Are we legally entitled to move?

bada-bing

Currently renting a house and we signed a fixed term lease in september until may, as we are in college and wanted it for the term. However we now want to move out due to a no of reasons. The main one is that area is a disastor, constant joyriding around the green area to the front of our house which keeps my housemate awake most nights as her window faces front. Secondly two of our cars have been damaged while parked out the front, during the night. I also seem to be allergic to something in my bedroom, or the house in general and cant figure it out, every weekend i come home im fine, but then as soon as im back in the house a day i cant breathe properly and am coughing. The house is also really cold compared to our last house, there are no curtains in the bedrooms, just a blind, and we have to use electric heaters the whole time cz when we have the oil on the rads only get warmish. So the main reason is the area, I rang free legal aid and he said we are not entitled to move as this is not the landlords problem but that if we found alternative tenants this could be a solution. The landlady said no when we put this to her and said we cant move. A friend of mine suggested that we just up and go, that it would cost her to much to bother sueing but someone else told me that she can just sue us through the PRTB for only 25e! but then, ONE more thing is, she only asked me for my PPS no AFTER my friend told her we wanted to move... does this mean that we cant possibly be registered as tenants?

sorry for long thread...
any help urgently needed and greatly appreciated!

EKRIUQ

If you want to move there's nothing she can do about it but you'll lose your deposit. Of couse the landlady doesn't want you to go and you did sign a lease and legally she could chase you for the remaining amount of the lease but its unlikely.

The PRTB only solves disputes and it could take about 6 months to get a judgement.

sweetie

I was of the opinion that a months notice was enought to terminate lease on either side. Speak to threshold, they will tell you your rights. If the heatings inadequate I would ask the landlord over during a cold period and ask for money off towards the extra electricity used.

the_syco

bada-bing wrote: »

I also seem to be allergic to something in my bedroom, or the house in general and cant figure it out, every weekend i come home im fine, but then as soon as im back in the house a day i cant breathe properly and am coughing. The house is also really cold compared to our last house, there are no curtains in the bedrooms, just a blind, and we have to use electric heaters the whole time cz when we have the oil on the rads only get warmish.

Two things here. First, go into any DIY shop, and get a radiator key. Usually cost no more than €2. The knob at the tob right of the radiator: slowly open it, you'll feel air coming out, and once water starts to dribble out, close it. DO NOT OPEN IT TOO MUCH, or the water will pour out. Also, DO IT WHEN THE RAD IS COLD. Otherwise your fingers will get scalded, and the room will get flooded. This will improve the amount your rads give out.

Secondly, the other issue may or may not be dust. May also be poor airflow. Try leaving the windows open (while you are there), to see if that improves the air content.

Oh, and don't students have a tendacy to f**k off without any notice, when they drop out of college? Doubt they give any notice...

Nevyn

Get in touch with threshold and ask then what your rights are.
http://www.threshold.ie/menu.asp?menu=96

useruser

Namesco wrote: »

If you want to move there's nothing she can do about it but you'll lose your deposit. Of couse the landlady doesn't want you to go and you did sign a lease and legally she could chase you for the remaining amount of the lease but its unlikely.

The PRTB only solves disputes and it could take about 6 months to get a judgement.

If the OP is able to find someone willing to take over the remainder of the lease then they can leave without penalty (regardless of whether the landlord accepts this transfer or not). Contact Threshold as suggested for the correct procedure.

jimmycrackcorm

the_syco wrote: »

Two things here. First, go into any DIY shop, and get a radiator key. Usually cost no more than €2. The knob at the tob right of the radiator: slowly open it, you'll feel air coming out, and once water starts to dribble out, close it. DO NOT OPEN IT TOO MUCH, or the water will pour out. Also, DO IT WHEN THE RAD IS COLD. Otherwise your fingers will get scalded, and the room will get flooded. This will improve the amount your rads give out.

I use a knife on my radiators when this happens.

brianthebard

Did she give ye any indication that the area might not be good or did ye ask? Maybe threshold could use that in some way?

ravendude

sweetie wrote: »

I was of the opinion that a months notice was enought to terminate lease on either side. Speak to threshold, they will tell you your rights. If the heatings inadequate I would ask the landlord over during a cold period and ask for money off towards the extra electricity used.

