What can I do about my unregistered landlord & water charges?

louann25

Hi all, sorry if i am posting in the wrong place, this is my 1st time posting on Boards. I would really appreciate any advice you could give me.

We moved into this house 3 years ago and at the time the landlady said she was in the process of registering the property and to bear with her. When i 1st months rent was due i got a money order and posted it up to her, a few days later she rang me and thanked me for the rent but asked me not to do that again as she would "prefer that there was no paper trail" i asked her had she registered yet and she said there was a mix up with the forms and she would get onto it!!! That was 3 years ago and she still won`t register and sends someone down once a month to collect the rent. She keeps telling me how the bank is putting pressure on her about the mortgage (for this house) and how she is in financial hardship and cannot afford to register. I asked her for her ppsn no so we could claim back tax and she refused to give it to us. Now i must point out that the ONLY form of communication with her is by text messages.... i gave up trying to ring her over a year ago as she would NEVER answer her phone and i only ever met her once and that was the day she showed me the house!
Now, some months she will look for the rent a week earlier than it is due,when i tell her that we don`t have it in full (as it is not due til the following week) she says she`ll take whatever we have and asks me to post up the rest the following week!

I contacted her last week and told her we are the only house along here that did not receive an application form from Irish Water and if she had heard anything from them. I got a short text back saying "don`t worry about it, i registered with them"!! Now i am finding it hard to believe that if she has so little money that she is willing/going to pay water charges for two houses. I am very nervous that i am going to get landed with an unpaid bill from Irish Water, so where do i go from here? if i contact Irish Water will i get her in trouble? I really don`t know what to do. I suffer from severe depression and anxiety and cannot cope with this.
Also i told her last week that there is awful dampness in my room and she told me to "keep the window open, that will kill any condensation"

Enigma IE

Honestly, it sounds like you should find a new place to rent. You should also report the cowboy landlord to the PRTB and to the revenue.

With regards to water charges, in the case of renting, typically the landlord should supply you with the the required details in order for you to register. If she won't give you these details, simply call up Irish Water and give them your details, address of the property etc. They should advise you from there.

Good luck with it.

Black_Knight

Sounds like a bit of a pain of a LL. Her mortgage issues are none of your concern, but im pretty sure for mortgages you'll need to be able to show proof of being a tenant, and your rental outgoings. Usually a rent book, or a contract with a direct debit to the LLs account. So thats something to bear in mind.
You're right about claiming tax back. Assuming your rent it enough, and your paying enough taxes, those 3 years could of meant repayments of €200, €180 and €160. She's likely not going to play ball, but id be looking for a reduction in rent based on this.

As for Irish water, I assume you can ring them up and just ask did your landlord register. Irish water arent going to care if she's a registered landlord or not. Either way, that's her problem. By law she should be registered, and because she didnt register, its causing you grief.


Its one thing not registering and trying to compensate tenants for the inconvenience (cheaper rent), but its a bit rich asking for early rent payments, screwing you out of rent tax back, and PFO replies regarding damn.


A bit OT, but if there's no papertrail to say your renting off her, or any agreement for you to live in the house, do you qualify for squatters rights? :pac:

Carawaystick

You don't need landlords ppsn to claim tax relief.
You can only claim 4 years tax back, so consider claiming soon.

Cuddlesworth

Not registering with the PRTB is a huge no no for the landlord, not you. You can still register complaints with them regardless. Irish water will knock in before cutting the water off or drop letters off to the house. For now I wouldn't worry about it.

Black_Knight

Carawaystick wrote: »

You don't need landlords ppsn to claim tax relief.
You can only claim 4 years tax back, so consider claiming soon.

Actually yeah, you can. I didnt know my landlords PPS or any much details about them a few years back, but there's an option in the claim form to state this. I just put in the details as best I could.

firestarter51

i think its time to find a new property to rent, this doesnt sound like a great situation to be in, regarding irish water, you should be able to ring them and register if you are worried