Should I increase the rent? What would you do in this case?

housetypeb wrote: »

People are strange.

Some are. Most aren't.

The OP had a nice relationship with a tenant, then the new boyfriend moved in.

Most people are ok.

OP, now, dont take offence, you dont have a clue, now just read the first bit again and take that in, then continue reading for the advice.
You've been taken for a ride and you dont seem to know what your obligations are either.

For a start, you could be lucky or in the shyte.
3.5 years you say, serve notice before it gets to 4, otherwise you might not get them out, also, listen to your mate, the one you said was hardline, whats his advice?

theteal wrote: »

OP you're nurturing the beast by giving in to some of those ridiculous demands. You shouldn't be at a loss for windows and shower heads, you should be docking their deposit as they're not keeping up their end of the bargain in keeping the house clean. Will they be looking for light bulbs next? You need to say "no".

Kick that rent up to the maximum!

As this poster said, You engaged with it, now are suffering, up the rent, Jan was way too far out, you should have spoken to your tenant first OP before it got this far and engaging with a non tenant hasnt done you any favours as thats just worsened things, you might have avoided all this if you put the foot down instead of pandering and placating, fixing the things you should be fixing and telling her in no uncertain terms what you will not be doing, bteer to have that added into your lease though, although I suggest not signing another with them.

kandoola wrote: »

I thought i was pretty easy going, but i expect an easy life in return.

She rented on her own first and I didnt mind her having her boyfriend move in, or the new one either. I didnt want to be the mammy there either.

But since I now have a new job as a mammy im going to make them pay me for the privilege.

I think i wont bother painting. I'll just get a new hob in and up the rent to €1050.

I fear I know exactly whats going to happen then. They'll threaten the PRTB and will follow through. I'll end up taking a day off work with the PRTB and they will move out without paying the arrears when the PRTB find against them.

When they move out i'll redecorate.

Everything is so weighed against the landlord its unreal.
Then the whole water charge debacle to come too.

You may get away with just repairing the hob, ie the broken element, is it a ring or a plate?
you probably dont need to buy a whole new hob or cooker, a new or otherwise replacement part may be gotten cheap, if its just an element, then either they work or they dont, thats all there is to it, might even be a burned connection, might be possible to repair but at that rate, just as easy to replace.

groovyg wrote: »

Op its fair enough you are easy going and want an easy life but they are taking the complete pi$$, a new mat for the hall way? They should buy this themselves and take it with them when they leave.
Also since the lease is with her only surely the terms of conditions of the lease have changed now since there are now two people living in the apartment?
You should increase the rent to over a grand or more and probably should have done so when her first boyfriend moved in as well. As there are two people in the apartment isn't there likely to be more wear and tear?

Sounds like a breach of contract, could probably terminate contract on that basis, but you'd have to give the tenant an opportunity to resolve it.

Lemming wrote: »

I'm going to go against the grain here (slightly) in saying that if it were me, I probably wouldn't up the rent to the max that you think you can get (€1050) considering the rent is currently €700. Bear with me here before you think this is some sort of tenants vs. evil landlords rant.

On paper that increase is roughly 50% increase in rent, which if put before the PRTB would definitely raise a few eyebrows and make life awkward. Unless you can line up several watertight ducks in a row to shoot that line of enquiry down I'd be more inclined to up the rent, but fly under the radar with it and with a view to upping the rent the following year if they're still there and still causing you grief. Yes it's a bit more of a long-term view, but one that is less likely to cause grief with the PRTB.

Edit: as someone else has already suggested, if the current boyfriend is not on the lease, why are you entertaining him?

Look, not asking the full rent is an ok trade off for a good tenant, but when there are problems, at least the threat of it and even an interim increase should do, but OP, dont hang yourself as you need to give 28 days notice and can only do it once a year, piecemeal is no good, stick it up a fair whack or all the way.

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

If it's a 50% increase or 100% it doesn't matter, once it's in line with what the op would get from another tenant, I.e the market rate

exactly

wyndham wrote: »

Give them notice to vacate on the pretext that you want to sell/use the apartment for a family member. Then relet at market rate.

