Estate Agents Responsibility: Tenant has not paid rent in 3mo.

I'm actually in agreement with Kazza and feel quite sorry for the situation they are in as I wouldn't fancy having to pay two mortgages instead of one and risk defaulting.

Regardless of what the contract with the EA says it seems that they are washing their hands of the matter. There are usually two levels of service, the cheaper being finding a tenant & getting references etc and the second being a full management service including organizing cleaning, tradesmen etc.

The suggestion to go to their welfare officer sounds like a good idea as presumably the Dept Social Welfare will prosecute them if they keep the rent money and don't use it for rent as it's technically social welfare fraud.
 
As far as I know it is highly unusual for the DSW to pay the rent to a tenant, contact the dept or Social Worker and inform them that a) the money being given to the tenant is not being used to pay the rent (possible benefit fraud?) and b) give them your bank details and ask for the rent to be paid directly to you
Do you have definite confirmation that this person is receiving DSW payments? Or have you just her word for it? What about references, did you get any, does she work, or do you know where?

Also check www.IPOA.ie and consider registering with them, they may take your case, and as far as I know, it will not be as expensive as hiring a solicitor. Also register with the PRTB TODAY! Do not delay any further!

I would not recommend changing the locks, I work as an EA and had a landlord how did this and ended up paying compensation to a tenant even when they owed the LL money, reason given by the PRTB was it was an illegal eviction.
The landlord tried to call a meeting with the PRTB and was told there was a 3-6 month waiting list, LL evicted the tenant by turning up at the door, putting them on the street and changing the locks, (tenant was 6 months in arrears) and was called to an “emergency” hearing within 48 hours.

Post any questions you might have, or feel free to PM me if you wish, one other thing, you don’t say if you hired the EA for a lettings only service or a full management service, it may have some bearing on why they seem reluctant to help you, or very simply their hands may be tied, it is very difficult to physically evict someone from a property if they don’t want to go.
 
G7979 said:
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I would not recommend changing the locks, I work as an EA and had a landlord how did this and ended up paying compensation to a tenant even when they owed the LL money, reason given by the PRTB was it was an illegal eviction.
The landlord tried to call a meeting with the PRTB and was told there was a 3-6 month waiting list, LL evicted the tenant by turning up at the door, putting them on the street and changing the locks, (tenant was 6 months in arrears) and was called to an “emergency” hearing within 48 hours....
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Perhaps the landlord thought it was cheaper paying the compensation than having no rent for 6 months.

How can the PRTB enforce its decisions?
 
As far as I know it is highly unusual for the DSW to pay the rent to a tenant
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They do because it was found to be going against the tenants rights to bypass them!. You should make the agreement with any SW tenant before entering contract that the payment does bypass them straight to your account.
 
To be honest I am not sure what lengths the PRTB can go to enforce their decision, you are quite right, the LL decided that it was best all round to take the hit, pay the compensation and be rid of the troublesome individual.

According to their website http://www.prtb.ie/DownloadDocs/Dispute%20Stages.doc
There are a couple of ways to go about this, mediation, arbitration and a tribunal hearing, once the board makes a determination order, if it is not adhered to they may seek enforcements through the courts, but as to how often this has happened, any outcomes from the courts, I’m afraid I don’t have any information on that.

There was talk at one stage of them re-instating the tenant; it was the LL’s primary objective to stop this happening so LL paid up.

This is the one and only time I have had a “physical” eviction, in my three years in this position, I have done evictions but after a couple of stern letters they have left freely, albeit with bad grace and much grumbling!
 
Re Mrman

This may not be the same for all DSW offices, but the one I deal with most frequently automatically asks the would be tenant for their landlords bank details, I am guessing they are only given the option if they ask for it, that could be a local "custom" though.
 
FKH said:
...The suggestion to go to their welfare officer sounds like a good idea as presumably the Dept Social Welfare will prosecute them if they keep the rent money and don't use it for rent as it's technically social welfare fraud.
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I doubt very much whether a Social Welfare office would entertain this approach or engage in such a conversation; client confidentiality for a start and I'm sure other issues as well.
 
I doubt very much whether a Social Welfare office would entertain this approach or engage in such a conversation; client confidentiality for a start and I'm sure other issues as well.
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Not so, it is easy enough to put pressure on them as you can go over their heads if they don't cooperate
 
Ham Slicer said:
Landlord does not need to register the tenancy with PRTB as it's a SW tenant.
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Don't think thats true, see below from the webiste, as the landlord is a private landlord the tenancy does need to be registered, Although the last one might fit!

