Family home destroyed by tenant

THE owner of a home in Dublin 15 has ended up facing bills of over

?¬10,000 after her property was rented out through an agency and trashed by a tenant.

The woman bought the house at the end of 2007 when prices were sky-high and decided to rent out the property when she was forced to return home to her native country.

However, while she was away her home was vandalised by the tenant who destroyed furniture as well as fixtures and fittings and allowed children to write graffiti in every room in the house.

The owner, an EU citizen who has resided in Ireland for almost 15 years, now lives in rented accommodation outside Dublin.

“You hear horror stories like this but you just don’t think it will ever happen to you,

? she told Northside People.

“I guess I was dumb enough to trust people but it’s coming back to haunt me now.

?

The woman is struggling to pay off a huge variable rate mortgage that has been subject to several interest rate hikes over the past two years. Her husband is the only breadwinner in the family and they have one three-year-old child.

She initially decided to hire a property management agency to look after her home when she returned to her native country early in 2011.

“I needed a property management company because I wasn’t going to be in Ireland for a while,

? she explained.

“The agency was paid

?¬1,000 plus VAT and they said they perform regular inspections and would keep an eye on it.

?

However, four months into the tenancy, a plumber who knew the owner was called to the house and she got her first warning sign of what was to come.

“He sent an email and told me there was some damage and if it went on even the deposit would not cover what was being done,

? she said.

“I contacted the agency and they said they had visited the property and the tenant was a decent woman, that the house was a little

‘unkempt’ and that the kids were

‘lively’.

“I was told that there were a

‘couple of marks’ on the wall, but they said there was nothing to worry about so I felt it was nothing that a lick of paint and a good clean-up couldn’t fix.

?

However, the owner got an unwelcome shock when, not long after arriving back in Ireland, she learned the tenant had left the property and that it was badly damaged.

“In two years she managed to destroy it,

? the owner said.

“Every single wall, door and window is filled with graffiti and children’s drawings. There are splashes of paint on the wooden floors, on the walls and on the doors

“The wooden floor is broken in one room and there was a fire in the living room, which I wasn’t told about. Three beds and mattresses have to be replaced and the whole house is so filthy it has to be professionally deep cleaned and there were a few small items like pots and pans stolen from the kitchen.

?

The owner said she had received informal advice that she may not be legally covered for the damage but she’s determined to pursue the matter.

“I am so furious that I want to take a case against the property management agency, even if I lose, because I believe I am morally in the right,

? she said.

“The tenant was on social welfare but I’ve been in contact with the department and the HSE but they say there is nothing they can do.

“So we have a system in place that protects the privacy and the rights of the vandal but there is no system in place to protect me.

“Our taxes pay for the rent supplement, my money paid for the property management but I end up paying for the damages. I’ve also lost over two months’ rent.

“It goes without saying that I am totally stressed over this. I’m infuriated. I feel that there is an injustice done to me and I feel somebody has to pay. I consider myself to be a normal, decent person and I accept that part of this may have been my fault in that I trusted an agency and there were alarm bells going off that I didn’t listen to.

?

She said she contacted Northside People because she wants to alert other home owners of the risks they face when renting out their properties.