Sub-let a room in my apartment

Theproblemlad

I will start from the start.

I rented a 2 bed apartment in cork with the views of sub letting it as i was on able to find a room in a house or apartment for about a month and took the risk.

So i do a open evening to find someone to sub set the room to.

Picked one guy there nearly 10 days ago.

He had to pay me 1200 euros to move in 600 rent and 600 deposit for the room.

He handed me 300 euros cash after i asked him to transfer over the money to me and said he would transfer the the rest over there and it has been nearly a week and is back home in Austria at the moment. I txt him yesterday to see did he transfer it and made up some reason with a line in a bank of 20 people and walked out.

In the mean time he says he also owes me 50 euro less then he does.

I handed him the key to the place in good faith as he said he would have transfer the money that day as he had his fight home to Austria.

He has singed notting so far.

At the moment i am thinking of just changing the lock of the apartment and putting it back up to rent ? and not giving him his 300 euros back and just charging him rent for the time wasting he has been giving me would i be wrong to do this ?. As when i rented the place i handed over the 2400 euros no problem to the landlord with in a hour and lined up for 40 mins to get the money out of the bank.

So what should i do ?.

Get someone else, this lad will be trouble.

Just be careful if changing locks you would need to inform your landlord.

Theproblemlad

Thats the plan i had plenty others wanting to rent the room as its in fantastic part of the city and the apartment has just been done up.

But with changing the lock i have called the landlord already and said the key was getting stuck so i might change the lock to see if that fixs it.

I am aload to sublet asked before i signed my lease.

But with the money i owe him what should i do take it for rent and tell him to f off about it ?.

whatismyname

whatismyname wrote: »

And signing of lease, or at least something in writing, makes it harder for them to come back and argue things afterwards (like him saying he owes you less than he does).

When subletting you hold all the cards and this is how you want it to stay, signing things can only help the licensee it won't give the sub letter any more power and will most likely give them less.

Theproblemlad wrote: »

Thats the plan i had plenty others wanting to rent the room as its in fantastic part of the city and the apartment has just been done up.

But with changing the lock i have called the landlord already and said the key was getting stuck so i might change the lock to see if that fixs it.

But with the money i owe him what should i do take it for rent and tell him to f off about it ?.

Charge him rent from the day you gave him the key until he appears back to your apartment. If this come to less than the 300 then give back the difference. I'm sure it will be end up that he owes you more than the 300 though which you could just forget about them.

Theproblemlad

Aminah Tinkling Pentagon wrote: »

When subletting you hold all the cards and this is how you want it to stay, signing things can only help the licensee it won't give the sub letter any more power and will most likely give them less.



Charge him rent from the day you gave him the key until he appears back to your apartment. If this come to less than the 300 then give back the difference. I'm sure it will be end up that he owes you more than the 300 though which you could just forget about them.

The rent is 150 per week. I am paying the same myself.

I will charge him from the day i handed the keys and if he says he wonts the money back i am just saying no that is rent for the time wasting. I will put it up to rent again in the next few days and see what happens.

As the lease is in my name not his i am reg with the PRTB or what ever its called for the letting in my name of the apartment as well.

Past exp from renting for me was that i rented a room in the house paid the depasot and 2 weeks rent as thats all that was left in the month to the letting agent then i forgot i only paid 2 weeks rent and i got a letter to kick me out the day after the rent was due. I never ran so fast in my life to the office to pay the rent ha ha.

salamanca22

Theproblemlad wrote: »

The rent is 150 per week. I am paying the same myself.

I will charge him from the day i handed the keys and if he says he wonts the money back i am just saying no that is rent for the time wasting. I will put it up to rent again in the next few days and see what happens.

As the lease is in my name not his i am reg with the PRTB or what ever its called for the letting in my name of the apartment as well.

Past exp from renting for me was that i rented a room in the house paid the depasot and 2 weeks rent as thats all that was left in the month to the letting agent then i forgot i only paid 2 weeks rent and i got a letter to kick me out the day after the rent was due. I never ran so fast in my life to the office to pay the rent ha ha.

