Dispute with letting agency-bizarre practice

Hi there,
Sorry if this is the wrong location for this post.Anyway here goes.....
A French friend of mine is leaving Ireland in a weeks time & has had a no of problems with the letting agency who let her appartment.
1.She moved into the appartment last January & handed over her deposit over to the previous tenants,thinking this was normal practice(even though she signed a contract with the letting agency,who told her to hand the deposit to the previous tenants.).They are now refusing to hand over the deposit even though the appartment is perfect.They say it was a matter between her & previous tenant.
2.Apparently the ESB bill has been unpaid since Nov 06 & they are now demanding that she settles this bill(even though she lived with 2 other people & she says no bills were received in the post).
3.She handed in her rent relief form 3 weeks ago to try & claim back some rent relief,but the office is refusing to give her the completed form back.

What can she do in this situation? any advice gratefull y appreciated.

1. Sharp practice, she should simply file a complaint with the PRTB. She may not have a leg to stand on but they're the only ones who are in a position to adjudicate.
2. The ESB bills are a matter bwteen the ESB and person whose name is on the bill. If it's not her name it's not her problem. It's not the agencies either unless the bills are going through them, in which case it's still their problem.
3. She doesn't need to send the rent relief form to the agency. Send it directly to Revenue with all the details of the property filled in and a note stating agency refused to pass on PPSN of landlord, and the agencies details, in the PPSN space.

Thanks for that Howitzer,I'm assuming ESB don't send bills addressed to "Tenant",ie it will always be addressed to a person?,as the letting agents are refusing to allow her see the bill,yet demanding she pay.

Just notify the agency that she is entering into a Dispute Resolution with the PRTB on points 1 and 2 and and that she will be leaving it in their hands. Give it a day ... and then fill in the form if necessary. Read the Disputes resolved page to get a feel for where the PTRB will stand on the case and how long to expect for a resolution http://www.prtb.ie/disputes.htm

Fill in the Rent Relief form straight way and send it to Revenue. Don't bother with the agency. Give all details of the Landlord and Agency and complete details of term of occupation. A photocopy of the lease would be great.

She should definitely not pay any ESB without seeing the bill.

She would be obliged to pay for the ESB whether or not she has received a bill. If she used electricity, she should pay for it. Obviously, this might be part of a larger settlement of the issue.

Brendan

Brendan said:

She would be obliged to pay for the ESB whether or not she has received a bill. If she used electricity, she should pay for it. Obviously, this might be part of a larger settlement of the issue.

Brendan

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I think I'd wait to hear back on the agencies reaction to entering into a PRTB dispute before assuming that. It's common practice amongst a certain type of landlord to pay the bills themselves and make the rent all inclusive. The reasoning is pretty obvious. The fact that no bill was ever sent to the address makes me raise an eyebrow.

I have seen this so many times with, almost always foreign, friends and work colleagues. Many letting agents seem to display a condasending, and downright bullying, attitude when dealing with foreign nationals. Whilst poor public facing skills isn't exactly a crime, many agencies, through my own personal experience, seem to be complicit in facilitating tax evasion - which is.

Thanks for all the replies,she rang the ESB & found out that her name was on the bill.She is willing to pay for her 3rd of the bill ,however she doesn't feel that she should pay for the other 2 people for a no of reasons.Firstly,the ESB were unable to furnish her with amt that was owed(they say the bill will be ready in 1 week)! & secondly she is adamant that she understood that electricity was inclusive(this is not referred to her in her contract) & that no bills were received alerting them otherwise.
She seems very honest & wants this resolved,but is due to leave the country in 1 week.

Seems extraordinary that a bill with her name on it was never sent to her. If it's only in her name it's her bill, even if it's with other's the ESB will pursue whoever they can. Looks like the other tenant's have done a runner on her in relation to the ESB bill. Did she get a metre reading when she entered into the apartment? Did she get a receipt from the tenant's she paid the deposit to. Alternativly does the contract she signed state that there is a deposit paid by her - if it does they will have to give her back the deposit. I cannot see any reason for the letting agency to keep the deposit to pay ESB except if the ESB bill is in the landlord's name.

I appreciate that this is third hand information but the relationship between the ESB, the person named on the bill and the Agency in this scenario as described can't be right.

Contact the ESB and find out the exact circumstances of how her name came to be on the bill, where the previous (10 months) bills were getting sent, and what the agencies relationship in all this is. Otherwise we're just whistling in the wind.