"No rent allowance tenants" now illegal

Bronte said:

That's another issue, supply, but not all landlords are anti rent allowance tenants, that's what I'm talking about, they are not even at the table in ability to view never mind rent what is available. I've also commentated on how to increase supply. Not just on this thread but a couple of years ago, a bedsit thread if I can remember properly. Right now if I asked for market rent people would be inable to rent in the city where my property is. People like to bash landlords but the truth is the problem would be a lot less if we demanded market rent. That is why the government has a 'secret' scheme to increase the ceiling if the landlords threaten eviction. My own tenants when we asked them to try and break the ceiling had already known about this from other tenants.

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I'm not in the bashing landlords game, I see a game of musical chairs where there just are not enough properties to go around. Secret schemes and boosting rent allowance helps a particular subset of people chasing the number of chairs. But will boosting rent allowance bring more chairs into play?
If the RA tenant is evicted, is the landlord letting the property go idle? Is it being rented out to professionals or sold on to someone as their PPR? I think that's the key question. Just because the property is no longer let to an RA tenant, it doesn't mean it's no longer lived in.

We need to bring more capacity into play - totally agree with you on the bedsits and any similar regulations that have been OTT in taking safe livable properties off the market.

I have represented landlords in front of the Equality Tribunal (now WRC) and honestly landlords don't have much to worry about. First of all, only about 1 in 5 Equal Status Act cases win and that would include much serious cases like a handicapped child not let into a school etc. Awards tend to very small. €15,000 is the max. The only time I remember the ET giving a maximum award is when a wheelchair user was a patient in the Mater and she could not use the wheelchair-accessible toilet as it was being used as a store room.

Looking for work references is fine. You are not obliged to rent your place to somebody on rent allowance. In all these cases the burden of proof falls on the person taking the case. Fair play to the poster that included the risk of disorderly conduct defence.

Just be sensible. Be aware that conversations can be recorded. Don't say things like ' the last crowd of dolies wrecked the place. i am not taking your type again'.

I agree this is more about newspaper headlines than anything useful to tackle the housing supply issue.

What I would say though to the last poster is that €15k could easily wipe out a small landlord; leaving out the time and legal bills.

What concerns many people are the chancers who will demand a pay-off on threat of taking an equality case.

I didnt realise they had renamed the Equality Tribunal; I thought this Work Place Commission was a new set up.

Just as an aside, there's a new quango that is furiously renaming and amalgamating older quangos (NRA + RSA = Some new abbreviated thing). The newly abbreviated thing will be another quango with a fully staffed Mammy quango at the top feeding the baby quangos under her umbrella.

Wow that's great mathepac. I always wanted a quango of my own. Soon we'll all be able to breed them and keep them as pets. I'll lrt the kids know that we're not getting that new dog!!

Thirsty said:

I agree this is more about newspaper headlines than anything useful to tackle the housing supply issue.

What I would say though to the last poster is that €15k could easily wipe out a small landlord; leaving out the time and legal bills.

What concerns many people are the chancers who will demand a pay-off on threat of taking an equality case.

I didnt realise they had renamed the Equality Tribunal; I thought this Work Place Commission was a new set up.

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I know that 15k would wipe out a landlord. The point I was trying to make is that I am willing to put money that no landlord will ever have to pay an award that high or anything close to it. It is only the very serious cases that attract the maximum award. There will be compo merchants but that does not mean that they will win!

The WRC is an amalgamation of employment rights bodies. It was recommended by An Bord Snip nua and as a lawyer I am not cynical about it. There was a lot of forum shopping and this will prevent that. Anything that saves the taxpayer money is good news in my book

Brendan Burgess said:

I would imagine that would be the equivalent of asking a woman at an interview "How many children do you have?".

You are opening yourself wide open to a case for discrimination.

Brendan

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Just look at the prospective tenant and say "Now, tell me about yourself..." and shut up. If they don't tell you about their job, cross them off the list. If you stay quiet long enough, they'll probably tell you their whole life story.

I think an option here is to use a letting agency and let them know what your target market is.

As a pensioner on RA..Thankfully I have a current tenancy which is fine but if the landlord decides, as he has mentioned, that he "might" need the house, I will be in considerable difficulties. Some of the tactics suggested here no longer shock me but ...I have never reneged on rent and do not trash the house. As a kind person here rightly says, we are often simply people who need the help we are entitled to. And to be seen as future tenants. And i am sure rents went up to raise them above the level eg myself can afford, If you read some of the threads on the Irish landlord forum you will see what I mean. NB I am careful re my landlord and ask little but the washing machine died three months ago and I get frequent promises. At least the electricity bill will be lower this month....

Marigold 77 - you sound like a model tenant, not like some of the people reported on here and on boards.ie who delight in trashing other people's houses and refuse to pay rent for up to two years until a court order is eventually received to kick them out. Many landlords are destroyed after two years without rent. There was an article in one of the papers this past sunday citing the lack of rental properties.in the country. I wonder how many vacant properties are sittung idly out there, lamdlords are too scared to let them out that coupled with the high taxes is killing the rental market.

moneybox said:

Marigold 77 - you sound like a model tenant, not like some of the people reported on here and on boards.ie who delight in trashing other people's houses and refuse to pay rent for up to two years until a court order is eventually received to kick them out. Many landlords are destroyed after two years without rent. There was an article in one of the papers this past sunday citing the lack of rental properties.in the country. I wonder how many vacant properties are sittung idly out there, lamdlords are too scared to let them out that coupled with the high taxes is killing the rental market.

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Thank you and totally agree.. but it is very hard to be penalised for the sins of others at my age. At present I am needing to relocate later this year and finding anywhere? I have been blessed to find houses withing the ra limits because of my age etc so hoping the same will apply. When I viewed this house I had had a nightmare landlord and my new landlord had had nightmare tenants who left owing rent, did damage, and left an ESB bill he thought he had to pay. We sat at the kitchen table and i taught him re the laws and rules so that no one can ever do that to him again. Would love the washing machine though! But he is deep in lambing and calving etc... respect and you will be respected.

We

Marigold77 said:

Thank you and totally agree.. but it is very hard to be penalised for the sins of others at my age. At present I am needing to relocate later this year and finding anywhere? I have been blessed to find houses withing the ra limits because of my age etc so hoping the same will apply. When I viewed this house I had had a nightmare landlord and my new landlord had had nightmare tenants who left owing rent, did damage, and left an ESB bill he thought he had to pay. We sat at the kitchen table and i taught him re the laws and rules so that no one can ever do that to him again. Would love the washing machine though! But he is deep in lambing and calving etc... respect and you will be respected.

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Well, the good news is that the new washing machine will be here Sunday morning! The hold up has been that the only plumber my landlord trusted is no longer around..country folk are like that. a neighbour who is a builder called today to check where the machine will go. Grand SO ...Only been three months!