Tenant left without paying Waste Charges - Am I as Landlord Liable?

Problem: I rented a house to tenant from March 2005 – March 2009. As I live abroad the property was managed by a letting agent and I have had no contract with the tenant for the duration of their tenancy. The tenant left in March ’09.

I have now received a final demand notice from Dun-Laoghaire Rathdown County Council in respect of unpaid waste charges. The amount is for €1,232.44 to be paid by 21 April last (the letter was forwarded (eventually) by the letting agent). The demand notice advises that failure to pay by 21 April will result in the debt being passed to a debt collection agency etc.

The letting agreement contains a clause that the tenant agrees “To pay local authority charges relating to the property including any which are imposed after the date of this agreement”.

Question: My question is am I liable to pay the waste charge due to DL-R Co. Cl? Or can I simply pass the Co. Cl. the name and forwarding address of my former tenants and let the Council pursue them? (presuming the letting agency has their co-ordinates).


Thanks in advance for any advice


(ps I not aware of any other outstanding bills for electricity, gas, phone etc. but am checking with the agency).

Mr Toad said:

Question: My question is am I liable to pay the waste charge due to DL-R Co. Cl? Or can I simply pass the Co. Cl. the name and forwarding address of my former tenants and let the Council pursue them? (presuming the letting agency has their co-ordinates).

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No. The principle is the polluter pays and you can pass the name and address to the council. However, (up to a couple of year ago anyway) DLR will not take this as an answer, unless you kick up a hell of a fuss. I.E. sending numerous letters and multiple phone calls back and forth. Then sending complaints (copying all the above and the relevant laws) to supervisors and the ombudsman man (can’t remember which one) etc. This will eventually result with an appology from DLR and no more bills!

Mr Toad said:

Question: My question is am I liable to pay the waste charge due to DL-R Co. Cl? Or can I simply pass the Co. Cl. the name and forwarding address of my former tenants and let the Council pursue them? (presuming the letting agency has their co-ordinate.

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No. Let them pass it on to a firm of solicitors. Then, when you get a warning from them, just write the ex-tenants name and forwarding address at the bottom of the page, selotape the envelope, re-address it and pop it in the post. The solicitors will be aware. They just try it on. When they realise that they're barking up the wrong tree they'll stop. Don't get upset ....... just beat them at their own game. It worked for me!

Your problem will probably be that they will not collect the refuge for your new tenant. Do you have an alternative option ?

They are obliged by law. Each tenancy is completely separate.

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Whose name is on the waste collection bills ?
If it was yours, you are clearly liable for payment of bill.
It is then up to you chase up the tenant thru the PRTB for breach of the lease. (I assume you are registered with PRTB)

round1 said:

Whose name is on the waste collection bills ?
If it was yours, you are clearly liable for payment of bill.
It is then up to you chase up the tenant thru the PRTB for breach of the lease. (I assume you are registered with PRTB)

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It has been said before by others the PRTB is a useless agency!

Chasing someone through the PRTB is a total waste of time and effort better off letting the relevant Council chase them.

A further clarifcation yes my name is on the waste collection bill - the letting agency was supposed to have changed all utilities etc. into the tenants name, I now discover this was done in the case of the waste charge, nor was any correspondance from DL-R Co Cl forwared to me over the years.

Will DL-R accept copy of lease, details of tenancy as proof that I did not reside in the property and not responsible for the waste?

As the tenants were non-nationals and as I understand left to return to their country of orgin I suspect that legal action against them will be fruitless.

This shifts the argument and I would say that you were responsible. It is your responsibility to check that all necessary changes are in place at time of letting, unless your contract with the agent states otherwise.

I would say your arguement is with the agent as they were ment to transfer the account. Do you have the original contract & does it details what accounts need to be transfered? Can you prove they have the account information? Where did the statements go for the last number of years?

I have checked agreement that I have with the letting agent, it mentions transfer of electricty, gas, phone but no mention of waste charges. The only mention of the latter is in the letting agreement with the tenants.

I had been under the impression that the waste charges were included in accounts to transfer obviously not (as a famous man once said Doh!).

So as the acc is in my name it looks like I am liable (Doh!) and will have to pursue my former tenants for payment, by asking nicely (hmm I don't fancy my chances there), or PTRB / courts (judgement in Ireland and try and get a foreign court / collection agency to collect).

Looks like an expensive lesson.

I have checked agreement that I have with the letting agent, it mentions transfer of electricty, gas, phone but no mention of waste charges. The only mention of the latter is in the letting agreement with the tenants.

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Who drafted the letting agreement that the tenants signed? I'd say the likihood of getting PRTB to persue a case against tenants who have moved out of the country would be very slim.

Might be worth having a meeting with a soliciotr to see if the agent has any liability

When my former tenants moved out and back to there home country I also was left with the bill . Even though everything was in there name the local council would not open a new account for the next tenants until I cleared the last groups bill.

Yeah, agree with Mark71 - you're responsible.

Unlike ESB, GAS, UPC etc, county councils will give anyone ( in this case you ) up to date information on amounts outstanding for waste collection.

This amount should be monitored during the year and deducted from deposit at end of tenancy.

Have learnt from experience !