Woman doesn't bother paying her rent... wins a court settlement

AARRRGH · 08-10-2008 12:09PM #1

Did anyone see this clip on RTE news?

It is a fairly sympathetic piece about a woman/family who took their landlord to court (and won 12k) because they were illegally evicted after not paying their rent (they owed 6k).

The landlord was stupid to illegally evict her, but it is wrong to think - as the woman in the piece clearly does - that it is ok to not pay your way in the world.

I was unemployed for 6 months but never once did it cross my mind that I shouldn't have to pay rent or was entitled to not pay rent - I made sure I had that money every month.

I don't know if the woman is stupid or what - nobody deserves special treatment - she should have to pay her way like everyone else.

Does anyone agree with me?!

PS I don't care that the woman is an immigrant. Let's not make this about immigration.

kaimera · 08-10-2008 12:16PM

filthy bitch.

I shouldnt have to pay rent cos I travel so much either if thats the case. ffs.

Run_to_da_hills · 08-10-2008 12:16PM

The landlord did a foolish thing, he threw someone vulnerable out on to the streets. It is up to the Landlord to make sure a lease agreement is drafted up between himself and the tenant.

If the tenant breached the agreement the landlord should have gone down the legal road and contacted his solicitor. By taking the law into his own hands he is only asking for trouble and deserves what he gets.

AARRRGH · 08-10-2008 12:20PM

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

The landlord did a foolish thing, he threw someone vulnerable out on to the streets. It is up to the Landlord to make sure a lease agreement is drafted up between himself and the tenant.

If the tenant breached the agreement the landlord should have gone down the legal road and contacted his solicitor. By taking the law into his own hands he is only asking for trouble and deserves what he gets.

Oh - I agree completely. But I'd like to focus on the entitlement mentality rather than what the landlord did.

I see it everywhere these days - for example, when I went back to college last year to do my masters so many people expected to be allowed pass their exams without having done any work. They couldn't grasp why they failed and why the college could not pass them.

This sort of thing really confuses/depresses me.

Darragh29 · 08-10-2008 12:20PM

I'd never be able to be a landlord, for many reasons, mainly ethical, but this eviction being up the top of the list.

Most people end up in this situation by way of having no actual alternative. You are comparing a situation you were in, I don't know your circumstances, but her's seem to be that she was carrying the burden of rent for a whole family.

No doubt we'll be seeing more of this now, with people falling into arrears as they lose jobs, etc. I was told by numerous people in the last few years to invest in property and I thank God every night now that I had the sense to be my own man and not run with the crowd.

rasper · 08-10-2008 12:22PM

feel for the landlady too as sure she has a mortgage too and it's tight for everyone, but didn't she also illegally impound this familys property which I'd imagine is theft, Isn't that why we have courts

AARRRGH · 08-10-2008 12:23PM

Darragh29 wrote: »

I'd never be able to be a landlord, for many reasons, mainly ethical, but this eviction being up the top of the list.

Most people end up in this situation by way of having no actual alternative. You are comparing a situation you were in, I don't know your circumstances, but her's seem to be that she was carrying the burden of rent for a whole family.

No doubt we'll be seeing more of this now, with people falling into arrears as they lose jobs, etc. I was told by numerous people in the last few years to invest in property and I thank God every night now that I had the sense to be my own man and not run with the crowd.

I'm sorry, but if you cannot afford to live in a big house you move to a smaller one. You don't stay there expecting to live there for free.

My situation - I was unemployed - so I cut out all spending and had a ****ty life so I could pay for the basics.

That is what people should do if they have no money.

Caoimhín · 08-10-2008 12:29PM

That's a great example of everything that's wrong with this country, the self entitlement, the money grabbing landlord and the quango in the middle.

The_Conductor · 08-10-2008 12:30PM

AARRRGH wrote: »

I'm sorry, but if you cannot afford to live in a big house you move to a smaller one. You don't stay there expecting to live there for free.

My situation - I was unemployed - so I cut out all spending and had a ****ty life so I could pay for the basics.

That is what people should do if they have no money.

I have to agree.
The entitlement mentality in this country is gone crazy.....
Some people are in for a shock when stuff really starts to get cut back.......

dodgyme · 08-10-2008 12:39PM

Now I am no fan of landlords. I think they have effectively ruined alot of the residental landscape over the past few years, leading to high prices of housing and fleecing tenants/tax payer (hse/and alot still not registered) where ever they could. I am talking about the lads who would buy 4-20 houses. We know the type but hang on a sec, these people owed 6k and get 12k in compensation for not paying???? This country really is a pendulim which swings between the sponger and the greedy b*stard never stopping in the middle for the poor sod paying for all this thru taxes for rent allowance and high house prices (til now) inflated by greed landlord competing with people trying to buy a home not a tenth "investment property"

Darragh29 · 08-10-2008 12:45PM

Just looked at the newsclip...

She was renting this property for 8 years, and in the majority of that time, the HSE was paying the majority of her rent. Recently the HSE ceased paying rent on her behalf and there the problem with rent payment seems to have started.

