Problem in digs accommodation

IWJ

Yo!

I'm renting a room in a family home and am currently in the middle of the exam period in a third level institution.

The home owners are throwing a party inviting a lot of their own friends a couple days before the exams begin, knowing well my situation.

What are my options legally? Get the Students Union involved? Small Claims Court? What ye think?

IWJ

Forgot to add that they are asking me to seek alternative accommodation for the night.

Mrs OBumble

IWJ wrote: »

What are my options legally? Get the Students Union involved? Small Claims Court? What ye think?

Get over it. Find somewhere else to stay for the night, and take ya books with you. It's only one night.

Chloris

Tell them that's not what you arranged but if they want you to seek alternative accommodation, they can cover the costs. Would that put you out?

bjork

If they'll pay for the night in the hotel for you, no problem!

Michael D Not Higgins

IWJ wrote: »

Forgot to add that they are asking me to seek alternative accommodation for the night.

This is the only bit you can act on. The rest is part and parcel of living with people. If you're already paying for accommodation and they're breaking the agreement by telling you you can't stay a particular night then you will want to get some kind of money back for that which you've already given or some costs covered for alternate accommodation for the night.

Mrs OBumble

Chloris wrote: »

That's hardly constructive.

Original content deleted as a mod clearly disagrees with me

IWJ

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Get over it. Find somewhere else to stay for the night, and take ya books with you. It's only one night.

Is that you Mr. ****?

Chloris wrote: »

Tell them that's not what you arranged but if they want you to seek alternative accommodation, they can cover the costs. Would that put you out?

I don't think they will cover the costs.

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

This is the only bit you can act on. The rest is part and parcel of living with people. If you're already paying for accommodation and they're breaking the agreement by telling you you can't stay a particular night then you will want to get some kind of money back for that which you've already given or some costs covered for alternate accommodation for the night.

Ya I think the fairest way out is for them to put me up somewhere for the night. Which, out of principle, I shouldn't have to in the first place. Its not that I can't stay- I can. But if I do I won't get any study done at night and mess up my entire sleeping pattern for the exams the week after.

The_Conductor

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Original content deleted as a mod clearly disagrees with me

Moderator note:

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Gatling

Essentially you have two choices head out for the night .
Or kick up a fuss a demand they accomadate you and pay you to Stay somewhere else for the night .

Is this officially college sourced accommodation or you found yourself

DivingDuck

It is completely unreasonable of them to expect you to sleep elsewhere during your exam period. It's a stressful time, which should be obvious to anyone hosting students (and taking their money for it).

However, for the sake of saving further stress during what's already an awkward time? I suggest you tell them, politely, that you're happy to facilitate their request and will of course stay elsewhere. For example, in a decent B&B convenient to the college-- providing it's at their expense, naturally.

You've paid for the accommodation; they can't just tell you to get lost for the night without offering to compensate you. I can't believe someone would sign up to provide digs and then throw a huge party during the exams, and ask the student to make themselves scarce for the night. They sound very thoughtless to me. Good luck with the exams and your situation.

IWJ

Just to be a tad bit clearer, they haven't asked me to leave for the night but if I stay, I will fail to get study done and ruin my sleeping pattern for the exams. Therefore, staying is not an option.

However, when I brought up the whole matter to them, it is then that they asked me to stay elsewhere for the night.

They know I've been putting in the hours for weeks prior to the exams, and they know how important they are for em.

Any thoughts?

IWJ

Gatling wrote: »

Essentially you have two choices head out for the night .
Or kick up a fuss a demand they accomadate you and pay you to Stay somewhere else for the night .
Is this officially college sourced accommodation or you found yourself

I won't be heading out. Out of the question. They placed an ad for the room in the college accommodation office.

DivingDuck wrote: »

It is completely unreasonable of them to expect you to sleep elsewhere during your exam period. It's a stressful time, which should be obvious to anyone hosting students (and taking their money for it).

However, for the sake of saving further stress during what's already an awkward time? I suggest you tell them, politely, that you're happy to facilitate their request and will of course stay elsewhere. For example, in a decent B&B convenient to the college-- providing it's at their expense, naturally.

