Letting Agent entered my property without consent

Hi there,

I was in the process of leaving my apartment. I was in the middle of cleaning the apartment when I heard some knocks on the door. I wasn't expecting anyone so I simply ignored it and continued preparing the apartment. Then, I heard someone entering so I quickly went to the door and I asked, "who the hell are you?". She named herself as one of the letting agents behind my tenancy. She then proceeded to question me about why I didn't answer her call that morning. I was aghast that she even entered, never mind having the temerity to cross-examine me at the same time. I then told her it was inappropriate to break-in to the property like this, and without an apology, she just said nothing and closed the door behind her.

Does this constitute trespass? Whilst I don't have video footage of her entering, there are other forms of evidence to back up my claim (such as text messages I sent my other half discussing what had just happened; her unwillingness to even deny it when I emailed her that day about it).

Also, this is the same letting agents who:

• increased my rent twice against the rules (i.e. gave me 2-weeks notice in 1 case).
• they refused to deal with me regarding the rent credit, instead issuing a subtle threat that the "property had suddenly been sold" and I should seek alternative accommodation. I ignored this, believing it to be a lie - which turned out to be the case.
• in the contract, they asked for 350 euros to be paid at the end of the tenancy for "bin fees". Is this even valid?

Ultimately they will want to play fast and loose with my deposit.

But what can be done about letting agents who enter the property without your consent?

I expect them to be 100% dodgy with my deposit so I need to know my rights and how I can defend myself against their conduct.

Actually just for clarification, it says "€175 per annum" for bin fees on the lease agreement (Clause 5; see below).

I was there for 3 years, so they will want to reduce my deposit by €525 for this alone (the deposit is 2.2k).

Given I signed it, am I now legally obliged to pay it? Or is it considered an invalid clause to begin with etc.

I tried researching it but came up with nothing.

Escapees

With all due respect, you sound like a problem tenant and I get the impression that there's more to this story than what you posted! Even the first sentence sounds alarm bells and most tenants would not be ignoring communications from the letting agent or taking issue with them calling round when cleaning up an apartment "in the process of leaving" (and while not clear, I'm presuming you mean that you are in the process of moving out).

Edit: I've looked at your original spiel again and so many questions arise... Like why did you break the letting agreement and not pay the bin charges for several years? Also, has your letting contract perhaps ended, i.e. has your rent been paid to-date or might it be the case that you should no longer be occupying the apartment?

JVince

Definitely a high court case here.

€1m+++ compo as the whole episode has obviously caused gigantic distress and not only that, but there was no-one to hold your hand at the time.

Make it 2 million for the added stress of the bins.

Escapees

For the record, I'm not a big fan of greedy landlords (not all!) etc. but the biggest issue I come across facing the majority of tenants in this country is a small minority of problem tenants who play the system and give a bad name to all tenants.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121870572#Comment_121870572

Perhaps I didn't explain myself well.

This was the last week of the tenancy. So at the time I happened to have been cleaning the apartment, but I could have been doing anything. I could have been just out of the shower and she still would have walked in etc.

The bin charges are expected to be taken out of the deposit once I left the apartment (which I have since done).

I didn't "ignore communications" from the letting agent. I was going to get back to them later that day (it was a non-urgent issue) but I was very busy at the time. She entered the property only 2-hours after they had originally called me.

So this wasn't me ignoring communications for days, I had always responded promptly (she gave me a positive reference, so I was never a problem tenant).

I'm very surprised at the hostile reaction my post has created; I would have thought this action of unlawfully entering someone's home would be held with contempt - not defended.

Witcher

'Break in to the property'

I love it

Lets herself in with a key

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121870676#Comment_121870676

She had no right to enter. Why is she being defended?

Escapees

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121870662#Comment_121870662

You said that "this was the last week of the tenancy" but also that you have since left the apartment. So, in reality it sounds like it was likely the last DAY of the tenancy, and even that could be subject to debate given that an end date may have a time of midnight associated with it! I can't help but wonder whether it was you who was actually trespassing in the property...

