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Updated 6.00pm
SOME LANDLORDS ARE demanding tenancy deposits of up to three months, according to a group that represents property owners.
The Irish Property Owners’ Association (IPOA) says that the requests are because of the length of time it takes to commence dispute resolution proceedings.
“Currently landlords hold deposits and they can be returned on completion of a tenancy which is acceptable and workable,” says IPOA chairman Stephen Faughnan.
“It can often be unclear in situations as who is right and who is wrong in a dispute situation. Robust discussion takes place and a compromise is normally worked out.”
The group, however, says that sometimes disputes are not resolved and that landlords are seeking increased deposits to guard against this.
“Legislation protects non-paying tenants and anti-social tenants,” Faughnan claims.
At recent meetings throughout the country IPOA members are demanding increased deposits of up to three months in view of the length of time it takes to serve legislative notice under the Residential Tenancies Acts and commence dispute resolution.
Survey
Although the IPOA claims that in the vast majority of cases deposit disputes are eventually worked out, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) is arguing that the process can often be difficult.
Almost two-thirds of people have reported having difficulties getting their deposits returned from landlords, according to the results of a new survey.
The survey found that 60% of people questioned said that they had experienced difficulties in the past with getting their deposit back.
The survey was commissioned by and carried out by Red C. It surveyed 1000 people over the age of 18.
The USI said that there is now 40% less rental space available than there was this time last year.
USI released the survey figures ahead of today’s launch of the Homes for Study campaign.
The USI said that it is teaming up with Irish company Deposify, which offers a deposit management service for tenants and landlords.
Deposify operates by giving landlords and tenants a joint account for deposits managed by both parties.
“Last year Ireland saw many problems in the accommodation sector, but this year USI is at the forefront of finding solutions to these problems,” said USI president Annie Hoey.
But landlords disagree with this plan for deposit management service idea saying that it “will not change the situation”.
The IPOA says it won’t actually solve any disputes but will just draw them out longer.
“A custodial deposit protection scheme will not change the situation, it will not change the discussion or argument, it will just lengthen the process of getting the deposit returned,” Faughnan says.
If a landlord and tenant do not come to a compromise, a case will still have to go to the RTB for dispute resolution, as is the case today.
The landlords’ group also argues that experience from the UK shows that deposits increase when such schemes are introduced.
Faughnan accepts that students are “suffering” in a difficult rental environment, something he blames on “increased legislation, compliance and increased taxation”.
- With reporting by Rónán Duffy
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My passwords are so secure, even I can’t get into them…
@Willie Murphy: As long as you can get into your email you can hit the “forgot password” button
Of course anyone who can access your email can do this. It’s a single point of failure for many passwords.
@Willie Murphy: Déan as Gaeilge é! Simplí
Tomorrow’s poll: What is your mother’s maiden name, the street you grew up on and your first childhood pet?
All my passwords are “incorrect” so when I enter anything I get this reminder…
“Your password is incorrect”.
@KTH: very handy
You can be safer but nothing is truly safe. If it’s online, it’s hackable by someone. There are multiple governments who can fly past any of your security measures if they really want to. And let’s face it huge numbers of us have already given over more than enough information to be compromised in some way. Endless photos, life details, locations, likes, preferences, social circles etc.
After the supposedly secure messaging service all the criminals were using was hacked by the authorities, it’s not so much whether your information is safe as opposed to whether anyone with power can be bothered hacking you.
I’m sure plenty have already received dodgy emails after something they signed up to years ago was hacked, and some of your data leaked.
Privacy is practically non-existent now anyway. From CCTV to people filming on their phones, there’s barely anywhere you can escape the surveillance.
You can’t use Irish Stew as a password.
It’s not Stroganoff.
I know it’s an old one
Yes mine is very secure, it’s flatulence123
@mel finn: something smells fishy about that password. You need to change it.
@mel finn: Flatulence is not very secure. You’re talking a lot of hot air.
Passwords won’t keep anyone working at Google from snooping through your emails. Happened to me.
@Niamh: Not using Google for email will.
@Steve O’Hara Smith.: I changed to AOL
@Niamh: For real security host your own email service (assuming you have broadband). There’s a learning curve but the result is much better privacy.
To get to my email you first have to get into my home network (I run a VPN for when I’m away) it’s not visible directly on the Internet except to receive incoming mail.
@Steve O’Hara Smith.: I didn’t know I could do that! Thanks for the tip :)
@Niamh: Fair warning, I meant it about the learning curve. It’s not as easy today as it was in 1993 when I first did it.
@Niamh: who was snooping through your emails? An ex?
Song lyrics are a great source of easy to remember passwords. Just add a standard prefix or suffix with the capitals, numbers and special characters.
@Steve O’Hara Smith.: no no, no, no, no no, no, no, no no, no, no, there’s no limit!
@Steve O’Hara Smith.: Works fine as long as no one sits there humming their tune ;-)
@F Fitzgerald: You can find my list of sites and songs and you still won’t know the prefix/suffix or know how much of which part of the song I’ve used let alone which words I’ve misheard (excuse me while I kiss this guy).
Considering they are compiling the most popular ones and printing them how would they be secure?
@peter browne: In the late 1970s someone in my universities computer lab (in those days a mostly male environment) found over 80% of the student passwords, using a book popular with new parents, and posted the list on the department noticeboard.
The book – “500 Names for Girls”.
Yes.. I always use my dogs name. Rocky. And his age. 11. They would never guess that.
Stick this pole up ye jaxie gicker
Is that your password?
5t1ck.th15.p0l3.up.y3.jax1e.g1ck3r
My two favourite passwords are “123” and “password”.
I let Last Pass create a password for me.
@Magnificent Mongoose: LastPass had a major breach last year exposing millions of vault master passwords, so you’re not as secure as you think you are.
@David Ronan: Yep two people can keep a secret – if one of them is dead.
@David Ronan: I never claimed to be secure
MndYreoinb1zness
Couldn’t tell ya I’m locked out.
I tend to use house phone numbers I had to commit to memory as a kid. 9/10 digits in a random order would be near impossible for anyone to figure out, theres at least 1000 different combinations I think. that’s my thought process on the matter anyway.
I tried to create a new password,using a mixture of uppercase,lowercase,a number and a symbol. I put in Beefstew9% “sorry,your password is not stroganoff”
Just make it too difficult for normal privacy. If the bad guys want to get to you they will. You’re unlikely to be that important to them.
Also never share your passwords! With anyone!
A bad breakup I know of was made much worse when one ex-partner used their knowledge of the other’s passwords to wreck their Facebook profile, delete all their contacts and change both Facebook and email passwords so they were locked out of their accounts.
I change passwords every few months and try not to use the same password on multiple sites, I have a gmail account because, y’know, Android, but use a different account for everything else. I don’t stay logged in on sites and log out when I’m finished and I wipe my browser history at least once a week
Hope the Sharks get a chance to view the final after the match against Leinster on Saturday evening
@Morrissey Michael: Clever, but it’s a bit long to be memorable.
Ring of steel
Long password phrases like heymynameisnonofyoyrbusinessbudfy is a trillion plus times harder to crack than F()&;3jit as it’s the length of the password and not the character style.
Mine is really good
12345!pw
See?
I got far too many accounts with random gibberish for their passwords… I just use Dashlane to manage it all.
have your say