All bad advice, DO NOT do this OP! he has the right to serve notice to end the tenancy at 4 years, 112 days notice or thereabouts after a tenant has been in place for 2 years, but check the prtb site OP, no obligation to rent to them or lie and they see its rented again and you get hung out to dry in a PRTB hearing, bad advice there. Just give them notice in writing that they have the allowed notice (112days, just check that) and then they are on their way, plenty of other good tenants out there.

kandoola wrote: »

Yeah, im going to up the rent to the max and they can go to the PRTB if they want. PRTB is every second word out of their mouth these days anyway.

Im going to put in a new up and get an agent to run the place.

Ie She used to be a model tenant. ie kept the place very clean and i never heard from her. So I was only to happy to return the favour.

She still keeps it clean, but a month never goes by without multiple calls about minor insignificant stuff.
If they move out fine. If they stay fine because an extra €4000 a year helps with the hassle.

I just feel guilty now about what was once a nice relationship turning sour. But there you have it.

I guess the bottom line is that their efforts to get me to do stuff they didnt actually have to annoy me about at all has cost them €4000 a year. And my once peaceful, effortless rental has become one of effort.

You should have spoken to the tenant before it got this far if all you wanted was an easy life, engaging with a non tenant was a problem, you tolerated that and that may not go well, now, get them out the legal way, under 4 years, give the required notice, or you will be tortured for the next 4, no reasons or excuses are needed, DO NOT say you want it for yourself or a family member as you will be hanging yourself out to dry, especially when there is only 6 months left on a tenancy, give notice before the 4 years if I were you, your decision, can they take the rent increase and not be a hassle? servicing boiler and fixing the hob is your problem, dont give them ammunition to hang you, get someone on the cooker pronto.
If its not in writing from them to you, they cant fault you for a delay, as effectively that may not be deemed reported unless they have some proof they contacted you, all the same you should have sorted that, as its a legitimate concern, might be an electrical fault or they might say it is and hold that over you at the PRTB.

I appreciate getting hounded is a pain, but some legitimate concerns there, they need to be sorted. They are few in comparison to getting hounded, but you need to filter the real ones from the hounding, have it a lease for any future tenant as to what is expected of them.

mikemac1 wrote: »

Maybe you don't need an agent

You only have one property, you're an amateur landlord and if your next tenants work out well then an agent is pocketing money for doing not much at all

You dont need an agent for one property, even then all they do is source the tenant and maybe one worse than this and then what, they are gone, off the scene as you pay them upfront and no input into getting the person or seeing what they are like or talking to them to check them out.

kandoola wrote: »

True but its only 4% after tax and the rent is going up by 50% so ill still be better off.
I'll gladly pay that rather than have to field so many calls again.
Have to find a good one first though.

See above, Im not convinced they do any better a job.

kandoola wrote: »

Im past caring now.
The less I have to do with her the better.
And I used to think she was great, but now I see that anyone can turn into a pain if they are easily influenced.

Reminds me of when my brother got rear ended in his car last year with me in the passenger seat. Little scratch on the bumper, the other guy agreed to pay and all was sorted.
My brother comes home from work the next day and all of a sudden he has whiplash and is going through yer mans insurance and telling me what to say and that i should say i have whiplash and am in shock.
I put that down to he was fine until the people in work started on him to follow it up and get a few quid. Told him if to get lost and have a think about what he was doing. He couldnt go ahead without me in on it so he dropped it.

Some people are easily led, but thats their own faults.

I tend to agree with you there.

kandoola wrote: »

Sent the letter by registered post to up the rent to full market rate.
If I dont hear from them for the rest of the year i wont up the rent next year, however if I do hear from them then at the next available opportunity the rent is going to full market rate agian.
Or door number two - they move out.

good, up the rent to full rate, and then downhill wtf, you send a letter and wont up it if they dont contact you? this is what caused you problems, up the rent and stick with it or they will see you can be walked on, in which case at least serve notice before 4 years arrive.

kandoola wrote: »

You were so right.
I got a call today fcuking me out of it. Christmas ... poor ... greedy ... lazy ... were all words in there during the rant, but guess what every second word was? Yep it was PRTB.

So I then said to yer man, sorry Im only talking to the tenant, you dont live in the apartment, do you?

On he went saying it was his home now etc.

So I said well you are not supposed to. Breach of the lease and all that. I said if you want to get on the lease we'll draw a new one up with the new rent and a break clause or else the tenant can just give her notice, but the new rent stands from 1st Jan.

He want on for ages more but i had left the phone down on the desk and heard the odd mention of PRTB, then he hung up after about 5 mins.

