Renting out one's house to an agency -tips and suggestions sought

erudec

So my other half bought a house, (although he doesn't have a copy of the deeds: they're with the land registry and probably will be for a long time) and it's a bit big for our needs.

We don't want to be landlords, or at least we want no direct dealings with tenants. But we don't want to take on a huge cleanup project either.

Are there any agencies which will take the house "as is", doll it up, and rent it out for us without robbing us blind?

Also, what do the agencies do when the tenants start acting the maggot? Are they powerless to fix the situation or will they aggressively take them to the tribunal at the first hint of serious trouble?

I'd like a service where we pay a set sum every month and if the tenants start messing us about, the agency pays the full cost of getting them out.

I support the provision of housing to the poor, and I am happy to pay higher taxes for it, but I don't think individual landlords should be forced to shoulder the burden of Ireland's terrible housing policy.

the_syco

erudec wrote: »

I'd like a service where we pay a set sum every month and if the tenants start messing us about, the agency pays the full cost of getting them out.

I'll correct that bit for you;
if the tenants start messing you about, the agency will walk way, leaving you to deal with the tenants.

Samuel T. Cogley

erudec wrote: »

I'd like a service where we pay a set sum every month and if the tenants start messing us about, the agency pays the full cost of getting them out.

You need to set aside about 20K for that eventuality. You don't need all of it in a lump sum, just be able to lose the rent for 12-24 months plus legal fees plus covering any damage done.

My advice is if you don't want to be a landlord is don't be a landlord. If you want to rent out a place take an interest and do it properly.

The_Conductor

erudec wrote: »

I'd like a service where we pay a set sum every month and if the tenants start messing us about, the agency pays the full cost of getting them out.

You can't even get landlord insurance that covers cost of loss of rent in Ireland anymore. I didn't laugh when I read about the service you are seeking- but to be brutally honest with you- it would be remiss of any company to offer you such a service and their staff and directors would probably be prescribed by the CRO for reckless trading.......... The regulatory regime in Ireland- is toxic for landlords and to a slightly lesser extent- property owners. Tenants have all the effective rights (I say effective- you can bring a case against a tenant who doesn't pay rent- but it can drag for 2+ years and you'll still get nothing- its pointless)

If a tenant stops paying rent- Threshold will advise them on how much they can expect a landlord to pay them as 'movement money' to vacate the premises (aka a bribe to actually leave). They're on the record- taped- offering this advice- and they are a state funded service. Aka- the state is actively providing assistance to tenants to extort money from landlords. In this situation- you have it in your head- that you're somehow going to find a company who are going to take this risk from you- without taking an undue amount of your rent.

I'm sorry- the service you are looking for- does not exist- and if someone offers it to you- good luck to you- it'll be some sort of a deal with the devil.........

Graham

The_Conductor wrote: »

You can't even get landlord insurance that covers cost of loss of rent in Ireland anymore

Wasn't there a new crowd that entered the market last year offering tenant vetting and rent guarantees?

erudec

Graham wrote: »

Wasn't there a new crowd that entered the market last year offering tenant vetting and rent guarantees?

Well, I hope so.

The_Conductor

Graham wrote: »

Wasn't there a new crowd that entered the market last year offering tenant vetting and rent guarantees?

That would be the Lamp Insurance from Gibraltar crowd.
I think we had a thread discussing them last year.
The rules were:

• Max annual rental income 6k
• Tenancy must have at least 1 month deposit intact- to cover the first month of non-payment of rent (this isn't the purpose of the deposit- and is open to challenge with the RTB)
• Max payout is 11 months rent (after 1st month's rent)
• Full legal case must be taken- with 5k provided by Lamp towards legal costs
• Determination must be published in Stubbs Gazette
• Entire tenant classes forbidden (e.g. all adults listed on the lease must be in fulltime employment of at least 30 hours a week)
• Tenant must be paying the rent directly and not reliant on any payments other than from their direct employment
• The landlord has to complete the tenant check on rentassured.ie using all the information in the tenancy agreement- which was deemed a breach of dataprotection at the time- goodluck trying to get it through GDPR
• For a multiple tenancy- only two people can be listed-they are jointly and severally liable, and the lead tenant is legally liable in the event of a dispute (there has to be a lead tenant- and they have to agree to this)
• Stubbs Gazette do a formal credit request for any prospective tenants (full ICB check, solocheck, RTB check, Government agency check for any o/s payments, Irisoifigiúl, etc etc
• Documents to be submitted for the tenant check and insurance purpose to include: Copy of Passport or Driving License, Final Utility bills from the last property in which they were resident, Current Payslip dated within 60 days- with their PPS clearly visible on it, Full Tenancy agreement- with a matching PPS, etc
• Malicious damage by tenant = 1 month's rent (@ max of 500 Euro)
• Non-payment of rent = 11 months rent at max of 5,400 Euro
• Legal bills = max of 5k + VAT
• Full RTB process to be followed
• Policy is a 12 month policy- with 2 tenant checks per annum per property
• Maximum policy benefit is 48k
• Policy is underwritten by, and under the business rules of the Financial Regulatory Authority of Gibraltar- and subject to Irish Central Bank code of conduct for business rules

