Hi,
This is a bit of a long story but I'm hoping someone can provide some advice.
My girlfriend & I are renting an apartment in Dublin. I moved in with her 12 months ago, taking over half of the lease from a vacating tenant. The lease then expired in May.
The letting agent visited us in May to carry out an inspection with a view to us extending the lease. The rent had been €1,000 per month (which was below market value due to connections the vacating tenant had with the owner). The agent was very impressed with the condition of the apartment and said she would convey this to the landlord. She also remarked on several issues which would need to be addressed (by them) such as the shower not working properly, repainting bathroom walls/ceiling and fixing the faulty wiring in the apartment.
She eventually came back to us and said that due to the pristine condition we were keeping the apartment, the landlord would be happy with the rent only increasing to €1,100. As this still represented very good value, we said we would be happy with this.
We then received the lease extension a month or so later, which showed the rent still at €1,000 p/m, along with a demand to pay the management fees of a further €1,000 (which the landlord had agreed to pay).
We informed them that this was not what we had agreed.
Another month later, we received another lease extension, still showing the rent at €1,000 and with a demand for €500 in relation to the management fees.
Again, still incorrect, so we did not sign the extension (and never have). During this time we had still been paying €1,000 (and still are) as we had not received the correct lease or payment documentation.
In late November, we received an email from them stating that we were in arrears on our rent and would need to pay the difference of €100 per month.
I replied on December 5th, saying that we had never (and still haven't) received the correct lease or banking amendment forms, nor had any of the issues the agent raised on her visit been addressed. I received no reply to that mail.
We have now decided to move out of the apartment as my other half is expecting and it would not be suitable when the baby comes. We informed the agent of our intention to vacate (we actually had to hound them to get them to acknowledge the fact that we were leaving).
The problem arises in that we believe they are going to mess us around with our €1,000 deposit.
We did verbally agree to the rent increase, however as I've said already, we did not receive the correct lease extension, amended banking forms or have any of the issues with place fixed, not to mention the wholly unprofessional attitude of the letting agency.
We've already paid a deposit on our new place, and taking a hit of €1,000 would be fairly painful (especially with a baby on the way).
I'm just wondering if anyone can offer any advice, or if we have a leg to stand on. Can the agency withhold our deposit in this instance?
Cheers
This is a bit of a long story but I'm hoping someone can provide some advice.
My girlfriend & I are renting an apartment in Dublin. I moved in with her 12 months ago, taking over half of the lease from a vacating tenant. The lease then expired in May.
The letting agent visited us in May to carry out an inspection with a view to us extending the lease. The rent had been €1,000 per month (which was below market value due to connections the vacating tenant had with the owner). The agent was very impressed with the condition of the apartment and said she would convey this to the landlord. She also remarked on several issues which would need to be addressed (by them) such as the shower not working properly, repainting bathroom walls/ceiling and fixing the faulty wiring in the apartment.
She eventually came back to us and said that due to the pristine condition we were keeping the apartment, the landlord would be happy with the rent only increasing to €1,100. As this still represented very good value, we said we would be happy with this.
We then received the lease extension a month or so later, which showed the rent still at €1,000 p/m, along with a demand to pay the management fees of a further €1,000 (which the landlord had agreed to pay).
We informed them that this was not what we had agreed.
Another month later, we received another lease extension, still showing the rent at €1,000 and with a demand for €500 in relation to the management fees.
Again, still incorrect, so we did not sign the extension (and never have). During this time we had still been paying €1,000 (and still are) as we had not received the correct lease or payment documentation.
In late November, we received an email from them stating that we were in arrears on our rent and would need to pay the difference of €100 per month.
I replied on December 5th, saying that we had never (and still haven't) received the correct lease or banking amendment forms, nor had any of the issues the agent raised on her visit been addressed. I received no reply to that mail.
We have now decided to move out of the apartment as my other half is expecting and it would not be suitable when the baby comes. We informed the agent of our intention to vacate (we actually had to hound them to get them to acknowledge the fact that we were leaving).
The problem arises in that we believe they are going to mess us around with our €1,000 deposit.
We did verbally agree to the rent increase, however as I've said already, we did not receive the correct lease extension, amended banking forms or have any of the issues with place fixed, not to mention the wholly unprofessional attitude of the letting agency.
We've already paid a deposit on our new place, and taking a hit of €1,000 would be fairly painful (especially with a baby on the way).
I'm just wondering if anyone can offer any advice, or if we have a leg to stand on. Can the agency withhold our deposit in this instance?
Cheers