Deposit from Landlord

[pulp8360]

Hi

We employed a worker in 2019 for 5 months. We got accomodation the landlord said he had a room to rent for 600/ month. There was no lease signed the landlord paid electricity etc. The agreement was when our employee left the house was to be clean and we would get our deposit back. When the house was vacant we looked at it and it was as good as the day our employee moved in. The landlord disputed this and said the bathroom needs cleaning we said we would clean this but could not get the keys from him. a few months later after trying to ring him he said the tenant broke the letter box and the dishwasher this was €400 (all was left perfect) and he needed €200 to clean the house.
The landlord never lived in the house. Can he still claim rent a room relief ??
If no lease was signed could we take it to the RTB our employee had the house to himself ??
Any suggestion would be appreciate.

 

[Leo]

The landlord never lived in the house. Can he still claim rent a room relief ??

How do you know the landlord did indeed claim this relief? Terms here, but it must be the landlord's sole residence.

If no lease was signed could we take it to the RTB our employee had the house to himself ??

If the landlord was not living in the property, then it does some under the remit of the RTB, but your case is complicated by your arrangement to pay the deposit on your employee's behalf. The RTB deals with tenant / landlord disputes, I'm not sure if they'll handle a third party dispute.

 

[pulp8360]

Hi Leo
We are only presuming as we told him we would take the matter to the rtb. He is living about 100 miles away and his post still gets delivered to the house and he collects it when he is passing. I would only see this as away of saying its his principal residents.

The house is on a long term let now.

 

[Leo]

Address this via the RTB so. Don't make any accusations you cannot prove such as the landlord claiming rent-a-room relief. Stick to the facts, and you will easily win, the RTB very much favour the tenant in such disputes.

 

[DirectDevil]

Off the cuff this sounds like another classic episode of the long running series of "you are not getting your deposit back".

I share the doubt about RTB jurisdiction especially as there was no formal lease.
Ergo, if there was no lease one wonders what, if anything, was registered with the RTB.
The landlord should have registered the tenancy as failure to do so leaves him open to prosecution.

I would ask the landlord out straight if he registered the lease with the RTB reminding him, before he answers, that he faces prosecution if he has not done so and BTW could I please have my €600 (?) back ? I would do that one verbally and not in a letter to avoid leaving yourself open to an allegation of making "unwarranted demands with menace" which is actually an offence. ( An unwarranted demand with menace is actually the old concept of blackmail !.)

If the tenancy was by any chance registered the third party issue raised by Leo arises.
Who was the "legal" tenant ?
If the occupant employee was the de facto tenant that may cause a problem as it means OP was not the tenant and the issue of privity of contract may therefore arise and cause the RTB not to deal with the OP. The only way around that would be for the OP to effectively use "subrogation rights" whereby they pursue the issue in the name of the "tenant" but that would require prior agreement with the tenant.

GENERAL OBSERVATION and LESSONS.

OP obviously went about things nicely in arranging the accommodation but then gets this slap.

1. Always do a "photographic survey" of a rented property before taking up occupancy as that sorts out end of tenancy disputes.

2. Always get a formal lease to protect yourself as a tenant.

 

[Leo]

My understanding based on reading of RTB material along with the views of the likes of Threshold is that a formal lease is not required for a tenant to avail of RTB procedures. The RTB's guidelines on avoiding disputes contains language like 'If a tenancy agreement/lease is being provided.' A landlord who fails to register a tenancy loses their entitlement to request mediation in the event of a dispute.

The 2004 act sates that the Board will not entertain a dispute lodged by a landlord where they have failed to register the tenancy, there is no such stipulation relating to disputes raised by the tenant.