Anyway, if you were genuinely within your tenancy at the time and you want to make a point in relation to the 'trespass' issue, then just write a letter or email to the letting agent stating your concerns as feedback for them going forward. End of.

We’d a landlady in Dublin who used to send handymen to the apartment without any discussion or warning.

My housemate at the time, a woman in her 20s happened to walk out of the shower in a towel to be confronted by a strange man in the hallway and just began screaming and locked herself in the bathroom. He had a very heavy accent and she couldn’t understand what he was shouting but he didn’t leave and she just assumed the worst and called 999.

Landlady hit the roof and told me that my flatmate was “nuts” and “hysterical”

Sorry to say it but Irish landlords don’t do themselves any favours either.

She may have thought you had vacated seen as you didn’t answer phone nor the knock on the door.

Look at it as a positive, if she inspected the place and was happy when you left, there should be no delay in getting back your deposit.

I doubt your lease said bin charges could be in arrears and deducted from deposit, in all probability you just didn’t pay them when they were due and any outstanding amount will be deducted from your deposit. If you weren’t paying yearly, your bin arrears could exceed the deposit if you stayed there long enough, no LL would agree to that.

havana

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121870572#Comment_121870572

It quite clearly says the bin charges come out of the deposit at the end of the tenancy. Why not factor it it to the rent if you want the tenants to pay it, or charge them it each year. It’s sound like a convenient way to reduce what they have to return at end of the tenancy.

havana

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121870147#Comment_121870147

No. 18 is surely not allowed?

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121870695#Comment_121870695

What date did your lease end?

What date did the agent call to the house?

xyz13

OP: you are not innocent...

meijin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121870695#Comment_121870695

Don't expect anything else from the "LL is the God" brigade.

It's a breach of "peaceful and exclusive occupation" - https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2004/act/27/section/12/enacted/en/html

You can file a dispute with RTB. They might award some damages, I'd say max a few hundred, but probably unlikely, as it's a single occurrence and could be excused as a miscommunication.

I'd suggest waiting to see how the deposit situation is solved, and then dealing with everything at the same time. You got overcharged on rent, or it was just a failed attempt to increase?

Bins - on what basis is that charge? Did you get the invoices? Or is that what's included in their management fee? You can dispute that as well if you want.

No point arguing too much with the agent. Prepare the evidence and documentation and let RTB decide who's right.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871312#Comment_121871312

Agent called to the house on 5 March, I was set to do an inspection with her at 12pm on Friday, 8 March (the date I was officially set to move out).

meijin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871298#Comment_121871298

most of those clauses are not allowed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871395#Comment_121871395

I see, I'm definitely tempted to file with the RTB if they attempt anything dodgy with the deposit.

On the bins, I received no invoices. I was just told at the outset it would be 175 per annum and it would be taken at the very end of my tenancy. Given I signed a contract, part of me wonders whether I have no choice but to pay it now -- no matter what.

In terms of rent, it was illegitimately increased twice.

Once from 2,200 to 2,270 (after the first year) and then from 2,270 to 2,320 (from October 2023; I was given 2-weeks notice). I think it adds up to 1.5k to 1.7k extra rent or something compared to what I would have paid had the rent not changed at all.

So over the course of 2-years, that extra rent adds up significantly. Am I entitled to get that back? I have email evidence of all.

meijin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871449#Comment_121871449

As I said, up to RTB to decide who's right, but you should include the rent increase in the dispute and request a refund.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871395#Comment_121871395

Get a grip.

”I was in the process of leaving my apartment”, the op wasn’t responding to phone calls nor knocks on the door, it is reasonable to assume the EA thought the op was gone.

