Problems with rented house/landlord. Advice anyone?

daveg

Were in the process of selling our house (closes next Wednesday) and have taken a new property for rent since July 15th. We started looking early and found a property, in a housing estate, in our village. We viewed and agreed to take the property in mid June and we paid deposit. We agreed we would take the property from July 15th as we thought our own house would be closed at this date. Property is brand new and has just been built. The property was shown to us by an American girl and she explained she was showing the house for a friend, the landlord. We viewed the house, which was perfect, but we commented on the garden and asked what was the landlords plan with the garden. She explained the garden would be fully finished before the tenets move in and this is the issue we are still facing. The garden was left in a state by the builders (basically they just levelled the site, no stones were picked and they threw a bit of seed down in the back only). The girl told us she had a landscaper coming in to finish the garden. I explained we had a 6 year old child and that it would be extremely important the gardens was finished. She promised it would.

To cut a long story short she got some guy in to pick the stones out of the front garden and to strim the back and that was it. It's still in a right state. My son cannot play on any part of the garden as he will go over on his ankle. They left us an electric mower which is a joke as you can barely cut the scraw in the back with a strimmer.

The American girl has since past us onto the landlord. After ringing and leaving many messages he finally got back to me 2 weeks ago and promised the builder was supposed to have left a lawn when he finished. He promised the builder would be back to finish it the following week, or he would organise a landscaper.

The last time we spoke he promised, again, the builder would start it last Monday. This is the third time he has promised this. We checked out the property again last night and nothing has been done. What makes it worse is the landlord does not return my calls until I ring/text about 10 times. He also promised rent receipts and also a receipt for the deposit. We still have not received these. Were due to move in on Saturday.

Can anyone advise us our legal position as tennents and what you would do in this situation. We are due to move into the house this Saturday. They have been told to fix the garden since we paid the deposit back in June - nearly 3 months ago.

To add we asked my GF's brother, who is a landscaper, to have a look at the lawn 3 weeks ago. He said it would take 3 months to put down a proper lawn (kill off grass/scraw, turn all the soil, pick all stones, add top soil, roll the lawn, seed and then wait 2 months for grass). He said a quick job could be done (roll grass mainly and reseed).

If they would have done this at the start we would have a proper lawn now as promised.

TIA.

TheLedge

Have you tried ringing Threshold?

They're a free service, available in Galway and can advise you on these matters. I used them when my apartment flooded last year & landlady was being unreasonable. They told me my rights plain and simple & I put these to the LL, who subsequently backed down.

http://www.threshold.ie/page.asp?menu=70&page=148

Telephone 091 563080
Fax 091 563 687
Email thresholdgalway@eircom.net

Sleipnir

You could ask the landlord to pay the cost of bringing in and laying in turf.
A few hundred euro and you've a brand new lawn in no time at all.

daveg

Guys thanks a million for the feedback. TheLedge I'll call Threshold today today - thanks for the number. Sleipnir I'll mention your suggestion to the landlord (whereever the prick returns my calls).

daveg

I rand threshold and they advised we do have a legal contract witht the landlord with regards to the garden. We are however tied into the 6 month contract. She advised to send a letter as this will be more effective than phoning the landlord (as he is not returning calls). I'll let you know how it works out.

Culchie

I'd say you're only tied into the 6 month contract, if he also meets his obligations....i.e The Garden

He can't have it both ways.

daveg

Update: Got a text from the landlord last night. He said he had got a landscaper to fix the garden. Called down last night and some top soil has been dropped so it looks like progress at last.

the_syco

daveg wrote:

Update: Got a text from the landlord last night. He said he had got a landscaper to fix the garden. Called down last night and some top soil has been dropped so it looks like progress at last.

Dig a hole at the back of the garden, and see how deep the top soil is. According to the previous posts, the landlord seems to like doing "quick fixes"...

muffler

Dont pay the rent until the garden is sorted

MorningStar

While it sounds like the landlord should have acted quicker it may not be completely his fault. I have had numerous trades people let me down a ton of times.
I used to let tenants hire things like plumbers and electricians to fix problems directly. All I asked for reciepts for tax. Tenants got fake receipts to rip me off and getting the worst trade people in. I only use certin people now and sometimes that takes time. THe landlord is responsible but he may have been let down by the trades people.