I may have to evict them, but I got from the conversation that he is getting rent allowance. I reckon she is somehow signing the forms for him because im not.
Think i'll just write a letter to the CWO telling him he is being conned and send a copy to the gardai too. I think when his rent allowance gets stopped he will go quick enough.

I might actually call in to the CWO and tell him that anyone getting rent allowance at that address is defrauding him and i have sent a letter to the gardai and the minister etc.
Let him stop the rent allowance then.

I dont want them staying under any circumstances now anyway. Thats for sure.

Why were you even talking to the guy????
He is a breach of the contract, you should have put your foot down the first time.

jank wrote: »

Tbh, it is not Kandoola's problem how good or bad the state of the rental market is for prospective tenants. A month is the legal minimum so he/she is entitled to only give the tenant that amount of notice. Kandoola has complied with the law here asking for the rent increase via registered letter and it seems given that there was an unauthorised extra adult living in the house as well, which would mean a breach of contract on behalf of the tenant.

If some stranger rang my phone and started to abuse me about a property I had rented to someone else, I would a) ignore the call and not talk to them after establishing who it was b) ring the Gardai and pass it the details
Who did your man think he was, calling on behalf of someone else in private business that was none of his concern.

No its not, you're talking out your back passage, that kind of advice will get the OP hung out to dry.
Look up the PRTB website OP, At this point it'll be 112 days Im sure, get shot of them, they sound like trouble, now dont take offence to my advice, Im not having a go, but the half hearted efforts to deal with them, does not look like you will follow through, so they have an opportunity to play on that, stick with the rent increase Id say, talk to the tenant maybe if you want, but if you allow them stay without notice, thats the same as continuing on the tenancy if by the sounds of it, you have either a basic lease or no lease document.
The alternative is, if you allow them stay over the 4 years, I believe you might still be able to get rid of them with no reason in the first 6 months of the second 4 years, but that you should confirm as Im not 100% certain, I say, why take the chance, get rid of them now when you dont need to make any excuse, just make sure you are certain it was 3.5 years ago.

The second bolded bit I agree with, but calling the gardai is a waste of time, other than holding a thinly veiled threat of fraud over their head to aid you getting rid of them, dont play your cards too many times or even until you need them OP without following through or they will call your bluff, also calling the Gardai wont amount to much unless there is a threat of violence, even then tread carefully, in case they say you entered the property.You would still need to get rid of the tenant legitimately.

Id have suggested talk to the tenant, it may even be easier to keep this one but allowing a breach of contract doesnt do much for enforcing it later if you accept it now, if you put the foot down firmly early on, this may not have developed. Id go on the basis you could tell her you dont want him there, but you'll turn a blind eye to it unofficially if there is no hassle, only legitimate enquiries, if there is grief, tell her you'll give her notice, at least play it by ear until after Xmas for your own Xmas, or until the 4 years are almost expired, be ready to serve the end of tenancy before 4 years if she looks like she will be too much hassle or you will have another 4 years, as I said, you may be able to get rid of her in the first 6 months of the second 4 year tenancy but confirm that.

Put the rent up,don't say why apart from your new price being the going rate.She seems like a c*nt.Another option would be to tell them you are putting it up for sale and need them out by date x.

kandoola wrote: »

I must have mentioned that I was going to report him during that call, even though i cant remember, because i just got a call from her begging me not to report them.

So I said I wont as long as she texts me her notice tonight that she is moving out on or before Jan 1st.
And if there is no major damage that she would get her full deposit.

I went into all the reasons and said there is no going back now.
She was sobbing and going on about Christmas and having nowhere to go.
I actually said it would probably be jail she would be going to if i reported them. Felt mean but im mad.

So just got a text saying that she is moving out the week before Christmas. Probably picked that time to tug at my heart strings but im immune at this stage.
I know her family live in Balbriggan so I guess thats where she will go.
Or maybe they'll sleep in a car and call the papers like that article that was posted earlier.

With this one post you seem to have gone from the power position to sounding like just another sh1ty landlord.
Firstly, yes she and the new guy have been sh1t tenants, but you have now effectively blackmailed them out of an apartment during a period where they will find it tough to get anywhere else.
You have given out specific details about them.
You have said that as she "may" be forging a signature for a person you knew to be in the house you have been delinquent in your duties as a landlord.

Making a joke about someone sleeping in a car is also not on OP, it is a serious issue and not one to be laughed at on a forum.