My understanding is that this is the case, - there is almost always a reciprocal month's notice

useruser

ravendude wrote: »

My understanding is that this is the case, - there is almost always a reciprocal month's notice

It seems most unlikely to me that there is "almost always" a clause in rental leases that allows them to be broken with a month's notice.

ravendude

useruser wrote: »

It seems most unlikely to me that there is "almost always" a clause in rental leases that allows them to be broken with a month's notice.

Yes, it is there also for the landlord's benefit, quite common actually. Landlords tend to want to maintain an avenue to remove the tenant if need be

Also, refer to the following:
http://threshold.ie/menu.asp?menu=83
Look for the section under:
"A tenant surrendering a tenancy must serve their landlord with the relevant notice period."

This applies if there is no formal lease

useruser

ravendude wrote: »

Yes, it is there also for the landlord's benefit, quite common actually. Landlords tend to want to maintain an avenue to remove the tenant if need be

I have not come across it but I will take your word for it. The landlord is still bound by the PRT act however, they cannot "remove" a tenant (after 6 months and excluding the exceptions in the act) even if such a clause exists in the lease.

Emerald Lass

This is being made more complicated than need be - mainly by peple offering advice when they don't actually know the answer.

Firstly, I'm sorry to hear that you appear to be living in a bit of a sh!t hole - but the neighbourhood is not the LL's fault - it is your responsibility to check the area before you moved in. Regarding the rads and heat etc, the LL has a responsibility to ensure that this is adequate, and you should stick to your guns on that one.

regards leaving, Of course you can leave, but you must give a minimum of 28 days notice if you are there less than 6 mths, and then higher notice on a sliding scale the longer you are there.

6 or more months but less than 1 year - 35 days
1 year or more but less than 2 years - 42 days
2 years or more but less than 3 years - 56 days
3 years or more but less than 4 years - 84 days
4 or more years - 112 days

REgardless of whether you give notice or not, you can, as your firend says, just up and leave. However, if you do not give adequate notice then you have zero chance of getting your deposit back.

If you give adequate notice, then you may still not get your deposit back, as you have breached your lease agreement (i.e you are contracted to stay for a given period and you are leaving before this period). You need to check your lease. If it is a fully compliant lease, then it most likely states that if you leave prior to the lease period you forfeit your deposit. The LL is also entitled to sue you for the outstanding lease monies, and costs of reletting - however as they are highly unlikely to ever get this money out of you, most dont bother and will simply hold on to your deposit.

Finally, if you get new tenants to take over the tenancy you can legally get out of it, and get your deposit back. however, of course the LL has rights as to who they allow to live in the house. Again this should be covered in your lease agreement. You cannot simply allow anyone else to live in their house so that you can move.

You need to go and check your lease agreement in full and if in doubt about anything ring threshold.

As for PRTB.....well the LL would be free to lodge a complaint but I would place a safe bet that it will take substantially longer than 6 months for a resolution. They are notoriously slow. I doubt she would bother.

You were lucky enough to find a LL who agreed to a 9 mth lease, and still you want to break it. Not many LL would give a 9 mth lease - most give 12mths minimum. If you want to leave so badly, give notice, do it right, and be prepared to loose your deposit. If you signed a lease then you should have read it fully and been aware what would happen if you left early before you signed it. If no lease exisits then thats a different story. Demand your deposit back, and threaten her with legal action - again threshold will help you with this. If no lease exists then she is in the wrong, but you may have to put up a fight to get your deposit back.

(if she is still out of order, then the final advice I give is this......give your notice, but do not pay the last months rent. This way you get he value of your deposit back. She will issue you will letters of termination for non-payment of rent, but she must also give you valid notice, so by the time this notice is served you can move out. She cannot forceably evict you for not paying rent, she must serve you notice in writing. I would not advocate this normally, but if the house is really as cold and crapy as you say then this may be one time to make an exception)

useruser

Emerald Lass wrote: »

Finally, if you get new tenants to take over the tenancy you can legally get out of it, and get your deposit back. however, of course the LL has rights as to who they allow to live in the house. Again this should be covered in your lease agreement. You cannot simply allow anyone else to live in their house so that you can move.

The law is that if the tenant finds someone willing to take on the lease then the landlord must accept this situation and allow the current tenant to break the lease. The landlord does not have to accept the replacement tenants of course. This is all subject to notice periods etc. The OP should contact Threshold to make sure they go through this procedure correctly if they choose to do so.