What dwellings are exempt from the tenancy registration system?
Business premises, even where partly residential

A dwelling to which Part II of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act 1982 applies (i.e. formerly rent controlled dwelling occupied by the “original tenant” or his/her spouse) or to which Part II of the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act 1980 applies (i.e. long occupation equity lease tenancies)

A dwelling let by a local authority or voluntary housing body

A dwelling occupied under a shared ownership lease

A holiday let

A dwelling in which the landlord is also resident

A dwelling in which the spouse, parent or child of the landlord is resident and there is no written lease or tenancy agreement

A dwelling that is occupied rent free
 
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mathepac said:
I doubt very much whether a Social Welfare office would entertain this approach or engage in such a conversation; client confidentiality for a start and I'm sure other issues as well.
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They are more than willing to talk to the landlord or his agents in my professional experience. After all the money that they are paying to the person is to pay the landlords rent so they have a relationship with the landlord too.

I have found them to be very helpful in providing details and information, in writing, where assistance was, shall we say, going astray.
 
You now see why Agents are such a waste of money. They just gouge money out of you for nothing but putting an add on daft.ie.

My advice for what its worth is.

1 - Contact the DSW. If they dont pay you directly at least get them to stop paying the tennant.

2 - If 1 fails go up to the house and squirt a tube of superglue into the lock when the tennant is out. If the tennant calls you to fix it tell them you will when they pa the rent. If the pay to get the locks fixed themselves , do it again ... and so on.

3 - After all is said and done stay away from agents for ever more.

4 - Carry your losses forward against tax for as many years as it takes to recover.
 
You now see why Agents are such a waste of money. They just gouge money out of you for nothing but putting an add on daft.ie.
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We still don't know if it was a managed letting or not, and the presumption would be that it was not, in which case the agents function would cease once tenant was insitu.
 
MrMan said:
We still don't know if it was a managed letting or not, and the presumption would be that it was not, in which case the agents function would cease once tenant was insitu.
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If it wasnt a managed letting then as i said, the agent put an add on daft and gave it to the first person that came along. Their vetting wasnt very good was it? and now they just wash their hands of getting a stinker of a tennant for the op.

Agents fault. OPs fault for not knowing better about what the agent was providing ... An add and a phonecall and a drive to the property for how much?
 
If it wasnt a managed letting then as i said, the agent put an add on daft and gave it to the first person that came along. Their vetting wasnt very good was it? and now they just wash their hands of getting a stinker of a tennant for the op.

Agents fault. OPs fault for not knowing better about what the agent was providing ... An add and a phonecall and a drive to the property for how much?
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Alot of assumptions here, you do not know how many were shown the property, what area the property was in, the standard of the property and indeed it is impossible to completely gaurantee that a tenant will be good or bad. Nobody said the 1st person that came along got the apartment so it is of little use to this thread to simply make things up to try and support your point.
 
MrMan said:
Alot of assumptions here, you do not know how many were shown the property, what area the property was in, the standard of the property and indeed it is impossible to completely gaurantee that a tenant will be good or bad. Nobody said the 1st person that came along got the apartment so it is of little use to this thread to simply make things up to try and support your point.
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How is this for support. OP paid agent to get them a good tennant. Agent got sh!t tennant. Agent washed hands. Agent took money and doesnt give a flying f***.

Is what an agent does really worth a months rent?

Making the assumption that 5 minutes after an add appears on Daft for an apartment in Dublin the phone starts ringing.
Why dont you list out for us what an agent does for people like the OP and how long each step takes them to do?

Then lets apply an hourly rate to it.
 
Minion that's the whole issue and something the OP won't answer or hasn't so far anyway.

Letting agents offer 2 kinds of services. A letting service whereby they find you tenants and set up the move, transfer of utilities etc. And a management service where they deal with issues that arise with your property during the tenancy on top of arranging the tenancy. Obviously the management option is significantly more expensive.

If the OP only paid for a letting service then the agency has completed their responsibility in arranging the tenancy.

Which is why it's hard to offer proper advice without the full info and hence people getting "excited" about it all.
 
How is this for support. OP paid agent to get them a good tennant. Agent got sh!t tennant. Agent washed hands. Agent took money and doesnt give a flying f***.

Is what an agent does really worth a months rent?

Making the assumption that 5 minutes after an add appears on Daft for an apartment in Dublin the phone starts ringing.
Why dont you list out for us what an agent does for people like the OP and how long each step takes them to do?

Then lets apply an hourly rate to it.
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First of all if you go looking for the good tenant registrar you may find it difficult to locate, there is a risk involved with all tenants just as there is a risk for the tenants i.e nightmare landlord. the subject in question, the agent sent eviction notice to the tenant and then advised for the guards to be called in (and so the story ends unless we find out the contract involved).

Regarding what an agent does for their fee is generally take the hassle out of it for the owner. If the owner has the time and doesn't mind dealing with the calls and viewings then of course it makes sense to do it yourself. For a months fee you would generally be talking about a managed letting in which case the landlord has no contact with the tenant and the agent is responsible for ensuring upkeep and income are up to date. Your gripe with agents doesn't make you an authority on the subject you should be able to allow for the reasoning that letting an agent do the work is of benefit to some people.
 
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