Withholding last months rent

Michael D Not Higgins

Shadylou wrote: »

How will the landlord try to claim this money from me?
Will he have to raise a duspute through the prtb?

If you don't come to an agreement privately, yes the PRTB would be his next port of call.

stateofflux

Shadylou wrote: »

How will the landlord try to claim this money from me?
Will he have to raise a duspute through the prtb?

yes,assuming he is registered (he can be fined for non registration), the prtb process could take months

Shadylou

Both myself and my ex would be willing to come to an agreement with him to pay this months rent

The_Conductor

Shadylou wrote: »

Both myself and my ex would be willing to come to an agreement with him to pay this months rent

Well- talk to him, open communication channels with him- thats the first step.

Arbiter of Good Taste

Shadylou wrote: »

Both myself and my ex would be willing to come to an agreement with him to pay this months rent

I'm not trying to be mean, but you already have an agreement with the landlord to pay the rent - it's called a lease, which you signed in good faith.

I think you have not handled this well at all. But what's done is done. You say that the landlord is decent and that you have been living there for six years. In that case be upfront, you might find the landlord is willing to come to some compromise - landlords are human too, not faceless ogres. He got six years out of you,and if you have otherwise been good tenants he might be decent about it.

You don't know what the landlords financial issues are. He might have a house full of children and be up to his eyes in debt, so wouldn't be too happy to check his bank statement and find you haven't paid your rent.

For your own sake, the last thing you need is for this to start going down official routes.

Sligo1

Shadylou, do you know if the LL is registered with the PRTB?

Shadylou

Yeah he is...i just rang him there to tell him and i ended up hangung up the phobe he got so abusive, i'll let my ex deal with him from now on

stateofflux

Shadylou wrote: »

Yeah he is...i just rang him there to tell him and i ended up hangung up the phobe he got so abusive, i'll let my ex deal with him from now on

did he just say he was or did you ring the prtb? landlords tend to flip when they are not registered and prtb is mentioned

odds_on

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

No they are obliged to rent as soon as possible, i.e. the house must be available to be rented. Also it appears that the landlord included a break clause of 28 days notice so I'd say OP is liable for the month's arrears and the portion of 28 days when it is not rented.

AS the Op has been renting the house for some six years, a clause in a lease allowing 28 days notice would be invalid. The required notice is 56 days minimum. However, at the time of the written notice or thereafter, the landlord and tenant may mutually agree a shorter or longer period.

Shadylou

We got a letter from the prtb when we first moved in saying our tenancy is registered

djimi

Whether the tenancy is registered or not makes no real difference; unless the landlord is a serial offender they will just be asked to back pay the registration and they will get on with their claim.

Michael D Not Higgins

odds_on wrote: »

AS the Op has been renting the house for some six years, a clause in a lease allowing 28 days notice would be invalid. The required notice is 56 days minimum. However, at the time of the written notice or thereafter, the landlord and tenant may mutually agree a shorter or longer period.

But a lease can enhance your rights and appears to be the case in this instance

I signed a new lease last May that says I have to give 28 days notice

mountai

Shadylou wrote: »

Yeah he is...i just rang him there to tell him and i ended up hangung up the phobe he got so abusive, i'll let my ex deal with him from now on

Well if that's the reaction you got I would advise. Put everything in writing to him. Explain your circumstances , and emphasise your efforts to negotiate. Point out his attitude was abusive on the phone making it impossible to reach a settlement. Acknowledge the debt you owe him and suggest you will honour this debt at whatever you can afford to pay off per week. Do the necessary to ensure your and your children are housed in the new place. Make sure you do start to pay off the outstanding amount immediately and continue to do so. Judges and PRTB realise that "You cant get blood out of a stone" and the fact that you are making a genuine effort to pay him off, will be in your favour should he decide to take matters further. Most LLs have been happy to try to negotiate a reasonable settlement with a tenant of six years standing , there is NEVER an occasion where abuse is justified.

godtabh

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

But a lease can enhance your rights and appears to be the case in this instance

You cant sign away your rights. Its a statutory clause under part 4 of the act. You could have signed a lease with one days notice. Its not valid.

Michael D Not Higgins

godtabh wrote: »

You cant sign away your rights. Its a statutory clause under part 4 of the act. You could have signed a lease with one days notice. Its not valid.

But surely a break clause with a shorter notice period on the part of the tenant is increasing their rights, no? That's how I read it. It's not the landlord giving less notice than required.

Unless you're arguing that the landlord is entitled to the full notice and they can't sign away their rights?

Sligo1

djimi wrote: »

Whether the tenancy is registered or not makes no real difference; unless the landlord is a serial offender they will just be asked to back pay the registration and they will get on with their claim.

