Do they have to fix my heating?

Anonymagician

Hello folks,

So last month a letter came through the door saying our rental home has gone into receivership etc etc...all was fine (rent is dirt cheap so not surprising for us) and we expected to receive a notice of termination and move on within our rights.

Now, about a week later I came home and smelled gas - called gas networks who isolated the boiler and told us to contact our landlord to get the issue fixed and have a house that isn't baltic. We contacted the receiver, who said they would send someone to inspect and fix all of the issues with the property. After more than a week, that person came and noted all the issues (a lot).

Another week later, we receive a letter from the receiver stating that "in the interests of health and safety" we should seek alternative accommodation. A few days after this we received our official notice of eviction, giving us until June to leave the property.

The receiver's office has told us over the phone that as it would be too costly to fix all of the issues, they are evicting us and selling the property.

My main concern is - we have been without any type of heating in the house for almost one month now. Where do we stand on getting them to fix this, considering we are legally entitled to be here until June?

Apologies for the lengthy post. Have gone to the RTB but all of their advice fails to account for the fact that we have already been evicted as such and it's just the interim that's causing issues.

Thanks!

myshirt

No, still the landlords responsibility, but as the asset is in receivership you have diddly squat chance of getting a receptive audience there is say.

The only thing I would say is that optically it looks bad for the receiver, so ask them straight out to fix it for you. Or fight it at the PRTB which will give you a few months of a delay on this.

punisher5112

If you can move do so as this will be drawn out and they most likely won't do it as they want it gone.

Get a superser gas heater or some oil filled rads to do you but your electric bill will obviously climb.

Similar happened us, LL wasn't paying mortgage, knock on door, we are the receivers agent....

L1011

Have you ever received a valid eviction notice? It would sound not from what you've said

0xzmro3n4y7lb5

Open a dispute with the RTB you've not had heat for weeks.

Get the ball rolling, you're completely within your rights.

Costly Maintenance is not grounds for eviction either.

Claw Hammer

Has the receiver asked for rent yet?

Anonymagician

L1011 wrote: »

Have you ever received a valid eviction notice? It would sound not from what you've said

We did receive a valid eviction notice on the grounds of intending to sell, but it suspiciously came a few days after a letter advising us to move out as soon as possible due to 'health and safety' following the maintenance inspection.

I don't have a problem with moving and will try to do so asap, but whatever way I look at it I won't be able to move until February and there's a long winter there yet with no boiler!

Anonymagician

Claw Hammer wrote: »

Has the receiver asked for rent yet?

They haven't asked us for a penny so we decided to be proactive and ask them in case avoiding the matter affected our six month notice. They (a bank) advised they didn't have an account set up! We are to "hold the funds in escrow" according to them :pac:

Samuel T. Cogley

Joe Mysterious Skillet wrote: »

Costly Maintenance is not grounds for eviction either.

No but in fairness if the maintenance is very costly and leads to the conclusion that selling is going to provide a better return that is a valid reason, not that one is needed, to sell which in turn is grounds for eviction - at least at the moment.

punisher5112

Do you want a reference from them???

dennyk

If you've notified the landlord (preferably in writing) of a necessary repair and they have not taken any action to fix it within a "reasonable" timeframe, you can carry out the repairs yourself and request reimbursement from the landlord for the cost. "Reasonable" is not defined in statute, but in the case of a heating system being broken in the winter, a month or more is not likely to be considered "reasonable" absent extenuating circumstances. What with the receivership, it might end up being a long fight to get your money back in the end, though (and keep in mind that you'll likely never see your initial deposit again as it is either, since that's the responsibility of your likely bankrupt former landlord...).

Anonymagician

So, although we have emailed back and forth with the receiver's office on this issue (who told us over two weeks ago that the funding for the gas leak was approved), we wrote a strongly-worded-but-not-demanding letter tonight and will be posting it to the receiver in the hope that within a week we will no longer be able to see our breath when we speak in the house. Will let ye know if we get a result and thanks for all the input.

ED E

Joe Duffy, if theyll let you name and shame itll be fixed within hours.

Graham

The Banking & Payments Federation Ireland have released a guide that might give you (slightly) more information:

A Residential Tenant’s Guide to Receivership

ForestFire

Graham wrote: »

The Banking & Payments Federation Ireland have released a guide that might give you (slightly) more information:

A Residential Tenant’s Guide to Receivership

that reads like....

"I think we might be screwing the landlords a bit here and giving too much protection to tenants, we better make sure when the banks get the properties, it's them that can screw the tenants, whatever way they want"

What is the definition of exceptional circumstance?
What does it cost to install a new boiler from scratch?

L1011

ForestFire wrote: »

What is the definition of exceptional circumstance?
What does it cost to install a new boiler from scratch?

They give examples - basically leases set up out of spite by the soon to be dispossessed landlord that have completely uneconomic terms.

A new boiler installed is rarely less than 2k. If its a gas boiler in an older property there may be further works required to meet modern standards.

ForestFire

L1011 wrote: »

They give examples - basically leases set up out of spite by the soon to be dispossessed landlord that have completely uneconomic terms.

A new boiler installed is rarely less than 2k. If its a gas boiler in an older property there may be further works required to meet modern standards.

Okay so let's say its 2k and they are paying 500 per month rent till June. That's 3k of rent so there is no loss to the property?

Also the boiler is going to have to be replaced anyway, so is it not more like, an asset to the house as its a fixed item? It's not like the tenants are taking it with them in 6months when they leave.

beauf

If they sell and the house is gutted they might need to replace all the plumbing all over again. Who knows. When they sell it they won't get back the value of the work done.

Not to mention all the other stuff like tax and other expenses that you're ignoring.

Can they not just provide expensive stop gap solution line electric heaters. That the op won't be able to afford to run no?

Anonymagician

ForestFire wrote: »

Okay so let's say its 2k and they are paying 500 per month rent till June. That's 3k of rent so there is no loss to the property?

Also the boiler is going to have to be replaced anyway, so is it not more like, an asset to the house as its a fixed item? It's not like the tenants are taking it with them in 6months when they leave.

More like €200 per month rent... as you can see, it's fairly obvious why the bank took the house :rolleyes:

The gas man told us the immediate repair to get the boiler up and running again will be around €200, which we would happily pay ourselves in lieu of rent but the receiver has been stringing us along saying it will be fixed when it's now been down for four weeks. Sending them a letter tomorrow demanding a timeframe for the repair so hopefully that works. If not we will obviously be doing it ourselves.

L1011

beauf wrote: »

Can they not just provide expensive stop gap solution line electric heaters. That the op won't be able to afford to run no?

Heating devices need to be fixed, not portable, to meet standards. Rewiring to put fixed electrical heaters in will be a similar cost to replacing a gas/oil boiler.

_Kaiser_

Anonymagician wrote: »

More like €200 per month rent... as you can see, it's fairly obvious why the bank took the house :rolleyes:

The gas man told us the immediate repair to get the boiler up and running again will be around €200, which we would happily pay ourselves in lieu of rent but the receiver has been stringing us along saying it will be fixed when it's now been down for four weeks. Sending them a letter tomorrow demanding a timeframe for the repair so hopefully that works. If not we will obviously be doing it ourselves.

From all you've said, I wouldn't bother with a letter. It'll be the new year at this stage before you get a response.

For €200 (especially if you haven't been asked for rent now either) I'd pay it myself to get it back up and running and keep the bills and emails on the issue. Deduct from the final total you're to keep in escrow at the end of the tenancy.