living with landlord - rights???

luvinit

Hi!
I moved into a house with the landlord 3 months ago, there was no written agreement and he looked for cash in hand as he wanted to avoid the revenue. he seemed normal enough so I thought it would be fine...however, he was not!! he started doing strange stuff, for instance turning off all the radiators in the house and taking the knobs so they couldn't be turned on....and every so often he would come out with a new rule...one of which was not to park in the driveway, eventhough he advertised parking and there is space for two cars. That was fine, I obeyed the rule until this wkend, I had to leave it there as there was no parking anywhere else. It would not be inconviencing him as there was space for his car to get in and out. Also two weeks ago, he gave me a months notice saying he needed the room for a family member...that was fine, had started to look but now because I parked in the driveway, he wants me out tomorrow. The month isn't up and I have no where to live. Can he evict me like this? Do I have any rights here?
Please help!!

lomb

i believe u can sue him for unlawful eviction and he will have to pay all your costs. maybe best to get out of there though then take llegal action, he sounds mentally unstable and your safety is more important. try a b+b or cheap hotel for the moment until u find something. put this into google and click the first link, ul need to register, this will give u an idea of whats needed.
david grant architect ballsbridge

The_Conductor

lomb wrote:

i believe u can sue him for unlawful eviction and he will have to pay all your costs. maybe best to get out of there though then take llegal action, he sounds mentally unstable and your safety is more important. try a b+b or cheap hotel for the moment until u find something. put this into google and click the first link, ul need to register, this will give u an idea of whats needed.
david grant architect ballsbridge

Ignore this advice.

Your landlord is most probably making use of the Rent-a-room scheme, whereby people can let rooms in their private residence and earn 7,620 Euro per annum without paying any tax on it. He is not avoiding Revenue- he still has to declare it. You are entitled to claim rent relief on this money though.

Unfortunately as its his/her private residence, you are not strictly speaking a tenant and not covered by landlord/tenant legislation. This means that your landlord is not obliged to register with the PRTB as a landlord, provide a rent book to the tenant or ensure that the accommodation provided meets any minimum physical standards.

This also means that you are living under a "Licensee Agreement" not a tenancy agreement and are really only entitled to "reasonable notice" if the landlord chooses to terminate the agreement. You are entitled to refer disputes regarding periods of reasonable notice, retention of deposits, and disputes regarding deductions from rent for damage to property to the Small Claims Court.

You really should have sat down with the landlord prior to renting and set out in writing a set of rules which both of you would agree to adhere to. This would have included:

- How long you intended to stay
- Period of notices by both parties if you wished to leave
- How much the rent is, and when this would be reviewed
- When the rent is paid and by what manner
- Situation with visitors/guests
- Any restrictions that you/your landlord may wish to include

I would seriously advise that you contact Threshold at this stage- they will be better able to advise how to proceed at this immediate point. Their details are:

Threshold
21 Stoneybatter
Dublin 7
Tel: (01) 678 6096
E-mail: advice@threshold.ie

SCJ

lomb

u are probably right, as its a private house being partally rented out, he may be staying at the favour of the owner like a b+b or hotel. in any case moving out into a cheap b+b or hotel is probably the only solution till u get another place.