Letting agent let my house but will not pass on deposit

B

blue

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We let a house through an agent in late 2008 - it was a letting only, no management agreement involved. He let the house, collected initial rent and deposit from our tenants and was to forward us the deposit (e900).

Since then, things have gone slightly pearshaped... he hasn't forwarded us the deposit, changed his number a couple of times and disappeared. He recently turned up in another part of the country, so we've started pursuing him by phone for the deposit again, but not surprisingly, we're not having much luck. In our last conversation, he implied our repeated efforts to get our money were harassment.

A couple of avenues we've explored in our attempts so far -

- IAVI - he's not registered
- IPAV - he's not registered
- PSRA - he's not registered
- Sent registered letters to company directors requesting our money be handed over. Didn't receive any money, but the other director of his company stepped down subsequently.

He's an independent agent who was operating for a couple of years in the local area, obviously trading on the good times, but in hind sight, we'd have selected our agent a little more carefully....

Does anyone have any advice about how we can go about getting our money (aside from sitting outside his door and really harassing him!)?
 
I would be careful about any contact which could be construed as being aggressive or harrassing - eg. agressive phone calls, or indeed appearing on his doorstep.
I presume as a private landlord you are registered with the PTRB?

Had you signed anything with the Letting Agent that outlined their terms and conditions?
Do they have a website where it lists their terms and conditions? Or was it all a verbal agreement?

Letting Agents do not have to be registered with anyone, any where. It is a completely unregulated business.

A Letting Agent in my area kept my booking deposit (I was a tenant) of €200, when I refused to move into the house due to it being filthy and things promised not fixed etc.
I had no comeback really. I rang all the IAVI's etc and Citizen's Advice.
Only suggestion I got was to pursue them through the Small Claims court, as I had signed the Lease a day earlier I had no comeback.

Your case sounds straightforward so the Small Claims court may be the way to go.
 
Blue, would the deposit that he hasn't returned to you be equal to the amount of "finders fee" that you have to pay him?

I've dealt with letting agents before where they collected the first months rent and security deposit from the tenant and they deducted their fees from this money which left me with roughly the first months rent.
 
The first month's rent was the finders' fee, and he was to forward us the deposit, so there's no misunderstanding on either part. He's acknowledged that he owes us the money but hasn't paid up.

We're registered with PTRB, but this is outside their remit as the tenants are unaffected.

I wouldn't have considered our behaviour threatening or aggressive and was surprised when he mentioned it. For example, since we got his new contact details 2 weeks ago, our contact has been 4 phone calls, 2 of which were answered, 2 of which he answered and then hung up when we identified ourselves and 2 voicemails.. that's not harrassment, is it?
 
blue said:
We're registered with PTRB, but this is outside their remit as the tenants are unaffected.
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Are you sure about that? It's not your money - it's the tenants.

I guess the small claims court is the place to go as ultimately you'll have to refund the money to the tenant from your pocket. But if you had decided that it wasn't your problem, that it was tenants, I wonder what their (or Thresholds) attitude would be then?
 
That's what they say and we haven't heard otherwise from any agency we've spoken with. The letting agreement is between the landlord and the tenant, so their deposit is returned by us.

Small Claims Court it is I guess..
 
I guess the small claims court is the place to go
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The small claims cannot be used between two businesses. You would need to go to the District Court.
 
two things, Blue whats PRSA as mentioned in your post.

second, sadie is wrong to say that letting agents are unregulated. they are covered by the auctioneers and house agents act '47 and subsequent admendments.

As I have mentioned in other posts, you can check with customs and excise in the custom house and see if the agent is licenced. If the agent is not licenced put in a formal complaint, its better to gather the evidence yourself, including copies of receipts given to the tenants. take a photo of the premises where he is trading from It is a criminal offence to trade without a licence.

After you have contacted the excise people, (as far as I can remember there are only two of them for dublin). Contact the gardai in the area that the agent is trading, the local super / inspector has to appear in the district court verifying that the applicant agent is of good character. Make the complaint formal and give the guards copies if your evidence.
Keep an eye on the newspapers legal notices from april onwards. agents have to post their notices of their intention to renew their licence in court the following june.
the appearances are held every wed., you can attend and object to the renewal in court. the judge will allow both parties time to go outside and sort out their differences before renewing the licence.

appologies for spelling and grammer, using my phone to post reply.
 
computerman, can you clarify this a little? So a letting agent has to be licensed to trade, but if he does have a licence and I have evidence he's dishonest or not above board, can I contact the gardai and get them to stop the renewal? Also is this renewal in June every year for all agents?
 
computerman said:
the appearances are held every wed., you can attend and object to the renewal in court. the judge will allow both parties time to go outside and sort out their differences before renewing the licence.
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Must say that's fantastic advice.

OP don't accept a cheque, know where the nearest ATM machine is.
 
You can go to the gardai, if you get no response from the desk ask for the super. BUT you have to proceed with the excise dept as well. I can pm you with the persons name to contact, (dont think i should publish it openly).

Letting agents are not mentioned in the Auctioneers and house agents act of 47 and subsequent ammendments. However it does cover the collection of deposits.

There must be client accounts (audited), the 10K bond, statement of affairs, 250 for licence, advert in paper, etc etc.

Its a criminal offence to operate with out one.

I know the act inside out and have had recourse to tell my solicitor how to proceed.

If I can offer you any more advice - glad to oblige. never give a parasite - sorry agent an even break, he will only charge you 6% for the privilage!!!
 
Check out this from the current list of defaulters on the just published (revenue.ie) site


FAILURE TO HOLD AN AUCTIONEERS LICENCENAMEADDRESS COUNTYOCCUPATIONFINE AMOUNT €No. of ChargesMANNIONSEAMUST/A MANNION
AUCTIONEERS,
149, DAWSON
STREET,DUBLIN 2 AUCTIONEER315.001
 
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