A SOUTH-East Clare landlord have been left with an estimated cleaning bill of €12,000 and unpaid rent totalling more than €4,000 after two tenants ruined a modern two bedroomed furnished cottage near the Lakes Nursing Home in Killaloe.
The landlady, who purchased the cottage for €400,000 during the peak of the Celtic Tiger in 2005, was shocked to find the state of the house was in such a poor condition when her tenants eventually left a huge mess behind them.
While the landlord has opted to remain anonymous for personal reasons, she decided to go public about her experience to show how irresponsible tenants are not helping the current housing accommodation crisis.
A foul smell greets any visitor once they open the front door of the cottage after dogs were allowed to urinate and leave their faeces on carpets and furniture.
“Food was left all over the place and bags of rubbish stored for months at rear when there were bins and recycling bins across the road from them. They kept the dogs in the house and broke blinds and the shower.
“The windows were not opened any time I called, blinds and curtains were pulled down and that told me they were hiding or there was something odd.
“I am elderly with a sick husband and they knew that so that is why I am so distraught. I am almost 80 and am not able for this as I got eight stents last February and have more work to be done. I feel someone must speak up for small decent landlords.
“I have not increased my rent up to this for seven years and landlords seem to be blamed/contributing to homelessness but I, and many more, are not,” she said.
Despite being an employer of 100 people for 40 years, she said she has no private pension and thought it better to have a property and worked to pay mortgages but now landlords are losing control of what they have worked hard for.
“I have to sell now as I am shocked with what has happened. I would like to advise anyone renting to get identification and a couple of references and if not allowed in to check your property, act immediately. My lease states clearly ‘no pets’.
“The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) are impossible to contact since Covid-19. I held on the phone for hours one day but I see on the chat line 49 customers waiting and no reply from the phone line.
“The RTB have written to apologise for this and we understand but it is not good enough. I now have €12,000 of a bill plus the hurt as it was not expected.
“I can confirm many more like us, even worse cases, but no recourse for us as the tenants own nothing and have no way of paying for damage.
“I am warning property owners to leave your house/apartment idle till you get the correct people,” she added.
Last February, when the landlady advertised the cottage, she had 70 inquiries. The male tenant told her he worked in a local hotel, seemed charming, genuine and said all the right things.
The 79-year-old mother recalled the male tenant paid a deposit of €1,100 in advance on March 7 last when he and his girlfriend moved in.
However, she claimed he paid no rent in June, July, August and September.
After failing to fulfil promises to pay the rent, the landlady gave them 30 days to find rent and another 30 days’ termination notice, but they still didn’t leave the property.
Eventually, she wrote to the tenants informing them she would be contacting The Clare Champion to do a story on them as they would not answer the door and had the blinds pulled all of the time.
She can’t understand if the tenants had a genuine difficulty paying the rent, why they didn’t approach her to work out a payment plan.
As the months wore on, the landlady became increasingly concerned about what was happening in the house so she called Killaloe Gardai who came and banged on the door for ages until they went around the back and were told the Rental Tenancies Board were dealing with the issue.
East Clare correspondent, Dan Danaher is a journalism graduate of Rathmines and UL. He has won numerous awards for special investigations on health, justice, environment, and reports on news, agriculture, disability, mental health and community.