First question is why have the HSE been paying her rent? I agree with AARGH, if she couldn't afford to live there, then she shouldn't be living there. I felt sorry for her because there has been a lot of change in a very short time in this country recently and if she has been renting for 8 years and the first sign of trouble, she is fu*ked out onto the street, then that is wrong I think.

I think you have to be a certain type of person to be a landlord. To be a landlord, you have to be able to go into a house and put a woman and her kids out onto the street. That's not me thankfully.

What I'm more worried about after watching this is that we have hugely overpriced houses in this country, which means hugely inflated mortgages which means if that property is being rented out, we have unaffordable rent. So we have social services ultimately paying rent to landlords so those landlords can pay inflated mortgages for overpriced houses...

Now, who do you think is paying for the social services???

Darragh29 · 08-10-2008 12:50PM

smccarrick wrote: »

I have to agree.
The entitlement mentality in this country is gone crazy.....
Some people are in for a shock when stuff really starts to get cut back.......

Couldn't agree more. When the sh*t actually does hit the fan in this country, we won't know what has hit us. We are in for the shock of our lives when the real deal comes to Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore...

Jigsaw · 08-10-2008 01:01PM

Entitlement culture pisses me off too.

I could easily be a landlord. Pay your rent on time and you will be looked after, repairs carried out promptly etc. Don't pay your rent and expect to be f*cked out of that house without your feet touching the ground. Simple as.

Kensington · 08-10-2008 01:17PM

So she stopped paying the rent, yet the landlord was the one who was doing something illegal by rightfully chucking her out? Where the feck is the logic in that?

Darragh29 · 08-10-2008 01:24PM

Kensington wrote: »

So she stopped paying the rent, yet the landlord was the one who was doing something illegal by rightfully chucking her out? Where the feck is the logic in that?

It's called due process...

Run_to_da_hills · 08-10-2008 01:33PM

Kensington wrote: »

So she stopped paying the rent, yet the landlord was the one who was doing something illegal by rightfully chucking her out? Where the feck is the logic in that?

If you were involved in a car accident where the third party was at fault would you approach the other driver and give him a box in the face for being at fault or would you go through a solicitor. Same thing, taking the law into your own hands is taken seriously in court.

Wile E. Coyote · 08-10-2008 01:34PM

This type of story really pisses me off. If your not paying your rent then f*** off. Why shouldn't the landlord be within his rights to kick you out of HIS property.

If you didn't pay your ESB, telephone are anything else like that the service is cut off. Why should rent be any different?

There's far to many people out there who won't get off their ass to help themselves and expect everything to be handed to them.

smk135 · 08-10-2008 01:34PM

I agree with the majority on this one - I have a very close friend who had property and rented it out to a tenant who was on social services or some such and he stopped paying the incredibly small rent requested of him AND left the place in such a state that it cost over 5 grand to repair the damage AND the other tenants were disgusted by the smell of the place when they had to walk into the building.

On top of that, he ruined the bathroom flooring through negligeance thus another 5k bill.

He was asked politely, verbally and by written notice to leave but the courts were comepltely in his favour despite photos of the damage he was causeing and the grief he was giving the neighbours and other tenants.

It was a costly nightmare and the "courts" system is certainly not unbias.

_blank_ · 08-10-2008 01:37PM

What we need is all the bleeding heart judges to be fúcked out of the system. Get some proper lads in, with a bit of balls.

Tell these scroungers to fúck off out of the court.

Junkies, murderers and pedos too, throw them in prison and fúck away the key.

Bastards.

Darragh29 · 08-10-2008 01:39PM

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

This type of story really pisses me off. If your not paying your rent then f*** off. Why shouldn't the landlord be within his rights to kick you out of HIS property.

If you didn't pay your ESB, telephone are anything else like that the service is cut off. Why should rent be any different?

There's far to many people out there who won't get off their ass to help themselves and expect everything to be handed to them.

Well she musn't have been within her rights when she was ordered to return the property to the complainant and then pay her 12K compensation.

This is what we're seeing now, a load of utter loo laa's who thought that the property game was foolproof, that they had it wrapped up, made for life by signing a few sheets of paper, now they are being brought down to play on a side of the pitch that they have no experience of, and they don't know how to deal with the unsavory situation that many landlords are now finding themselves in...

Duckjob · 08-10-2008 01:44PM

AARRRGH wrote: »

Did anyone see this clip on RTE news?

It is a fairly sympathetic piece about a woman/family who took their landlord to court (and won 12k) because they were illegally evicted after not paying their rent (they owed 6k).

The landlord was stupid to illegally evict her, but it is wrong to think - as the woman in the piece clearly does - that it is ok to not pay your way in the world.

I was unemployed for 6 months but never once did it cross my mind that I shouldn't have to pay rent or was entitled to not pay rent - I made sure I had that money every month.

I don't know if the woman is stupid or what - nobody deserves special treatment - she should have to pay her way like everyone else.

Does anyone agree with me?!

PS I don't care that the woman is an immigrant. Let's not make this about immigration.

<obligatory after Hours bit>
she was quite hot though
</obligatory after Hours bit>

More seriously, I agree with you OP.

If they owed 6k , I'm guessing that represents 5-6 months rent, so it seems the landlord had been pretty patient, but probably was just sick of getting the run-around.