Aka- you have to present them with the perfect tenant- including the last utility bills from their previous rental, current payslips, absolutely no tenants who are reliant on any funding from any source other than their paycheck, they have to agree to give copies of their Passport or Drivers Licence to this organisation- and all of this- is before they do a check.

You still have to run the tenancy- its just an 11 month rent insurance policy- where the annual rent does not exceed 6k.

Total policy benefit is 48k

Big benefit here- Lamp manage the RTB and Legal process- and hand any late rent claims over to an external debt collection agency within 30 days.

I suppose it is an option- but if you can manage to find such solid gold tenants as they demand- do you really want to antagonise them with the list of requirements that Lamp/Rentassure.ie demand? Also- the annual rent seems to be set at an artificially low level.

Total policy value is a max of 48k (including damage, legal costs, rent, all registration and checks etc.)

No idea what they charge- but it seems like a racket for the paranoid- if you can find tenants like they demand- they are the least likely tenants that you'll actually need help from.

Also- legally- you can't require tenants meet their requirements- and if a tenant were subsequently to request rent allowance or another payment- you have 15 days to notify Lamp of this- after which time- the policy is cancelled (they do not cover any tenants on any sort of social welfare or other payment- only those who are in fulltime employment and paying the rent in full from their own pocket).

I'm not clear that they are still in business- there were questions posed the last time this came up here.

erudec

The_Conductor wrote: »

• Max annual rental income 6k
  

.

Unless you're renting out a house down the country, €500 a month is ludicrous.


Does that mean that the tenant only pays €500 for the house, or does the tenant pay more, but Lamp will only guarantee the €500?

If the latter, maybe it can work. If the tenant is normally paying something vaguely realistic like €1000 a month, and suddenly stops, then the €500/month insurance can be topped up with the rent that has already been paid. The landlord would have to keep the leftover money from the mortgage every month for the rainy day when the tenant goes tits up.

badboyblast

Why would you buy a house if it was too big for your needs ? Don't get this at all

erudec

badboyblast wrote: »

Why would you buy a house if it was too big for your needs ? Don't get this at all

I didn't. I'm not getting into it. You'll have to live without that information, I'm afraid.

erudec

The_Conductor wrote: »

.

I think you might be referring to rentassured.ie and it seems as if they no longer have the silly €500 upper limit.

I suspect that limit was them doing a dry run to ensure that the PRTB enforces the law like they expect them to. Maybe, now that they have done dry runs and successfully enforced and evicted €500/ month deadbeats, they're confident enough to run with it at proper Dublin rent rates.

Graham

The_Conductor wrote: »

That would be the Lamp Insurance from Gibraltar crowd.
I think we had a thread discussing them last year.
The rules were:

• Max annual rental income 6k

Max rent appears to be €48k now, the documentation required is surely something most private landlords would look for anyway.

I'm curious to know how they get around the discrimination part but that's probably for another thread.

erudec

Graham wrote: »

Max rent appears to be €48k now, the documentation required is surely something most private landlords would look for anyway.

I'm curious to know how they get around the discrimination part but that's probably for another thread.

Well I presume that once a person has been proven to have insufficient funds to pay the rent (especially if they have messed up in the past) then it's no longer illegal to discriminate.

Everyone discriminates all the time. When you choose to eat steak in a restaurant, you are discriminating against McDonald's. It's perfectly legal to do so AFAIK.

Can you explain why you think discrimination might be a problem?

I assume that you are covered provided you accept applications from anyone.

Penniless people must have their applications fully considered. But assuming at least one non-broke person applies, I doubt the law requires you to rent to the penniless applicant.

All of the background checks should weed out the majority of the messers.

(I assume. I'm no expert, everyone needs to do their own research)