You've paid for the accommodation; they can't just tell you to get lost for the night without offering to compensate you. I can't believe someone would sign up to provide digs and then throw a huge party during the exams, and ask the student to make themselves scarce for the night. They sound very thoughtless to me. Good luck with the exams and your situation.

Yup I think the same. Thanks.

Miaireland

IWJ wrote: »

Ya I think the fairest way out is for them to put me up somewhere for the night. Which, out of principle, I shouldn't have to in the first place. Its not that I can't stay- I can. But if I do I won't get any study done at night and mess up my entire sleeping pattern for the exams the week after.

Could you stay with a classmate that night? I can't see them paying when you do have the option to stay (in that they are not giving your room to some else). Is going home an option?

Legally, I doubt you have much to go on. You are leasing a room in their house and unless it is part of the lease that they will not host parties at exam times I doubt there is anything that can be done.

Drexel

is the party on a week night?

The_Morrigan

IWJ - here is the crux of the issue.

You are a lodger, you have zero tenancy rights in this situation. They can ask you to pack up and leave immediately, which imo will be more stressful in the run up to exams.

Some facts are now required.

Are you a full time lodger (7 days a week)
Is this party at the weekend?
Do they often have parties?

IWJ

Miaireland wrote: »

Could you stay with a classmate that night? I can't see them paying when you do have the option to stay (in that they are not giving your room to some else). Is going home an option?

Legally, I doubt you have much to go on. You are leasing a room in their house and unless it is part of the lease that they will not host parties at exam times I doubt there is anything that can be done.

Look, staying at a friend's place or going home are definitely two options available to me. But do you think that out of principle, I should have to waste time and money to go out of my way to lodge elsewhere?

Also, under the licensee agreement drawn up by the home owner, they have put restrictions on level of music after 11pm. Does this apply to them also I wonder?

The_Morrigan wrote: »

IWJ - here is the crux of the issue.

You are a lodger, you have zero tenancy rights in this situation. They can ask you to pack up and leave immediately, which imo will be more stressful in the run up to exams.

Some facts are now required.

Are you a full time lodger (7 days a week)
Is this party at the weekend?
Do they often have parties?

No that's incorrect. Although I don't have many rights in this situation, they cannot ask me to pack up and leave immediately. They have to give me reasonable notice- which is two weeks as stated in the licensee agreement.

Yes I am a full time lodger and have been for many months now. This house party is on Saturday night until Sunday morning. My exams begin Monday morning. And no they do not have parties often.

Drexel

They havent asked you to pack up and leave though.

Could you not invest in a pair of ear plugs for the night? Or take a break from study and join the party for a while? You seem like you could do with it tbh

The_Morrigan

IWJ wrote: »

Look, staying at a friend's place or going home are definitely two options available to me. But do you think that out of principle, I should have to waste time and money to go out of my way to lodge elsewhere?

Also, under the licensee agreement drawn up by the home owner, they have put restrictions on level of music after 11pm. Does this apply to them also I wonder?



No that's incorrect. Although I don't have many rights in this situation, they cannot ask me to pack up and leave immediately. They have to give me reasonable notice- which is two weeks as stated in the licensee agreement.

Yes I am a full time lodger and have been for many months now. This house party is on Saturday night until Sunday morning. My exams begin Monday morning. And no they do not have parties often.

Oh I love it when an owner occupier shoots themselves in the foot!
There is a reason that 'reasonable' is not defined in law. If your licence agreement states that, then so be it, but that's extremely uncommon and would still land you in a stressful situation if you had to find new accommodation during exams.

Remember this is their home, you cannot dictate to them what they can and cannot do. A party on a Saturday night is not unreasonable and they have given you notice. If you do not wish to stay then so be it but it is not up to them to accommodate you just because you have exams. Also, downtime is extremely important - study all day. Take the night off - resume studies on the Sunday.

CatFromHue

Do you usually stay there on the weekends?

IWJ

jonny666 wrote: »

They havent asked you to pack up and leave though.