Also, 5-6 months should have been ample time to seek out some more inexpensive accomodation, so it looks like she made the conscious decision to hang tight. Bailouts are "the new ting now" - everybody wants one.

Only unfortunate thing in this case was that the landlord didn't follow due process and got stung because of it.

On another note: Is anybody else uncomfortable with RTEs slant on stories like this - showing pictures of families with kids and babies etc. to shore up sympathy?

Darragh29 · 08-10-2008 01:48PM

Duckjob wrote: »

<obligatory after Hours bit>
she was quite hot though
</obligatory after Hours bit>

LOL, if I was the landlord, I'm sure we'd have been able to come to an arrangement!!!

:D:D

Wile E. Coyote · 08-10-2008 01:52PM

Darragh29 wrote: »

Well she musn't have been within her rights when she was ordered to return the property to the complainant and then pay her 12K compensation.

This is what we're seeing now, a load of utter loo laa's who thought that the property game was foolproof, that they had it wrapped up, made for life by signing a few sheets of paper, now they are being brought down to play on a side of the pitch that they have no experience of, and they don't know how to deal with the unsavory situation that many landlords are now finding themselves in...

Just because she won doesn't mean it was the right decision.

This story isn't about property owners being brought down to earth, it's about a scrounger who has just paved the way for every other scrounger to turn to their landlord and say 'I'm not paying and if you try kick me out I'm going to sue you for €12k'.

Kensington · 08-10-2008 01:54PM

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

If you were involved in a car accident where the third party was at fault would you approach the other driver and give him a box in the face for being at fault or would you go through a solicitor. Same thing, taking the law into your own hands is taken seriously in court.

Not really - you rent out a house, you have a contract/lease for the rental. Technically, if you don't keep to your side of the contract and pay your rent then you're breaching your contract. Landlord should have every right to turf you out in that case. Especially after approx. six months of non payment...

Alessandra · 08-10-2008 01:55PM

Getting paid rent from the HSE for 8 years? Sound like serial scroungers right there! They should have stopped having sprogs if they couldn't afford the rent on a big place. HSE stopped paying for a reason oibviously..

I know people go through a hard time but in fairness 6 months without paying the rent, no wonder the landlady got rid of them:eek: She isn't a charity. What about her mortgage?

One thing for them to succeed or get the rent excused, but 12 grand comp! Sickening! Hope this doesn't create a precedent...

Wile E. Coyote · 08-10-2008 01:55PM

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

If you were involved in a car accident where the third party was at fault would you approach the other driver and give him a box in the face for being at fault or would you go through a solicitor. Same thing, taking the law into your own hands is taken seriously in court.

They are two totally different situations. With a car accident you will get your money out of the insurance company. Your not waiting on the other person to give you the cash. An eviction order can take years to go through the courts and while it's going through the landlord is still not being paid and has to pay his own mortgage.

Darragh29 · 08-10-2008 01:57PM

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

Just because she won doesn't mean it was the right decision.

This story isn't about property owners being brought down to earth, it's about a scrounger who has just paved the way for every other scrounger to turn to their landlord and say 'I'm not paying and if you try kick me out I'm going to sue you for €12k'.

No, but because she won means that the decision to evict her was unlawful. If evicting her was unlawful, then it's hard to see how this was the "right decision". There is obviously a procedure to be followed that this landlady didn't bother her arse to become acquainted with.

IvyTheTerrible · 08-10-2008 02:04PM

If you don't pay, you don't get the service. Same with rent.

My landlord had terrible trouble with his previous tenants, they caused lots of damage and were difficult to get rid of. We're so quiet and pay everything on time, that he is really generous, and extremely quick to fix stuff if anything breaks.

Wile E. Coyote · 08-10-2008 02:08PM

Darragh29 wrote: »

No, but because she won means that the decision to evict her was unlawful. If evicting her was unlawful, then it's hard to see how this was the "right decision". There is obviously a procedure to be followed that this landlady didn't bother her arse to become acquainted with.

Yes, like everything else, there is a procedure to be followed.But have you any idea how long this takes and how much money is involved for you to get posession of your own property?

Darragh29 · 08-10-2008 02:10PM

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

They are two totally different situations. With a car accident you will get your money out of the insurance company. Your not waiting on the other person to give you the cash. An eviction order can take years to go through the courts and while it's going through the landlord is still not being paid and has to pay his own mortgage.

Yeah, and I'd say there are a lot of landlords out there who are in for a rude awakening when they realise that the law is not actually on their side. I don't feel sorry for them one bit, they have brought about their own downfall. There were too many of them snapping up houses here there and everywhere. Now as people lose jobs and are leaving the country to go to greener fields, who will pay their mortgages/retirement fund?

mountainyman · 08-10-2008 02:10PM

Kensington wrote: »

So she stopped paying the rent, yet the landlord was the one who was doing something illegal by rightfully chucking her out? Where the feck is the logic in that?

wrongfully chucking her out not rightfully

that landlady sounds like a gangster tbh. instead of blaming the tenant blame the landlord.

Woman doesn't bother paying her rent... wins a court settlement

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