Tenants put Tv Licence in my name without my consent.

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Pmc365

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I have a property rented for a number of years to mostly the same tenants at a much reduced rent, in fact about 50% below market rent. I did not increase rent since 2018. I will be serving them with a rent review.
I noticed correspondence from TV Licence records addressed to me in hall of property. After I pointed it out to them the letter disappeared the next day eventhough addressed to me. I subsquently asked for it.I had been at property to undertake essential maintenance. I never lived there at property nor took out a TV licence there.

I assume the tenants unilaterally put the licence in my name without my permission or consent . I discovered this was done in 2019. I was shocked. I asked one tenant about it she said she knew nothing about it. I asked her to ask the others about it and said I was surprised and that it was serious as if Licence wasn't paid I could be prosecuted by an post and convicted for an offence I knew nothing about. I pointed out under the Broadcasting Act the occupier is liable. I feel they were pulling a smart one. I think they did pay the Licence but had they decided not to pay none of them would face the legal ramifications as it wasn't in their names.
I think it just shows a deceitfulness on whichever one of them did this and the others who had knowledge conspired and feel as if the fact I let them have the property at a knockdown rent meant very little to them. I was a good landlord and had a good relationship.
"No good deed goes unpunished " springs to mind.
I would love to hear your views on this. I think I will definitely serve them with notice of a rent review. I would like to get rid of them and re-set the rent but I'm not going to do a major refurbishment or sell. In fact I can't sell due to a massive uncrystalised CGT if I were to sell. The property is thankfully mortgage-free. The tenants pay on time and are not too demanding as they know they're onto a great deal.
 
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Pmc365 said:
if Licence wasn't paid I could be prosecuted by an post and convicted for an offence I knew nothing about
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The occupier not the owner is responsible for having a TV licence, you would presumably have records to show you were renting the property so are at no risk of being prosecuted.

Is there any chance this was done innocently, given there is no benefit to them to have put it in your name? I know when I first started renting stuff like this wasn’t all that clear to me, you muddle through electricity accounts, gas accounts, bin accounts etc.
 
Pmc365 said:
it. I asked her to ask the others about it and said I was surprised and that it was serious as if Licence wasn't paid I could be prosecuted by an post and convicted for an offence I knew nothing about.
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Relax.

You aren’t resident at the property therefore you aren’t liable for the TV licence. Absolutely nothing can happen to you legally.

To be on the safe side however write to An Post saying that you are not and have never been resident at said address.
 
Zenith63 said:
Is there any chance this was done innocently, given there is no benefit to them to have put it in your name? I know when I first started renting stuff like this wasn’t all that clear to me, you muddle through electricity accounts, gas accounts, bin accounts etc.
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I was the same when I started renting, so I could easily have done something like this innocently.

I had one landlord who insisted on keeping all bills in his name to avoid hassle when tenants moved on - I thought it was a big undertaking on his part but that was what he wanted.

Regardless of their intentions, OP you are right to get this fixed.
 
Zenith63 said:
The occupier not the owner is responsible for having a TV licence, you would presumably have records to show you were renting the property so are at no risk of being prosecuted.

Is there any chance this was done innocently, given there is no benefit to them to have put it in your name? I know when I first started renting stuff like this wasn’t all that clear to me, you muddle through electricity accounts, gas accounts, bin accounts etc.
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Yes but if they had defaulted in payment and an inspector sighted a TV it is me who would be prosecuted. As I wouldn't have been aware of it potentially I could have been convicted for not turning up in court and not having a Licence. Try overturning that conviction. How were an post not to know I wasn't the occupier. This scenario is possible. It won't happen now as I spotted it and took action to resolve it.
I can see the benefit of tenants not putting the Licence in their name: If one of them left they wouldn't have to worry about the difficulty of removing their name from an post tv licence database and if they collectively or individually decided not to pay licence there would be no consequences for them as an post wouldn't have their name to pursue them.
I just find it deceitful ( if that's too strong a word) or underhand putting it in my name and doing so after being in property for 4 years so they knew what they were doing. They even put it in my middle name ( which everyone else knows me as) they know me by my first name from the lease but nobody else knows me by my first name i.e. first name on my birth cert.( I always use the name exactly on my birth cert for official documents like Leases, title deeds, insurance etc as its legally accurate)
 
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Dr Strangelove said:
Relax.

You aren’t resident at the property therefore you aren’t liable for the TV licence. Absolutely nothing can happen to you legally.

