‘The landlord pays for RTB but the tenant has all the rights’

Having purchased a property in County Cavan as an investment over 20 years ago Áine, found she was unable to afford it following the financial crash of 2008.

While she has been trying to sell the property, which had been rented out to cover the cost of the mortgage, she claims her tenant refuses to move out and rarely pays his rent. This is putting Áine under increased financial pressure.

“I bought this house in the late ‘90s,” she explains. “When the collapse came, the deficit [negative equity] I was in was ridiculous. I tried to work my way through it.”

Áine and her family lived in it temporarily but the home was too small to rear children.

“I couldn’t sell it though because it wouldn’t clear the mortgage. We decided to rent it out to get to a break-even point so, if we did sell it, we could be done with it, which is why I want to sell it now.”

Despite losing a significant amount of money on the property, Áine wants to sell it.

“If I did sell it now, I’d clear the mortgage but I’d still be in negative equity, I’ve lost a lot on it. The rent is not paying my mortgage and a lot of it is unpaid. I have to make up the difference on that. My monthly repayment has gone up €200 from its original point but the rent I’m getting is €200 below that. There’s a €400 gap and that’s getting bigger. I’m currently six months in arrears. It came to a stage where it was costing me too much money to sell it. If I could sell it now, I would. I gave my tenant plenty of notice, but they refuse to leave and only pay rent sporadically, to cover their tracks.”

Áine’s situation hasn’t been helped by mortgage rate increases over the last year.

“My mortgage interest rate increased a lot as well. The bank is looking for more money and, when I’m not getting money from my tenant, it’s leaving me under a lot of stress. If rent isn’t paid, I have to make repayments by myself.”

While Áine has tried to take her case to authorities, she says this ended up being another source of frustration.

“The RTB is meant to sort these things out, but the landlord pays for it. It’s taken over 12 months to get a case sorted out with it. It’s a snail's pace. Myself and my husband spent a week trying to get through to them. We spent hours on end on hold. I’d go to work and have it on my earpiece waiting to get through. The landlord pays for RTB, but the tenant has all the rights.”

Áine says, even after an RTB ruling, it still has little impact.

“The RTB found in my favour, it’s gone to the process of getting a court eviction. I don’t know how long that will take though, given how long the RTB took. But the RTB ruling, it’s not binding law. The tenant knows this, they might not even show up to court, and they know everything can be appealed as a delaying tactic.

“If I tried to remove him, then he can make a case against me and I’d be worse off. I’m in limbo. I’d be better off if I never went near the RTB, I’d go down and change the locks and tell them I’m living here and see who blinks first.”

The situation has caused a lot of pressure for Áine, her spouse and four teenagers.

“It’s still an awful worry to have. I’m looking on my phone every day to see if money comes in. When the mortgage is due, I need to have enough to meet it, even though the cost of it is always going up. It eats away at me.”

Landlords demonised

She says that landlords get little sympathy and are regularly demonised in the media.

”It’s taken a massive toll but the tenants don’t care. It must be a familiar thing with landlords around the country. When you turn on the radio or television, you hear about tenants being thrown out, but none of them know what the story behind any case is. There’s a reason why landlords do it. It takes a huge toll on their financial and mental well-being. I’d be better off if I bought a farm. I’m not selling it to make any money, I’m doing it to get rid of a massive headache.”

Áine also says that the cost of being a landlord far outweighs the benefits.

“Being a landlord isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, even if it’s going well. If I got paid €1,000 a month, which I don’t, I’d only get €480 after tax. I’m also trying to run my other house as well. The cost of running and maintaining the rented house every year is over three months’ rent, and things like bin charges are astronomical. I have to keep it in order because I want it to be in good condition for when I do eventually get it back. It’s a catch-22. If the tenant leaves the place in a wreck when they leave, it’s not worth my while going after them. I’d have to pay for a solicitor and I still wouldn’t be guaranteed to get anything. Any landlord that came into it by default is wasting their time.”

Áine says the whole process needs to be sorted out so the landlords achieve at least parity in proceedings.

“The RTB needs to work at a quicker pace. The outcome might not be what you want but at least it might get you to court quicker.

“The tenants talk about it [the property]as if it’s theirs. But it’s not. It’s the landlord’s. The person who pays the mortgage every month owns it. There are decent people out there who are struggling big time.

“The tenant holds all the cards, whether they pay or not. People are very quick to jump on the bandwagon and point the finger at others, but they don’t know what’s really going on. From when I get up in the morning to when I go to bed at night, it’s on my mind. It’s not right.”

Despite the negative publicity generated by houses being sold, Áine says this frees up homes for other people to purchase.

“If it does get sold, it frees a house up for someone who is looking to buy. Judging by some people’s reactions, they think they’re going to disappear, they won’t. They’ll come back into the system.”

The subject's name and personal details have been changed to protect their identity.