Thanks, I was actually going to ask this question next

MouseTail

OP, best case scenario here is LL calms down, realises you are a good tenant of 6 years, he cant get blood from a stone, he relets at a higher rent, and that's the end of it. That's what I would do if i was the LL. However this will only work if the place is left immaculate. Leave the kids with your ex this weekend and scrub the place, including walls and woodwork. Hope it works out for you.

odds_on

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

But surely a break clause with a shorter notice period on the part of the tenant is increasing their rights, no? That's how I read it. It's not the landlord giving less notice than required.

Unless you're arguing that the landlord is entitled to the full notice and they can't sign away their rights?

To quote the RTA 2004, section 69

69.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), the landlord or tenant may agree to a lesser period of notice being given than that required by a preceding provision of this Chapter and such lesser period of notice may be given accordingly.
(2) Such an agreement to a lesser period of notice being given may only be entered into at, or after, the time it is indicated to the tenant or landlord (as appropriate) by the other party that he or she intends to terminate the tenancy.
(3) For the avoidance of doubt, a term of a lease or tenancy agreement cannot constitute such an agreement.

Michael D Not Higgins

odds_on wrote: »

To quote the RTA 2004, section 69

Grand so

Sakinah

OP if I was you I would check if the LL is still registered with the PRTB
https://portal.prtb.ie/public_registrations.aspx

maybe their membership has elapsed - it's a 4 year membership then it has to be re-registered

http://www.prtb.ie/landlords/helpful-info-documents

Yes you are not doing the right thing by your landlord cutting and running with almost no notice - but sometimes you have to put the best interests of your children in front of your landlord.

In saying that - he may want to pursue you , it does happen, it happened to a friend of mine and she was pursued (having left because there were structural problems causing issues) and the judgement ruled against her. But they were not asked for a lump sum, it was a monthly amount and she would be on a pretty good salary so even if you were pursued, they would have to work out a payment plan for you. The cost of his legal fees would be on you too.

But the landlord may not want the hassle for the sake of 3.5 months rent (Feb, April, Mar and some of May?). One of which is now covered by your deposit.

I wouldn't worry too much. Leave it spotless, transfer him money for re-advertising and get on with your life, your family is more important and don't let it get you down.

Shadylou

Quick update on this...landlord called down last night telling me he was giving me 24 hours to vacate the property....that as I had violated the terms of the lease he was entitled to evict me ASAP.
I called my ex down but the landlord was extremely unpleasant and quite adamant he wanted us gone that I called the guards who told me it's an illegal eviction and warned him not to contact me again til next Friday....hoping he will abide by this but my ex is staying here until we move just in case.

lukesmom

Shadylou wrote: »

Quick update on this...landlord called down last night telling me he was giving me 24 hours to vacate the property....that as I had violated the terms of the lease he was entitled to evict me ASAP.
I called my ex down but the landlord was extremely unpleasant and quite adamant he wanted us gone that I called the guards who told me it's an illegal eviction and warned him not to contact me again til next Friday....hoping he will abide by this but my ex is staying here until we move just in case.

Yeah he had no right to give you 24 hours to get out the guards are quite right it is illegal. When are you leaving?

Shadylou

We're aiming to move next Saturday.....have a very busy week of packing ahead!!

djimi

He has really shot himself in the foot here; gone from being in the right to being in the wrong with an attempted illegal eviction.

dinnyirwin

Shadylou wrote: »

Quick update on this...landlord called down last night telling me he was giving me 24 hours to vacate the property....that as I had violated the terms of the lease he was entitled to evict me ASAP.
I called my ex down but the landlord was extremely unpleasant and quite adamant he wanted us gone that I called the guards who told me it's an illegal eviction and warned him not to contact me again til next Friday....hoping he will abide by this but my ex is staying here until we move just in case.

Did he force you out? or did he tell you if you are out in 24 hours then he wont pursue you for the remainder of the lease?

He cant force you out.
But he can make a deal with you.

Shadylou

dinnyirwin wrote: »

Did he force you out? or did he tell you if you are out in 24 hours then he wont pursue you for the remainder of the lease?

He cant force you out.
But he can make a deal with you.

He tried to force us out and was so aggressive I ended up calling the gardai. He can do what he wants now but I won't be paying him another penny

dinnyirwin

Shadylou wrote: »

He tried to force us out and was so aggressive I ended up calling the gardai. He can do what he wants now but I won't be paying him another penny

Bad move on his part.

drunkmonkey

dinnyirwin wrote: »

Bad move on his part.

He's just been told to play by the rules, if he's the only one that does from here on in it could escalate quickly.

dinnyirwin

drunkmonkey wrote: »

He's just been told to play by the rules, if he's the only one that does from here on in it could escalate quickly.

It wont go down well with the PRTB though.

Shadylou

As far as I'm concerned he can go jump for any rent he feels he's owed, I'll be returning the house to him in turn-key condition, he can keep my deposit in lieu of the last month rent, his behaviour has negated any feeling in me that I owe him compensation