Could you not invest in a pair of ear plugs for the night? Or take a break from study and join the party for a while? You seem like you could do with it tbh

Nope, they haven't directly asked me to pack up. But this is the only alternative to being kept awake until 3/4/5 am Sunday morning.

I already use wax ear plugs when sleeping, but they won't keep out the loud music! :P

The_Morrigan wrote: »

Oh I love it when an owner occupier shoots themselves in the foot!
There is a reason that 'reasonable' is not defined in law. If your licence agreement states that, then so be it, but that's extremely uncommon and would still land you in a stressful situation if you had to find new accommodation during exams.

Remember this is their home, you cannot dictate to them what they can and cannot do. A party on a Saturday night is not unreasonable and they have given you notice. If you do not wish to stay then so be it but it is not up to them to accommodate you just because you have exams. Also, downtime is extremely important - study all day. Take the night off - resume studies on the Sunday.

Firstly, if they gave me notice to leave today, I'll be finished exams in just under two weeks from now so that wouldn't be a problem.

Secondly, I fully realize that this is their home and that they should be able to do whatever they want. Accordingly, throwing the odd party here and there on any given night is reasonable- it is their place after-all! But this isn't the point. My point is that they should have the decency to not expect me to to stay somewhere else for the night given that:

I'm in the middle of my exam period and don't have time to waste, and
I'm a broke student.

However, if they do expect me to spent time and money on staying somewhere else, knowing full well all the effort I've put in preparing for the exams, they should at least cover the costs.

Folks, I'm on here asking what legal options are available to me in the case that they refuse to pay any part of my lodgings elsewhere given the situation?

IWJ

CatFromHue wrote: »

Do you usually stay there on the weekends?

Yes.

However, even if I didn't, I'm still paying for the full week and they should be considerate two days before the exams.

The_Morrigan

Mod Note
Legal advice is not permitted under the charter.
You can't ask for it, and if someone provides it they will receive an infraction.

IWJ

Just a little more info.:

They specifically had this accommodation advertised for students in my college accommodation office, knowing full well that students have exams around this time.

Stheno

IWJ wrote: »

Nope, they haven't directly asked me to pack up. But this is the only alternative to being kept awake until 3/4/5 am Sunday morning.

I already use wax ear plugs when sleeping, but they won't keep out the loud music! :P



Firstly, if they gave me notice to leave today, I'll be finished exams in just under two weeks from now so that wouldn't be a problem.

Secondly, I fully realize that this is their home and that they should be able to do whatever they want. Accordingly, throwing the odd party here and there on any given night is reasonable- it is their place after-all! But this isn't the point. My point is that they should have the decency to not expect me to to stay somewhere else for the night given that:

I'm in the middle of my exam period and don't have time to waste, and
I'm a broke student.

However, if they do expect me to spent time and money on staying somewhere else, knowing full well all the effort I've put in preparing for the exams, they should at least cover the costs.

Folks, I'm on here asking what legal options are available to me in the case that they refuse to pay any part of my lodgings elsewhere given the situation?

Did you bring up the party with them in terms of it affecting your study and it was then they asked you to stay elsewhere?

I don't think they are unreasonable having the party ttbh and if you approached them in the context of the difficulties it would cause you I can see why they'd ask you to stay else where

And how do you know it will be loud and go on until5am?

The_Morrigan

IWJ
You not wanting to stay because of your exams is not their problem.

Arbiter of Good Taste

Don't know what the legal options are, but for your own sake, borrow money from your parents and stay in a quiet B&B - it's best in the long term.

Regardless of the legality, I think what they are doing is utterly shameful. They are presenting themselves as suitable accommodation for a student, taking the money for it, then having parties during the most crucial time of the year.

I would just cut my losses and stay away for the night, but I would be damned sure I would report them to the college accommodation office who hopefully will not allow them to advertise through them ever again.

Stheno

How many people are invited to the party?

Emsloe

You're allowed to be annoyed by it but essentially you have no recourse - it's their house and the circumstances of you living there means there's nothing you can do. Could they be a bit more understanding of your needs around exam time? Sure. Do they have to be? No.

