Landlords

Guys,
Just wondering what you would do in this instance.
The washing machine in out rebted house packed it in a few weeks ago and the landlord came round and found a few coins in the drain pipes and took them out and said that it was fixed. However problem still persists. If goes roughly halfway thru the cycle and then stops.
One of the girls who has been in the house nearly 6yrs has been speaking to the landlord and he refuses to repair/replace the washing machine.
What way should we approach this inorder to get him to fix it?

Hi wirelessdude,

Here's a few things to try:
1. A washing machine isn't a luxury item - it's a necessity, so he should replace it for you. Ring him every day and hassle him for a new one. Send him an e-mail every day too. He'll soon get fed up of the calls / mails and should do something about it.
2. Suggest to him that you'll buy a washing machine and that you'll deduct the cost of the washing machine plus any associated costs e.g. plumber to install it; disposal cost etc from the next month's rent.
3. Threaten him with moving out. The summer isn't a good time to be letting a house. He'd be very foolish to let you move out for the sake of €500.

It looks like you (or one of the other tenant's) have been in the house for over 6 years, so it's not as if you're new tenants and demanding things from him.

Good luck!

jaysus , €400 more like.

if it stops half way can you pull it out , check the taps are fully open, and make sure the hoses are not kinked, thereby reducing the amount of water coming into it.

what we were thinking of doing was reducing each persons(3 in the house) rent by 60euro per month until it was repaired/replaced.

We had a similar prob with a washing machine in a rented house before, we didn't mention it to the landlord as one of the lads washed jeans with loads caked on mud and then it wouldn't spin. We got somebody in ourselves who "replaced" a pump or motor, and showed me it pumping the water out into a bucket and asked me if I was ok pushing back in which I was ....anyways after pushing it back in the problem was still there.

The problem was with the drain pipe where the outflow from the machine was being pumped, it was blocked. You could check that and the filter on the machine yourselves and if thats still a problem tell him you will pay no rent until he replaces it or buy a new machine (they start from €300 in DID http://www.didstore.com/estorepro/product_subcat.asp?catid=10&subcat=101) and subtract that from the next rent.

what we were thinking of doing was reducing each persons(3 in the house) rent by 60euro per month until it was repaired/replaced.
...........

What doe steh rental agreement say..does it mention that the washing machine is covered?

Is it legal to reduce the rent?
I think you might get thrown out if you do that.

I don't think withholding rent is recommended - you don't have a leg to stand on if you don't pay rent. The landlord is perfectly entitled to terminate the lease if rent isn't paid up.
Have you contacted Threshold http://www.threshold.ie/.

On their site they say:
The landlord is obliged to carry out repairs except where damage beyond normal wear and tear has been caused by the tenant.

Well quoted loughquinn! All too often tenants show scant regard for property not belonging to themselves and then blame the landlord when something breaks down and demand that it be repaired immediately at no cost to themselves!
Interesting to note that the landlord found coins in the drain pipes!

I leave, as a matter of course, sink strainers in my properties to prevent blocked drains due to careless disposal of food debris down the kitchen sink and list same as part of the inventory.

A tenant removed the strainer and the drain subsequently became blocked with debris, which she then asked me to recitfy. I sent a plumber to the property under the instruction that if the blockage was caused by the neglect of the tenant, he was to advise her of the cause of the blockage and to request payment from her prior to removal of the blockage if it was caused by food debris.

This person had been washing copious amount of rice down the sink and, had I not installed the strainer, I would have been expected to pay for this wilful carelessness.

Tenants should show at least the same respect for the landlord's property as they would for their own.

well one of the girls has been in this house for nearly 6yrs and is getting really pee'd off with the landlords attitiude..he said something to her the other night about keeping a better eye on the house...in the 6yrs that she has been there he has had to replace 2 taps and that's it...never any complaints from neighbours/mgt co etc......things happen from time to time in rental accomodation and from our perpective we didn't deliberately put the coins in the wash.....we think that the washing maching has just packed it in......also he never has any problems with us...rent is always paid in full and on time and house is always more or less kept immaculate as we are in late 20's/early 30's so not your average idiot tenant

Suggest to the landlord that you use the PTRB to sort out the problem, there is a chance he has not registered with them, and if he hasn't he is liable to a €3000 fine !!!, that might encourage him to sort out the problem.

You are better of getting decent tenants who pay a bit less rent but who will take care of the house delquil. That's my two cents worth anyway

Click to expand...

That would be Landlord Utopia Ollyk1! I've been a landlord on and off since 1991 and would say only 20% of my tenants over the years took care of the properties the rest were careless, ranging from dirty to absolutely filthy and sometimes downright destructive.

My tenants get a first class service - if they call and say something is not working or they need a plumber, he's there the same day.

I could give you a littany of examples of the careless attitudes I've experienced and I'm not talking about general wear and tear.

The latest one was last week - Tenant called to say that the cistern in the bathroom wasn't filling up fast enough and they had to wait ages to flush the loo a second time. Plumber went out on the same day and I went to the house to let him in. He replaced the jet in the cistern and the problem was solved.

While I was there, I noticed a huge cigarette burn mark on the side of the bath tub which was only 2 months old! I pointed it out to the tenants and they all said they didn't know who had done it!

Deduct it from their deposit when they leave, I hear you say! But they all use their deposit as the last month's rent - contrary to the terms of the lease agreement, which the landlord is expected to adhere to.

we didn't deliberately put the coins in the wash

Click to expand...

Wirelessdude, I'm sure you didn't deliberately put coins in the washing machine, but everyone knows that you have to check pockets before you put clothes in the machine as these things have a way of working themselves into the machine and damaging it.

The landlord should have the machine checked out and if it's faulty, he should of course replace/repair it immediately. If the fault was caused by coins or some other foreign object that was put into the machine by one of the tenants, then that's another matter and it would be unfair to expect him/her to repair/replace something which was in good working order and was damaged through carelessness. He/she is certainly making a big mistake in ignoring the problem, particulary with a long-standing tenant.

The expected lifetime on washing machines isn't much more than 6 years so what does the landlord want?

Click to expand...

My sister has just recently replaced her 20 year-old washing machine! It only lasted so long because she took care of it!

Would love to have you as a tenant Ollyk2, but you probably don't live in my neck of the woods!

I am a landlord for past 10 years I always repair/replace any faulty items like washing machines dryers etc I only refused once to replace a 6 months old fridge, tenant put a knife through ice box while defrosting it causing gas to escape

just an update on this....the solution that was mentioned by me here about dropping the rent by 60euro a month per person seems to have worked....came back from the weekend at home and the washing maching has now been repaired and there are 3 very happy tenants again...think that the landlord had a think about the situation and realised that it was easier to play fair with us as we have never been one ounce of trouble to him.....

Maybe he found enough coins in the machine to cover the cost of the repair

well if there had been more coins in the machine i'd say that there would have been a note left......also had a look on the internet over the weekend about issues with the particular make/model that we have and there seems to be known issues with the pump/motor going in this particular model

Sorry about the joke - couldn't resist!

Glad to hear you've got your problem sorted.