The guy is not a tenant but a licensee, he has very little rights and you can insist on him leaving the house. Not much more than a glorified guest in the eyes law. You should still give notice though, just tell him that he has x amount of days to pay what is due or he you will end the agreement and return anything that is due from the deposit. By all means remove any days rent that the place was off the market.

Arbiter of Good Taste

whatismyname wrote: »

By subletting the tenant becomes the head-tenant with the new tenant the subtenant.

The subtenant has the same legal rights and responsibilities as the head-tenant - or at least the question being if the OP is renting under a Part 4 tenancy, in which case the subtenant certainly has the same legal rights and obligations as the headtenant. Although they have not signed a lease, a verbal agreement is formed as soon as they agree to rent to the sub-tenant and accept rent payment, and the verbal agreement is as legally binding as a written tenancy agreement.

So signing a written lease isn't really about giving either party more or less power - both have legal rights and obligations regardless of them being in writing, and if they choose not to put things in writing it doesn't waive the rights and obligations of either party.

I see the OP has registered the sub-letting tenancy with the PRTB anyhow, so no doubt he'll know all this regardless.

(Edit: Regarding whether the OP's tenancy it is a Part 4 tenancy, giving the sublettenant legal rights and obligations, if it's not yet, I'd imagine it would become one before long. http://www.let.ie/articles/tenants-rights-and-obligations has a good section on subtenancies created out of Part 4 tenancies).

This is completely wrong. This is not a tenancy. It's a licensee arrangement which means the OP can kick him out at any time. There is no notice period - unless the OP has agreed one in writing- and part IV certainly does not apply.

The PRTB registration refers to the OP's tenancy, not the sub lease.

The OP is a tenant and subject to tenancy laws. The person he is bringing in is only a licensee.

The link you attached refers to a situation where the head tenant moves out and the sub tenant move in. It does not apply where the tenant on the lease stays in the property.

Galadriel

whatismyname wrote: »

By subletting the tenant becomes the head-tenant with the new tenant the subtenant.

The subtenant has the same legal rights and responsibilities as the head-tenant - or at least the question being if the OP is renting under a Part 4 tenancy, in which case the subtenant certainly has the same legal rights and obligations as the headtenant. Although they have not signed a lease, a verbal agreement is formed as soon as they agree to rent to the sub-tenant and accept rent payment, and the verbal agreement is as legally binding as a written tenancy agreement.

So signing a written lease isn't really about giving either party more or less power - both have legal rights and obligations regardless of them being in writing, and if they choose not to put things in writing it doesn't waive the rights and obligations of either party.

I see the OP has registered the sub-letting tenancy with the PRTB anyhow, so no doubt he'll know all this regardless.

(Edit: Regarding whether the OP's tenancy it is a Part 4 tenancy, giving the sublettenant legal rights and obligations, if it's not yet, I'd imagine it would become one before long. http://www.let.ie/articles/tenants-rights-and-obligations has a good section on subtenancies created out of Part 4 tenancies).

I got the impression the OP is the one registered with the PRTB as being on the lease, not the subtenant, he doesn't have any rights he is not on any lease and the OP can ask him to leave at any time.

salamanca22

salamanca22 wrote: »

The guy is not a tenant but a licensee, he has very little rights and you can insist on him leaving the house. Not much more than a glorified guest in the eyes law. You should still give notice though, just tell him that he has x amount of days to pay what is due or he you will end the agreement and return anything that is due from the deposit. By all means remove any days rent that the place was off the market.

I'd be inclined to just get rid of him straight away to be honest, if he is trouble now he will be trouble again and it will be easier to end things now when he isn't around.

Matteroffact

He gave you 300 euro before he left for Austria for Christmas. Would you not give him time to come back and pay the rest. Definitely ask him one last time for the rest of the money and at least warn him if it is not paid by then he loses his 300 and the room.

_Kaiser_

Matteroffact wrote: »

He gave you 300 euro before he left for Austria for Christmas. Would you not give him time to come back and pay the rest. Definitely ask him one last time for the rest of the money and at least warn him if it is not paid by then he loses his 300 and the room.

Why? Online bank transfers take all of 5 minutes to do and would hit the OP's account the next day/day after. No need to set foot in a branch at all.