Refuse is almost always the responsibility of the occupant, and it would be unreasonable to think that there wouldn’t be a cost for the occupant. Tenants don’t pay management fees to the OMC, the owner is the person legally responsible for that fee.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871287#Comment_121871287

Any outstanding utilities come out of the deposit, no doubt the op received an invoice for refuse each year, it would be unique if the charge accumulated until the lease ended as the charge would exceed the deposit after a few years. Any arrears would be deducted from the deposit, same as any other unpaid utility.

Escapees

I pity the next landlord or agent...

meijin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871500#Comment_121871500

"no doubt the op received an invoice"? how do you know?

Edit: actually OP confirmed earlier that they did not receive invoices for bins. But you have "no doubt".

the fact that the agency couldn't even do the rent increase correctly, doesn't exactly convince me of their professionalism

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871596#Comment_121871596

Because refuse is not free silly billy, the op has only posted part of the lease.

meijin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871775#Comment_121871775

who said it's free?

Hi OP.

You can make a complaint to the RTB who should remind the estate agent of their responsibilities.

They are not allowed enter a rented property without permission.

TheChizler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871500#Comment_121871500

If someone isn't answering a text quickly and you need to contact them urgently you ring them, don't let yourself into their home.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871801#Comment_121871801

It’s inconceivable that the op would not have to pay for refuse yearly, or that the lease would say it can be carried over and deducted from deposit. It is conceivable that any utilities in arrears would be deducted from the deposit. The op had only posted a snippet of the lease.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871888#Comment_121871888

The EA did phone, did knock on the door, the op answered neither and the op has stated he/she was in the middle of moving out. The op also had three years of refuse charges, would the RTB rule against the EA/LL? Who knows, there wouldn’t be an issue if the op had answered either method of communication.

Its crap like this that makes it completely understandable why LLs would prefer to have Ukrainians than tenants.

TheChizler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871969#Comment_121871969

The agent should have called when they were at the property, a missed call earlier in the day doesn't give them the right to enter. You might quote where in the residential tenancies act landlords and agents are allowed to enter a rented property when a tenant doesn't answer their door or phone outside of emergencies.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121872198#Comment_121872198

Yes.

Call Joe.

The EA knocked on the door.

Snowflake.

blackbox

It seems strange not to answer a knock at the door.

Escapees

Likewise it seems strange to be trying to catch out the rental agency on a technicality regarding the notice period for a rent increase going back more than a year, so that the OP might now get a refund. Why didn't they say anything at the time?!

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871935#Comment_121871935

In the context of an apartment it would be a component of the annual management fee albeit it that it would not be separately identified. In many cases, it would simply be considered by the landlord in setting a rent rather than being a specific charge.

JVince

God help the op should he/she ever has a real issue in life.

Stuff happens - move on.

L1011

If those involved in childish namecalling could please act something like their actual age...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121873035#Comment_121873035

Stuff just doesn't happen.

Just to answer some of the points raised here.

Yes, I posted the entire lease – there are no other clauses other than those in the post.

I was not invoiced bin fees each year; the contract states that bin fees are only taken out at the very end of the tenancy at a rate of €175 per year.

When the letting agent entered, she said she entered because she “heard me” inside the flat. Yes, I was inside the flat – cleaning it – and I don’t answer the door if I am not expecting someone, especially if I am very busy, which I was at the time. So no, she didn’t believe I had “already vacated”. And even then, it doesn't give her any right to enter. I had intended to get back to any missed calls later that day -- both the letting agent and everyone else who I had to get back to.

On the rent increases and why I didn’t raise the illegitimacy at the time, I wasn’t aware of much of what was going on at the time. I went along with it, assuming they were acting honestly. It was only much later in the tenancy that I started to learn more about process in this country regarding tenant rights and landlord responsibilities. I was naïve to begin with, and I hold my hands up to that. I wasn’t trying to “catch out” anyone.

havana

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871500#Comment_121871500

Or maybe they could have assumed he was out, unavailable, asleep - a whole list of reasons why he would not answer the door. How long before someone’s lease is up do you consider it a free for all in terms of access?

