Unbelievable! How cruel is this?

[Aero]

Shocking that they can be so heartless, during such a tragic time for this family.

thats awful cant we all bombard whoever is demanding the money with emails?

that is outrageous. what kind of bastard landlord does something like that???

What utter scum. Surely they should be named and shamed!

This sounds outrageous - although the piece is a bit thin on details - is it a private flat? Was she sharing with anyone else?

I wonder if they are legally able to do this? Surely once the flat was cleared of her possessions, the letting agent could re-let?

That's what I was thinking Bluesky -I just wonder what the world has come to. Naturally, her parents acted as guarantors for her, but they wouldn't have expected these circumstances - who would? Surely that accommodation could be re-let at little loss to the landlord. A little compassion isn't much to ask considering what has happened.

Trouble is, it's probably legal. Just totally immoral.

I suppose they are legally within their rights to demand the money - the girl's parents had guaranteed the lease. If the landlord were to re-let the flat, I am not sure if they would then be entitled to get two rental streams?

Under the circumstances, anyone with an ounce of integrity would write off the lease. Nearly any institution would, so I am guessing this may be a private landlord.

The landlord/agency in question should be named and boycotted. Do universities have blacklists for unscrupulous landlords like that?

But, (trying hard to see both sides) it is the Landlord's living & the rent probably covers loan repayments. Would you expect not to be paid because your boss had a death in the family? Probably not that easy to re-let student accom. part-way through a year?

Of course the parents didn't expect these circumstances, neither did the Landlord.

more here

"The month's rent just after the young Bessbrook students death was removed from her bank account and they were told that as guarantors they would have to continue paying.

"This family is still traumatised by the sudden death of their precious daughter and now they have to cope with the added pressure and fears of debt collectors and court cases."

So they have already taken a month's rent after her death and are chasing her family for the rest. Utter scum. Landlords can't expect boilers to blow or plumbing to fail, but when they do, they are obliged to find the money to pay for them, never mind their loan repayments. In the event of a young tenant's sudden death they should work to find a replacement tenant and write off the previous contract.

Can someone please tell us who the letting agent is? We will absoluely bombard them with e-mails.

Well, I am a landlord, and I have had people walk out on their tenancy half way through. The most I have ever done is retained the deposit, and never bothered chasing for the remainder of the tenancy.

I can hardly believe this individual is taking action! This is not someone walking out, they have died FFS!

Also, it is shared accommodation, so it is not as if all rental has dried up.

Yes, let's petition & name & shame.

Is it just because I'm Irish that I'm suspicious.

"Sinn Fein's Mickey Byrne" has sniffed this story out. Bad landlord, Good Sinn Fein.

Obviously the Landlords are being ridiculously pedantic and the family should rightly refuse to pay. They would definitely have public sympathy behind them, and the company would only blacken their name if they brought them to court.

Do we know who the letting agent is?

Or is it just a media opportunity that Sinn Fein have grabbed to make themselves look good. They are always doing this.

Why difference does it make?

Sinn Fein grab any opportunity to make themselves look good. It doesn't make the landlord's actions decent.

It makes a big difference imo. Is it a real story?

I'm suspicious of the motives of the political wing of a terrorist group.

I think it's utterly disgusting.
If they go to court I imagine they would be shown the door pretty quickly.

MadameCh0let, like it or not SF they are a legitimate political party and entitled to represent their constituents. I am always suspicious of their motives but they could hardly have set this up.

The agency have issued a statement on the story now:

"The letting agent, Brownlow Property Management, has said it is prepared to take the McCann family to court to secure the outstanding rent of £866 for the period March to June.

"We do not feel we are being callous or unsympathetic towards Mr McCann," a company spokesman said.

"We have extended our commiserations to Mr McCann both verbally and in writing.

"We have also from the outset, verbally and in writing, offered Mr McCann the opportunity to spread the burden of the payments over as many months as his family budget permits."

Hmm, I work in the finance dept of a government organisation (not NI!) and part of my job is to deal with debt recovery.

Under the circumstances described in the news article we would write the debt off. I think pursuing it in these circumstances is absolutely shocking.