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Leaving before a lease runs out - what might you lose?

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  • 26-07-2004 5:17pm
    #1
    MrNuked
    Closed Accounts Posts: 989 ✭✭✭


    If you leave before your lease is up, do you just risk the deposit, or are you liable to pay the rent until the lease is up?

    Need to rent somewhere until December which is hard to do.


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    #2
    Third_Echelon
    Registered Users Posts: 4,889 ✭✭✭Third_Echelon


    Originally posted by MrNuked
    If you leave before your lease is up, do you just risk the deposit, or are you liable to pay the rent until the lease is up?

    Need to rent somewhere until December which is hard to do.

    it depends on the terms of your lease but most state that you are liable to pay rent for the duration of the lease...

    Most landlords will let you break the lease if you find someone for the remainder, but if not you have to pay....


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    #3
    martarg
    Closed Accounts Posts: 209 ✭✭martarg


    How about looking for apartments with 3/6 months' lease? Daft.ie has an ad for someone who offers to find rooms for up to 5 months, although perhaps that is not exactly individual apartments... I have seen a few others where there is no minimum lease, perhaps you can negotiate that with the landlord. I actually remember one where the lease was maximum 5 months, which sounds perfect for what you need, but I cannot find it now, perhaps it has been removed. I will post it here if I find it....


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    #4
    Victor
    Registered Users Posts: 78,397 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Originally posted by Third_Echelon
    it depends on the terms of your lease but most state that you are liable to pay rent for the duration of the lease...
    This is the essence of it. That you pay monthly is purely a matter of convenience, you have signed up to pay for the year (or whatever). Most landlords will however be sensible if you need to move and can provide a replacement tenant of good standing ASAP.


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    #5
    MrNuked
    Closed Accounts Posts: 989 ✭✭✭MrNuked


    Thanks for the info!

    I found a lovely bedsit. The landlord and landlady usually only do year long leases, but they're going away next week, so they agreed to a 6 month one in this case, to ensure they got a tenant before they left. I'll see if I can find a replacement for the last month of my lease, and see if they're ok with that, but if they're not I only risk 1 month's rent, which I should be able to afford.


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    #6
    geekGirl
    Closed Accounts Posts: 15 ✭geekGirl


    Breaking a lease can be messy, but the landlord does not have to take your
    deposit and certainly will not be able to charge you for the rest of the year indefinately!!
    Firstly, if you give one months notice and ask the landlord if you may find a suitable replacement then it is your responsibility to find someone to replace you. With your landlords consent this is perfectly legal and you will be entitled to your deposit back.
    Secondly, if your landlord refuses this offer then it is up to him to find someone else and the fact that you offered is enough, from a legal standpoint, he is now actually required to give you your deposit back as you have given a month's notice and offered to find a replacement.
    From a legal standpoint a landlord could only force a tenent to pay the remainder of the lease if the landlord does not rent to someone else AND the tenent does not offer to find someone else for the apartment.
    Finally, if your landlord is being a prick there are several things you can do:
    1. Find out if he is paying tax, ask for his pps number, if he refuses to give it you can explain to him that you will be getting your deposit back or he will be getting a nasty letter from the tax office. I know this is vicious, but there are a lot of nasty landlords out there, believe me!
    2. If he is a legal, tax paying landlord he still may not be registered with the PRTB. This is the private residential tenancy board and it is a government run body that handles despute resolution between landlords and tenents. If your landlord is not registered then he or she will incur a fine of 3000 euro if you report them. You can find out if your landlord and your accomodation is registered by looking at www.prtb.ie the website contains the full list of all accommodation that is registered with the prtb.
    Finally, if he is registered for tax and also registered with the prtb you can still get your deposit back, via legal avenue, as mentioned above. Tell him you are leaving, give one months notice, offer to replace yourself, give this in writing if possible, and go to threshold (www.threshold.ie) or the prtb for dispute resolution.
    If you are in a situation where your exe-landlord has taken your deposit you can still get it back with the small claims court. They now have the facility where you can actually apply online. Well worth it!!

    Also, if all else fails don't pay your last months rent, if it is via bank deposit or letting agency he may not even notice until your gone. :o

    Good luck and good renting

    GG


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    #7
    Victor
    Registered Users Posts: 78,397 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    geekGirl wrote:
    Secondly, if your landlord refuses this offer then it is up to him to find someone else and the fact that you offered is enough, from a legal standpoint, he is now actually required to give you your deposit back as you have given a month's notice and offered to find a replacement.
    You are quite possibly overstating this.


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