’it would be unique if the charge accumulated’ - unique maybe but not untrue as seems to be evidenced by the OPs screenshot.

havana

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871935#Comment_121871935

My tenants do not have to pay for refuse. I pay for it via the annual management fees.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121874768#Comment_121874768

It still begs the question of whether I am legally obliged to pay the €175 per year?

If I stayed in the property for many, many years, the bin fees would end up exceeding the deposit. It's a bizarre set of affairs.

Ultimately, RTB will decide -- as I'm certain this case will have to be escalated further.

newmember2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121872251#Comment_121872251

Ahh...nice. If you have a failed argument resort to name-calling...clever tactic! 🙄

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121876892#Comment_121876892

I'm amazed at the level of hostility I have received from some posters for discussing what I feel are legitimate issues against my tenancy.

It's as if some people consider all tenants to be "problems" or liars.

I have had a very stressful time dealing with these letting agents over the past number of years and the sheer level of lies I have discovered since. I come on here asking for legitimate advice, as I have seen others provide very useful information in other threads.

The letting agents cannot possibly be allowed to get away with what they have done to me over the past number of years. That would only enable them to continue the same behaviour to other, future tenants.

It's worth also adding that when I asked them about rent credit and how I can receive it, they ignored my initial email. One week later I followed up with a second email asking about it, and they sent an email to me saying that this was an "opportune moment" to tell me the property had suddenly been sold and that I should seek alternative accommodation going forward. In other words, they said they would provide me with the rent credit details in lieu of me choosing to leave the apartment. In actual fact, the property was never sold and this was a total lie to get me to leave the property. The property itself was never registered with the RTB.

These are sick, nasty agents. How anyone can defend them over me, I simply cannot understand.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121877064#Comment_121877064

Honestly, I'm amazed at it too.

When you rent a house it's your house. The landlord or whoever needs to give you 24 hours' notice and cannot just walk through the door if you don't answer it.

The lease looks dodgy as hell, but what can you expect from the level of cowboy landlords we have now. There are maybe 4 or 5 items there that RTB could have a look at.

Unfortunately, trespassing isn't a criminal offense, and since the letting agent left when you asked, there's not much you can do.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121877095#Comment_121877095

It's a shame that it's not a criminal offense, it should be.

A private citizen has no right to enter the private property of another person, even under lease -- and it's a disgrace that no law exists to counter people, such as the letting agent who entered, from doing so.

That said, I hope that the RTB will consider it egregious enough to side with my argument. Though that said, whilst I don't have video footage of the incident in question, there are other forms of evidence that exists which the letting agent would have a hard time trying to explain away.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121872291#Comment_121872291

Why?

I rarely answer someone at my door. When someone rings the bell, I check my doorbell camera and decide whether to open it. If I was in the OPs situation and the letting agent arrived without prior notice then I would have left her waiting on the doorstep.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121877112#Comment_121877112

When the person entered the apartment, I had no idea who they were -- whether they were there to cause me harm, I had no idea. I had never experienced anything like it before, I was shocked it even happened.

I could have been without clothing and this person could just have appeared in my apartment.

As I said, it's alarming. I'm very, very angry at the letting agent for violating my tenancy and privacy in that respect, though it seems some are perfectly happy that the letting agent had done so.

SharkMX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121877130#Comment_121877130

You could have been in the middle of chopping up the body of someone you had just murdered too. :)

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121877149#Comment_121877149

Come on, please don't be flippant like that.

SharkMX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121877157#Comment_121877157

Would you think perhaps that you are a little tightly wound here and nothing really happened apart from an estate agent tried to contact you and couldnt, then called up and knocked on the door. When there was no answer they were a bit worried and went in to check. They found you were still alive and left.

Jmc25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121871500#Comment_121871500

Have you any evidence to support your assertion that there’s no doubt that the OP was presented with an invoice for the bin charges?