# A little concerned - furniture removed from house before letting



## Maryb50 (19 Mar 2017)

Hi! Finally, decided to let house. Went there yesterday. Tenants due to move in on Tuesday. Furniture from one of the upstairs rooms was removed. There were marks on the paintwork from it being removed, and whoever removed it, also damaged the skirting board. One of the pieces of furniture we were going to take with us to our new house. The letting agent is the only one besides ourselves who has the key - new lock. I haven't been able to connect him over the weekend, but partner and I are a bit perturbed by this. The letting agent never mentioned that the tenants didn't want some of the furniture, or that they, they letting agents, were removing it. It was bedroom furniture, and one of the rooms will absolutely need one of the pieces of furniture that was removed. We left a message for the letting agents saying we weren't  happy for the tenants to move in until the missing furniture was explained. Just wondering would others here feel the same - feel it's a bad omen and I'm already a nervous  landlord!


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## cremeegg (19 Mar 2017)

A bit perturbed isn't enough, you should be seriously alarmed by this.

You don't know what is going on and that is bad enough.

But it is most unlikely that any agent would remove furniture. There is a cost involved in moving and storage, it would be bizarre behaviour by the agent.

If the tenant removed the furniture, with or without the agents permission, cancel the lease do not let them in. If that is how they treat you at the start of their lease, it won't get better. Also get a new agent, they are either unacceptably high handed in permitting the tenant to remove the furniture or unacceptably careless in allowing it to happen without their knowledge.

Unless there is some totally other explanation, like your mother came and took the furniture, avoid both these tenants and agents.

As a landlord of many years experience, I can tell you that most tenants are perfectly decent people, the trick in successful letting is avoiding the few bad tenants. They can cause real problems. 

Good luck


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## Maryb50 (19 Mar 2017)

Cremeegg, thanks for your reply. Yes, actually we were quite alarmed by it - but didn't want to overreact. It's the most bizarre thing - it's not that the furniture was that valuable, but just that one piece was needed for the room anyway, and the other, we needed ourselves. It was also the damage to paint and skirting boards on the stairs. We had told the letting agent that the tenants were absolutely not to move in until next Tuesday, or to be in the property at all until then, we still had a small amount of personal belongings in the house. My partner was more alarmed than I was, and went and got a new barrel for the lock and changed it. I've lost trust in the agent now  - and neither he nor tenant will be getting into the house unless I am completely persuaded by any explanations they offer - which I can't imagine I will be.


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## Annie51 (19 Mar 2017)

Change the locks first thing, in case the letting agent has passed the keys to the tenants.  Just reread your post and I see your partner has changed the locks.


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## Maryb50 (20 Mar 2017)

Hi! Annie51, thanks for your reply. Yes I did change the locks. Letting agent denying he took the items and saying he hasn't given tenants the keys - the letting agent did have a guy in there servicing the boiler last week. The items are gone so all very strange! Don't know what to think now or whether to go ahead with tenancy. Feeling a bit nervous about it all


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## Bronte (20 Mar 2017)

It's highly unlikey the letting agent removed the furniture.  He also says he didn't give the tenants the keys. So the boiler guy seems to be the issue.

If the tenants are taking a furnished house it doesn't make sense for them to remove furniture now does it?  And if they did, they'd be more likely to move furniture around and put soemthing they didn't need into the garage or shed.

The letting agent wouldn't do it because that's his business/his livelyhood.

Both those parties wouldn't try and do damage, they'd try and do the opposite, not do damage.

So my money is on boiler man taking a chance on stealing something.

What are the two items gone?  And how long has he been working for the agent?


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## Maryb50 (20 Mar 2017)

Actually there are two more items - two office chairs also - just looked about an hour ago. There's only a garden shed and no garage, and the items are definitely not there - we also looked in wardrobes etc - one of the items would be too big for a wardrobe. The items are not hugely valuable in monetary terms - maybe e250 to replace the whole lot, but it's the wierdness of why someone would take secondhand IKEA furniture - the items were a chest of drawers - which we will need to replace as there isn't one in the room, and the built in wardrobe is very small. An IKEA wooden storage cube with four storage slots, the ones where you would insert the plastic storage trays - which our son wanted to take to the new house, and two IKEA office chairs. The person who took them must have been on his own as he/she made a hash of brining them down the stairs, putting black marks on the paintwork, and cracking the skirting boards. The chest of drawers, IKEA storage cube and one chair were definitely in the room, as it was in the photos of the letting. The letting agent said he didn't take them - I believe him. The tenants apparently haven't received the keys yet or signed the Lease, as he told me they now couldn't make it in until Wednesday. The boiler guy is denying it - letting agent states he is in his 50s and wouldn't have use for such items - maybe though he has a rental property of his own. It's all so bizarre. I'm so nervous about renting the house out anyway, this was the last thing I needed!


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## cremeegg (20 Mar 2017)

The letting agent is responsible, and must sort this.

I am not suggesting he took the stuff, but he had the keys, he was the responsible person.

If he doesn't take responsibility get a different agent.


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## Bronte (20 Mar 2017)

Does the boiler guy have a van?


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## Maryb50 (20 Mar 2017)

Hi! Bronte, I don't know, as I wasn't there when he serviced the boiler. It was the letting agent's boiler man. I'm presuming he does have a van - most people doing boiler services would - at least a small van which would fit a small chest of drawers, a chair etc.


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## PaddyBloggit (20 Mar 2017)

And if you fail with letting agent, your next stop is to report the theft to the Gardaí.


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## Laramie (21 Mar 2017)

Bronte said:


> It's highly unlikey the letting agent removed the furniture. He also says he didn't give the tenants the keys. So the boiler guy seems to be the issue.





Bronte said:


> The letting agent wouldn't do it because that's his business/his livelyhood



The letting agent wouldn't do it because it's his business. I guess it must be just a nixer then for the boilerman.


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## Jazz01 (21 Mar 2017)

Seems to be pointing to the "boilerman", but would other people living in the area / passing by, have been aware that it was a rental, took the opportunity of an "open door" to see what could be "salvaged"? 
You say there were marks on the wall / skirting etc.. results of a rushed job to get the stuff out before someone came back into the house? Did he leave the house open at any time while he went to get some supplies etc? Have you contacted the gardaí in relation to this?


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## elcato (21 Mar 2017)

Sounds like just someone robbed them. Check all the windows and back doors for any obvious sign. Those IKEA things are actually quite useful so maybe a neighbour or a relation took them.


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## arbitron (15 Apr 2017)

Hi Maryb50, did you get it sorted in the end?


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## sadie (17 Apr 2017)

It might have well have been the letting agent. If he is running other properties (some of which he might own himself) and was short a couple of pieces of furniture, mightn't he have taken them from that house if his own tenants needed them?
The boiler man has just as much as a reputation to preserve as the letting agent. Could the letting agent have taken 'a loan' of the furniture, not thinking the owners would be over....


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