Agent didn't report heating problem to us. Tenant got it fixed and rent is down!

Am absolutely furious at the moment with the situation that's just revealed itself. We currently are renting a house out. Have been for years, current tenants in situ about 18 months.

We have a letting agent that we pay an annual fee to. Any problems regarding repairs and replacements needed in the house he refers to us for us to deal with if we have contacts or for us to okay him going to an outside contractor (who we would then pay).

Looked like last month's rent hadn't been paid. We don't have a separate property account though we should have. Contacted the agent a week after the rent was due. 2 days later we hear back, agent is abroad. Apparently tenant reported an issue with the heating but agent didn't act or tell us. So we took it that the tenant was holding rent (lodged directly to our account) until the issue was dealt with. Advised agent to contact tenants, stating that this was not acceptable and also to get details of the problem.

Another 3 days pass and it appears some money was paid. Over €500 less than the rent figure (which is why we didn't notice, were looking for the rent amount in the bank statement) because tenant went and got the heating issue fixed.

A couple of issues here

1 - agent should have acted on report from tenant. Everyone needs heat in December.

2 - unlikely heating repair would have cost tenant €500

3 - we have contacts in the heating business, if we'd known it was unlikely to have cost us anything to sort out the heating.

We've told agent that this is unacceptable and have asked for a receipt for repairs in the first place. We've also told the agent to advise the tenant that this line of action is not to happen again.

Haven't got the lease here but I'm pretty sure work on the heating is potential damage to the house, we don't know what kind of cowboy they got out - and thus probably in breach of their lease.

Bottom line is we're seriously out of pocket and probably going to have to get heating checked all over again to make sure it's not damaged.

Not sure it's worth breaking the lease for or the long standing relationship with the agent but at the same time I want to be strong on this. Any thoughts?

The issue isn't with the tenant its with your agent. Your tenant should not be expected to wait until a convenient time is picked before the heating is in working order. They pay rent on the basis that they have exactly the service they require which includes heating. They were not being provided a service and took the matter into their own hands. They should have a receipt for whoever took care of it. they may also have decided to deduct rent for the inconvenience and days lost without heating. They obviously can't simply decide to deduct rent so you need the agent to provide you with a valid reason for the loss of rent and receipts for the repairs. Coming down strong on a tenant that has been there 18 months would not be a wise move and if you were in their situation would you sit freezing whilst the agent twiddled their thumbs especially in the lead up to christmas?

shesells said:

2 - unlikely heating repair would have cost tenant €500

.... Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

This figure may have been rounded up to cover additional costs incurred (temporary heating source) and the tenants time. They would also have been more concerned with getting the job done quickly rather than cheaply. Given that they couldn't have been reasonably expected to do without heating in December (wasn't the start pretty bitter this year?) I don't really see what else you expected them to do. The agent left the country and they didn't have your details. If you have a case it's with your agent.

I believe any issue you have is with the agent, who sounds like more of a cowboy than whoever it was fixed the heating.

Fire the agent, apologise to the tenant for the inconvenience , leave the money as it is and have your "contacts in the heating business" check out the repairs which were "unlikely to have cost [us] anything".

Thanks for your replies. In this case maybe we'd have been better off without an agent in that we could have dealt with it swiftly. Maybe that's what we should do. We've worked with this agent for years and he's generally been on the ball, way better than the big company we had in year 1. This time he was too laid back and it cost us. At the very least I think it's time to renegotiate his fee for this year!

Will definitely be getting the heating checked out, too big a thing to take a risk on. Our contacts are fully licensed and registered, great friends to have!

Why bother with an agent, do you not live near the properties?

shesells
I am currently living in a rented house and have 2 houses of my own rented out.

Like pps I don't think you have any beef with your tenants.
If you read the bulletin boards on www.daft.ie you will see all the landlords beeching about agents. If this is your first problem you are probably doing well.

I have problems with our heating in this rental and am totally frustrated with the landlady sluggish response....I am sorely tempted to hire my own plumber. It was -17 here yesterday (not Ireland). The place is freezing.

Its probably karma as one of my house in Ireland has constant problems with the heating ...I have spent around €2500 on chronic repairs/servicing in the last 18 months.(my regular plumber dumped me as he was so fed up with the house) Most recently got pump replaced for €120.

Even though I am abroad the tenants email me and I am on the case.
My sister lives in the problem house and for the other house I pay a neighbour less than one months rent to keep and eye and organise things for me.

So far, 4 months in, this system has worked very well. If you live anywhere near your property I would just manage it myself.