I would also near guarantee that if you asked for help from the accommodation office they'd wash their hands of it. Perhaps mention for future reference that you've encountered some problems so that they don't let them advertise next year. This is one of those things you're going to have to push through - look forward to your Summer and concentrate on getting your exams out of the way.

Paul.k.b.90

Honestly I think your just gonna have to suck it up...Appreciate your probably stressed for your exams and if one night of staying up late is going to affect you that much you're just going to have to stay somewhere else.

By all means report them if you wish but I would highly doubt anything would come from this. They haven't told you "hey we're having people round Saturday so take a hike". You're making the decision that you have to leave.

As said above you could study during the day have a couple drinks that night and hit the hay about 2/3 am? Its not overly late still get a good 7 hours sleep and wake a 10 at the latest to study Sunday.

To me, you're making a mountain out of a mo-hill and you seem overly stressed as it is..take a night and unwind

IWJ

Thanks everyone.

I appreciate all of yer input!

ted1

IWJ wrote: »

Folks, I'm on here asking what legal options are available to me in the case that they refuse to pay any part of my lodgings elsewhere given the situation?

There's none and you really shouldn't waste your time trying to think about it or persunne it. Do your studies and take a night off.

The_Conductor

I'm part of the study during the day, take the night off- and last revision the following day, brigade.

You seriously do not want to be studying late into the night on the Saturday- if you have your exams on the Monday.

They weren't under any obligation to give you a licensee agreement where they'd have to give you 2 weeks notice. This is a right that you are not necessarily entitled to, under the 2004 Act.

At this stage- personally I think their timing stinks- but you need a good night's sleep. Even booking into Jurys or the Harbour Hotel for the night- might be an option?

You need a good night's sleep- and as little stress as possible. The party is going ahead- so how can you make the most of the situation- and have a reasonable night, and possibly treat yourself?

If I were in your position- I would suggest gently to them that you would appreciate if they paid for the night- given the circumstances.

Wanderer78

you probably dont have a leg to stand on in a legal sense but your landlord is behaving very unprofessional in my eyes. i wouldnt be taking the room again after this semester. best of luck in the exams

autumnrain

Sounds like this is a once off, though with poor timing. Is it a special birthday/anniversary or something that has set this date?
If you were in a flat share parties would be far more frequent I'd say and probably through the weekend before exams too.
So let it go. You could mess up an exam cause you so focused on how you're being wronged. It's exhausting and not worth it. Put the energy into study and chalk it down to experience.

BabySlam

OP, this is just one of those frustrations life will throw at you time and again. You need to not "catastrophise" - seeing it as disastrous if there is a party, or disastrous if you don't get 8 hours sleep. Try to get some perspective on it, including postponing any pursuit of complaints until after the exams. Your goal is to do well in the exams - just shrug off everything else for the moment. It is understandable you are a bit stressed, but you can control how you react to stuff. Good Luck.

foggy_lad

IWJ wrote: »

Yo!

I'm renting a room in a family home and am currently in the middle of the exam period in a third level institution.

The home owners are throwing a party inviting a lot of their own friends a couple days before the exams begin, knowing well my situation.

What are my options legally? Get the Students Union involved? Small Claims Court? What ye think?

You are not a tenant but a licensee so have as much rights as a guest in their home, they can tell you to leave and basically lock you and your belongings out on the street at any time!

What exactly are you looking for them to do? cancel the party? hardly going to happen. Maybe pay for you to stay elsewhere? still unlikely as they have not told you to leave for the night and you accepted accommodation with a family obviously because they were a family and will occasionally do things like have parties.

kidneyfan

If it is an all night party get them to get one of the attendees to put you up for the night. If it is not an all night party then get the studying done during the day and enjoy the party.

Aye Bosun

You're renting a room in a family home, therefore you're a licensee, you've no rights at all, they could tell you to move out tomorrow if they wanted and you've no recourse.

Have a look at the below site, it'll explain it for you..
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/sharing_accommodation_with_your_landlord.html

athtrasna

The thread is a number of months old, the party happened long ago