Evict a tenant

Easten

I'm interested in buying a property (an apartment) but it has a tenant in place already, paying less than market rate. What options are available to evict the tenant, I have an option whereby I could let my daughter use the property and then we could rent hers out instead.

Is this possible from a legal standing? as far as anyone would know the apartment would be for her and she would move into it

whippet

Run away .. fast and far.

Seriously - firstly you will struggle to get a mortgage on this property if there is a tenant in place. (won't be a problem if you are a cash buyer)

Secondly - if it is below market rate and the tenant is there a while you could be in to a situation that the notice period will be in months and months (depending on how long they are there) and even if you do everything correctly the tenant may just not move out and then you are in a legal battle that may take a couple of years - with no rental income and every chance that forgetting to cross a 't' or dot an 'I' will reset all timelines or leave you open to paying out a small fortune to the tenant.

Look elsewhere

Caranica

Firstly you need vacant possession to get a mortgage unless you're looking at an investor mortgage.

The fact that the vendor is selling with a tenant in place sends alarm bells ringing very loudly. Selling up is a reason to terminate a tenancy but that they're still there is a major red flag. Notice periods depend on length of tenancy but there's no onus on the tenant to move out in reality.

And finally, this forum has loads of posts about landlords trying to get into their own properties and failing. If a tenant digs their heels in you're looking at years.

wildwillow

Best advice given is RUN and don't stop. Would only consider a vacant apartment, and then would consider getting into renting very carefully. Landlords now have no means of getting rid of a nuisance tenant.

Easten

I a a cash buyer, I was of the opinion that if you need it yourself then this would speed up the process.

But not what I wanted to hear but thanks for the heads up.

L1011

Needing it for yourself/a family member is just a valid reason to terminate; it does not speed up the process at all

DFB-D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058246348/evict-a-tenant

By what you described there is no legal method to end the tenancy.

The term "requires" has been discussed and moving your daughter from one apartment to this one is high risk not be not accepted by the RTB.

I think given that the tenancy could legally be terminated by the current landlord on intent to sell, and has not done so, you can expect a legal challenge and may well find that the current tenant has already refused to vacate, etc.

TooTired123

Forget about it. Find something else. If the tenant decides they’re not going then it’s going to take years to remove them.

cml387

A relation of Mrs CML was expressing an interest in a house with a sitting tenant. Her plan did not survive first contact with her solicitor.

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058246348/evict-a-tenant

Why do you not ask the current owner to sort it before you buy...

thegetawaycar

Do NOT buy with tenant in situ. You can ask the estate agent why they are selling with tenant in. Or make an offer on the basis tenant is already out but any solicitor will tell you exactly what you are getting here... RUN from this and certainly unless you have an extra few years and a decent amount of cash before actually wanting to use the apartment do not buy with a tenant in place that you want to remove.

coylemj

Can't help noticing a parallel here with an independent dealer trying to sell a car with no NCT and expecting the buyer to accept his assurance that 'it will fly through the NCT'. The obvious question to ask is: 'why don't you submit it for the test'?

Similarly, in this case ..... if getting the tenant out will be easy, why hasn't the vendor done so? It's obviously going to make the property infinitely more saleable. And at a higher price.

dennyk

The only time you should buy a property with a sitting tenant is if you are a cash buyer intending to let the property and you are happy with the current tenant remaining there (and you've performed your own independent vetting of them) and you're satisfied with the current rent they are paying and whatever potential increases you might be able to legally impose under the current RPZ restrictions. If all of those don't apply, then it would generally be an enormous risk to proceed in the hopes that you'll be able to remove the current tenant, even if you have a genuine and valid reason under Part 4 to terminate the tenancy (as it can still take months or years to remove an overholding tenant no matter how strong your case is), and especially if your plans in that direction likely wouldn't pass muster with the RTB and will make it very easy for the tenant to successfully challenge them (which, as others have noted, seems to be the case here).

Claw Hammer

The most probable reason for there being a tenant in the property is that the landlord has been repossessed and the sale is by a vulture fund. Not alone will there be an issue with the tenant but there will be other issues as well.