Plus with the excuses this guy is giving and arguments about what he owes it just seems like he'll be nothing but trouble.

I'd agree with the posters above OP.. charge rent from the day he got the keys and tell him you're ending the arrangement for non-payment/messing around and will refund the difference to his account. Then readvertise the place and insist on cash in full before you hand over the keys.

Matteroffact

Matteroffact wrote: »

He gave you 300 euro before he left for Austria for Christmas. Would you not give him time to come back and pay the rest. Definitely ask him one last time for the rest of the money and at least warn him if it is not paid by then he loses his 300 and the room.

I see no reason to give time to pay the rest, the fact he didn't pay it all on day one when getting the keys would be enough for me to want rid of him as he looks like definite trouble.

Don't give keys out again op until you have got all your money upfront.

Theproblemlad

Give everyone a update on this. I was on the way down to change the locks of the apartment and he then txt me saying he has transformed the money and sent me proof. I was like grand the banks are closed today so the trasnfor might be tomorrow before its there.

I have now had a proper look and he forgot a number at the end of my IBN ......

Now tomorrow is new years day i am going to have to travel down and change the lock tomorrow as no way hell he is moving in now and he is going to be charged for the 2 weeks he has been messing me around.

He will be coming back to Ireland homeless but that is his problem not mine.

Saipanne

He's messing you around. Imagine what he would be like to live with.

Theproblemlad

I know big time so i am going to have to do the bus hung over tomorrow and change the lock i am in lock that my new bedroom lock is the same as main door so its a easy swap out tomorrow.

athtrasna

So he attempted to transfer the money, made a mistake and now you're going to make him homeless? Nice

Theproblemlad

Hes had since the 21st to transfer the money over. It is now the 31st.

Thats 10 days he has had to send the money to me. I should not have to be on his case for the money he should have just sent it right away to me. He made up reasons the line is to long in the bank, He cant send proof as his phone camera is to bad, He then sent it to the wrong bank account number after i gave him my bank account number twice once in a email and once in a txt.

I have giving him plenty of chances with it so its his problem now.

He has int moved and wont be moving in. All he has is a copy of the keys that can be fixed easy.

Dricmeister

Matteroffact wrote: »

He gave you 300 euro before he left for Austria for Christmas. Would you not give him time to come back and pay the rest. Definitely ask him one last time for the rest of the money and at least warn him if it is not paid by then he loses his 300 and the room.

No way. This guy's clearly a spoofer. It's a sellers' market. Cut him loose.

pawrick

Sounds like he has been given ample opportunity and will be a pain to deal with if he continues like that. Life is too short to have to put up with that from a stranger, I'd change the locks also and next time don't give a key until the deposit is handed over at the same time.

Theproblemlad

Basicly told the guy your not renting the place in a txt there now as i told him he has had plenty of time to sort things out. He told me his bank in Austria cant do noting. I told him i don't care as i can do a bank transfer right now online or over a phone with a Irish bank and send my money to anywhere in the world.

I told him as well you wont be getting the 300 euros back as that is your rent for the 2 weeks and i should be looking for 2 weeks UPC and ESB off you as well.

Matteroffact

Maybe he is not as technically minded as you are and doesn't know how to transfer money by phone or internet. When is he back from Austria ?
He was hardly using the ESB and UPC in the room if he is in Austria !

_Kaiser_

Matteroffact wrote: »

Maybe he is not as technically minded as you are and doesn't know how to transfer money by phone or internet. When is he back from Austria ?
He was hardly using the ESB and UPC in the room if he is in Austria !

That's irrelevant... his tenancy (and rent/bills payable) started the day he got the keys. The fact he spent Christmas away makes no difference, no more than it would your own UPC/ESB bill if you were away for 2 weeks in the summer.

It's also not the OP's fault (or responsibility) if the guy isn't technically minded. By rights he should have paid everything in full on the day he got the keys - the OP in fact did him a favour being as flexible as he was.

Well done OP.. well rid by the sounds of it anyway.

Dricmeister

Agreed. This guy sounds like trouble. He didn't have the cash - All of his antics were just a ruse.