Tenant left suddenly- owes rent-now abroad- can RTB help?

N

nbc

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Hi
I discovered xmas eve that my tenant left the house she's renting from me. She owes almost £2000 in back rent and needless to say the house is in rag order.
I have always had the opinion the the RTB is a total waste of time ant not worth the cost of a phone call or stamp. Would people agree with me or has anyone had any success? The tenant has moved back to Poland so I assume this will complicate things to say the least?

Many thanks
nbc
 
Sorry to hear that OP, I say you have a slim to zero chance of recovering the rent owed especially as she has left the country. I doubt the RTB be any use to you here. Did you get a deposit?
 
nbc said:
I have always had the opinion the the RTB is a total waste of time ant not worth the cost of a phone call or stamp. Would people agree with me............................
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I agree with you.

Get the house back in a rentable condition and move on.

Hopefully you will have better luck with your new tenants.
 
The RTB should publish a list of tenants who default to protect landlords and, maybe, a list of defaulting landlords.

Brendan
 
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Document eveything. Take pictures of damage and the state the place was left in. I would still contact the RTB and make a formal complaint just for the satisfaction it would give me. Are you sure the tenant is not coming back?
 
Even if the tenant were in Ireland my advice would be to forget it. Just get it in shape quickly and back on the market.

Don't you have a deposit? How did the arrears build up?

On the positive, she's out.
 
Thanks guys. I thought she was a decent skin and although rents had gone up a lot in the last couple of years I left hers at 30% below market rate. I read a guy on here some time ago who said you get no thanks for this and I think he may be right. Perhaps 10% for decent tenants but anymore and they probably take you for a fool. The arrears built up over time and I wasn't strict enough. Yes I have a deposit of E600 which is something but I will need one of the E300 skips for starters and then to pay someone to put it back in order which will be a couple of grand at least and that's the bare minimum. I'm glad others agree with the RTB- It will save me time. I have read about the small claims court( max 2000E) and there is a european version. However I have read that property related issues must go to the RTB which would probably preclude this. If I discovered she was back in Ireland would the RTB still be a total waste of time??( I know the answer but just asking...)
 
Sorry to hear what happened to you, it's happened to me twice, and it sucks. I think that you could contact her last known place of work to see if she's still working there or if she has really left the country. Also, by documenting the case, you could save future landlords the pain of renting to her. I have gone through the full PRTB process and been awarded a large sum. Of course, the tenant didn't pay it, but now she has a criminal record against her, and hopefully I've saved some other landlords from taking her on. Otherwise they just get away scot free...
 
sublime1 said:
.....,. but now she has a criminal record against her, and hopefully I've saved some other landlords from taking her on. Otherwise they just get away scot free...
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How would a landlord know if someone has a criminal record?
 
Having an RTB decision recorded against someone is a long, long way away from them having a criminal record.
 
sublime1 said:
Sorry to hear what happened to you, it's happened to me twice, and it sucks. I think that you could contact her last known place of work to see if she's still working there or if she has really left the country. Also, by documenting the case, you could save future landlords the pain of renting to her. I have gone through the full PRTB process and been awarded a large sum. Of course, the tenant didn't pay it, but now she has a criminal record against her, and hopefully I've saved some other landlords from taking her on. Otherwise they just get away scot free...
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She will now know, if she didn't before, that the RTB did nothing at all to her. So she's all set to do it to her next unfortunate landlord.

By the way, did she show up at their hearing?

What action did the RTB take after their determination order?

Zero I presume, did you press them to do so? Did they fob you off and tell you it was a waste of time chasing her for the money.
 
Bronte said:
She will now know, if she didn't before, that the RTB did nothing at all to her. So she's all set to do it to her next unfortunate landlord.

By the way, did she show up at their hearing?

What action did the RTB take after their determination order?

Zero I presume, did you press them to do so? Did they fob you off and tell you it was a waste of time chasing her for the money.
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No, she didn't show up. Neighbours told me that she was incredibly gifted at pulling the wool over social services eyes, even when it was clear to everyone that her child was in danger. I won the determination, it then went to criminal proceedings against her, which in fairness needed very little input from me (to be honest, I was too emotionally exhaused to pursue it any further myself - it actually cost me my relationship at the time, and affected my health). Of course, I never saw a penny, but as I say, she now has a criminal record, and there is the PRTB record too.
 
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