our landlord is brilliant, they haven't changed the rent in 4 years because they're actually registered with the PRTB and it's not worth the extra money to increase our rent as they pay so much tax.

80% of private landlords are not registered as such. This means that the tenants have no real rights and the landlord pays no tax on the rent. If your landlord is not registered with the PRTB he is dodgy, full stop.

Birneybau

Uncle Ruckus wrote: »

I can see both perspectives. My oul' fella' is a land lord and he is feckin paranoid about squatters. I can't blame him.
Then again, I'm transsexual. I pay cash with no rent allowance. I have a ****e load of discrimination to deal with. I know there are some folk who take advantage of landlords but in my experience landlords seem to behave like they have narcissistic personality disorder.
At the end of the day it's like a few chimps fighting over a banana horde.

I can't make sense of this post.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

SpaceTime wrote: »

We had a situation where the landlord (without agreement) gave the key to a maintenance man to install a bathroom mirror.

He arrived at 9pm on a Sunday night to do this. Didn't press the intercom and let himself in.

He had a very strong Dublin accent which my housemate (female in her 20s) couldn't understand and he barged in while age was just coming out of the kitchen in her dressing gown. On her own in the apartment.

She started screaming and grabbed a carving knife and started waving it at him and he kept trying to explain who he was. She then locked herself on the balcony screaming that there was a murder in the house and called 999

Could have ended very very badly!

Landlord rang me telling me that "my girlfriend" was crazy.

Landlord couldn't seem to see ANYTHING wrong with what he'd done.

I'm just glad nobody was injured!

We insisted he change the lock and that nobody should ever enter the apartment without prior arrangement or without pressing the intercom.

That was a bit feckin' wild tbf, he did have a point.

WoollyRedHat

The One Doctor wrote: »

Our landlord is brilliant, they haven't changed the rent in 4 years because they're actually registered with the PRTB and it's not worth the extra money to increase our rent as they pay so much tax.

80% of private landlords are not registered as such. This means that the tenants have no real rights and the landlord pays no tax on the rent. If your landlord is not registered with the PRTB he is dodgy, full stop.

You just brought up the tax situation. Things aren't so black and white.

ringadingding

We moved back to ireland and basically had to take the first place we coud afford, and close to my new job.
We were skint, found a room in a shared house in neilstown, across from finches pub.
Room in a grotty enough house, shared kitchen etc, 2 guys in the other 2 rooms.
It was bearable.
We didn't realise how much of a scum hole we were in until we tried to get a taxi there with our bits n bond that night and he wouldnt take us.
Anyway, we got there, and the house was full of scumbags.
We didn't realise that the garden was full of mobile homes and caravans and everybody used the house to cook etc.

We stayed for 2 very uneasy nights, 3rd night there was murder in the garden and we just moved out.

The landlord must have forgotten to mention the 12 other people sharing the house