Mgt co(?)/agent(?) has withdrawn due to payment of fees. CoCo litter fine tenant!

[boxplayer]

This is an odd and annoying situation.

Scenario: Managament Company have withdrawn support due to non-payment of fees in apartment complex. I am renting, landlord has paid fees, but our agent has advised there is nothing we can do.

Anyhow, the rubbish had been building up for quite a while, as the services have been pulled due to non-payment by management company.

As a consequence, I got a letter today from the county council with a fine for me and my partner for a litter offence. Rang the council, and seems that the bags left in the apartment car park at the spot for rubbish [I did not leave rubbish outside] had been moved onto the street (they were unclear on this point) and were cleaned up by the council. They rifled through the bags, got our names and details, and sent us the fine.

Now, does it seem fair to be fined for something which you have no control over? I rang and argued the point, they are going to send photos (which I requested). Why are they not going after the management company for this? Obviously I don't want to pay, but don't want a court appearance either. Could I pay and then go after the i) agent, ii) landlord/owner or c) management company?

Puzzled and looking for best solution.

 

[mathepac]

Re: Litter Problem - Fine

... Could I pay and then go after the i) agent, ii) landlord/owner or c) management company? ...

As a tenant in a mutiple-occupancy building, any issues arising are between you and your land-lord.

Where you say "Managament Company" [sic] in your post, I believe you actually mean managing agent.

 

[boxplayer]

Re: Litter Problem - Fine

Not sorted yet, but a chat with someone on the residents' association has cleared things up - this was even odder than it seemed, someone took plastic bags from the bin area and left them at the bus stop outside. So the management company is off the hook for this one.

It's also so quaint and refreshing to see someone correct spelling in a post. Perhaps so I might be allowed to point out that landlord is the more usual form (as found in the OED). Oh, and sic should directly follow the misspelled word within the quotation marks, and is usually italicized, although this may vary depending on the style.

 

[shesells]

Re: Litter Problem - Fine

It's also so quaint and refreshing to see someone correct spelling in a post. Perhaps so I might be allowed to point out that landlord is the more usual form (as found in the OED). Oh, and sic should directly follow the misspelled word within the quotation marks, and is usually italicized, although this may vary depending on the style.

Mathepac's point is not about the spelling AFAIK it's that the Management Company and Management Agent are two very different things. I could explain here but the difference is explained in at least 50 threads on this board already!

 

[mathepac]

Re: Litter Problem - Fine

... it's that the Management Company and Management Agent are two very different things...

 

[ajapale]

boxplayer is a mere tenant who the CoCo are about to fine for littering as a result of a service not being provided by one of the following 1)The management company, 2)the management agents, or 3)the landlord.

How should he proceed?

 

[mathepac]

Re: Litter Problem - Fine

As a tenant in a mutiple-occupancy building, any issues arising are between you and your land-lord...

I believe that the only recourse is as per my original post - the contract (lease or rental agreement) appears to be between the land-lord (property owner) and the tenant (OP), unless OP can take legal advice and maybe have the land-lord joined as a defendant in the council's legal action - slim chance I think, but I'm not a lawyer.

 

[round1]

This tenant's landlord does not appear to be compliant with Standard 12 of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008.

This Standard relates to Refuse Facilities and states:

"the house shall have access to suitable and adequate pest and vermin-proof refuse storage facilities"

At the start of the Standards, house is defined as "including any building or part of a building used or suitable for use as a dwelling" so I presume it relates to apartments as well.

Perhaps the tenant should contact the landlord and point this out to him. As it is a tenant/ landlord situation, Threshold (see Threshold.ie)could also be of help. The housing Standards are enforced by local authorities ie City or County Councils so perhaps a call to the housing section there could be useful.