To be on the safe side however write to An Post saying that you are not and have never been resident at said address.
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Yes I have contacted an post. BUT as I said I could have been prosecuted had they defaulted. I could have been convicted and fined in absentia. I would then have to try to overturn such an erroneous conviction.
What I can't understand is why after 4 years in the property they did this. I think they decided to do it so if one of them left the property they wouldn't have to remove their name from the Licence or nobody was willing to put their name on Licence as it has legal ramifications, it's the named licence holder who is most likely to be pursued in the event of a subsequent default.
 
jpd said:
Stop worrying about something that might have happened but didn't

Worry about the things you can control
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I'm not worrying about it but thanks for your input. I've got licencing to remove my name.
My concern was the trustworthiness of the tenants after this discovery. I believe it was cute hoorism on their part to put the Licence in my name mid-way through their time in the property. None of them were willing to put it in their name due to the legal responsibility which follows if it hadn't been renewed and there is a TV set in the property. They said they didn't plan to pay the Licence anymore as they don't watch it but there was a TV in the property.
I plan to issue them with a rent renewal notice.
Ironically had I screwed them on rent they would probably have more respect.
 
Pmc365 said:
I'm not worrying about it but thanks for your input. I've got licencing to remove my name.
My concern was the trustworthiness of the tenants after this discovery. I believe it was cute hoorism on their part to put the Licence in my name mid-way through their time in the property. None of them were willing to put it in their name due to the legal responsibility which follows if it hadn't been renewed and there is a TV set in the property. They said they didn't plan to pay the Licence anymore as they don't watch it but there was a TV in the property.
I plan to issue them with a rent renewal notice.
Ironically had I screwed them on rent they would probably have more respect.
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I would agree with you on the above. For me it's the principle of the action, you are giving them a good deal on the rent and rather than acknowledge this they try get another one over on you.

I am a landlord myself and expect to receive fair treatment if I give it (which in the above scenario the low rent you are charging is you being fair).
 
Harvard said:
Probably part of a bigger fraud there could be a credit card or bank loan in your name. The TV licence would count as the proof of address. I saw it in the movies once.
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Perhaps one of the tenants is an admirer and changed their name to the OP's by deed poll. I hope OP doesn't own any rabbits ...
 
Pmc365 said:
I'm not worrying about it but thanks for your input. I've got licencing to remove my name.
My concern was the trustworthiness of the tenants after this discovery. I believe it was cute hoorism on their part to put the Licence in my name mid-way through their time in the property. None of them were willing to put it in their name due to the legal responsibility which follows if it hadn't been renewed and there is a TV set in the property. They said they didn't plan to pay the Licence anymore as they don't watch it but there was a TV in the property.
I plan to issue them with a rent renewal notice.
Ironically had I screwed them on rent they would probably have more respect.
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Can you let us know how you got the licence out of your name.

On a benign view of it the tenants might have put it in your name as none of them were willing to take 'ownership' of it. But they should have informed you. And certainly hiding the letter later is underhand. Just come out with it.

I would double check the other utilities.

None of this has anything to do with increasing the rent. Make sure you do that correctly. Charging market rent does not mean you are 'screwing' them on rent. It's a business.
 
Bronte said:
Can you let us know how you got the licence out of your name.

On a benign view of it the tenants might have put it in your name as none of them were willing to take 'ownership' of it. But they should have informed you. And certainly hiding the letter later is underhand. Just come out with it.

I would double check the other utilities.

None of this has anything to do with increasing the rent. Make sure you do that correctly. Charging market rent does not mean you are 'screwing' them on rent. It's a business.
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Yes thank you for the reply. I wrote an e mail to an post tv licencing and they replied back very promptly to say they removed my name. The an post phone service is very poor with long wait times.
I asked the tenants if they had the Electricty in their names and they said they had.
I once had a Romanian tenant in that property and he instlled a landline in a fictitious name and must have got all his friends to ring home at a reduced rate and left with a massive phone bill unpaid. Thankfully I wasn't responsible.

I will make sure to adhere to the Residential Tenanies Act regarding the rent increase attaching comparators and the formulae to calculate the increase. I have experience from another property.
 
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Good luck with the comparators and formulae.

I once had a tenant leave an ESB bill behind and they had annoyed me so I helpfully gave ESB their work address. My logic was that tenant won't pull fast ones again and unpaid bills cause all bills to go up.

I'd request to see sight of the ESB bill.
 
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