Landlord looking for rent

theceltichitman

Hi there,
I was recently renting a room in an apartment building, but moved out in the 2nd week of february. I was required by my lease to give 28days notice, which i did in writing on the 2nd week of january. The management company wasnt around at this time(they`re rarely around) so i just popped the letter in under the door of their office. They had no phone number to call them on also. Then, a month later, on the day i moved out the management werent around again, so i just left the keys in the apartment and told my housemates to mention it to the management if they saw them.

6 weeks go by since moving out and then i get a phonecall from the management wanting to know why i havent paid my rent. I tell them i had paid up in full to the day i moved out, and then they tell me that they never received my letter of notice or my keys so had assumed i was still living there. And now they`re holding out on my deposit and looking for the rent while i wasnt there. Apparantly, I was seen by them around the complex a few times since but that was while visiting my former housemates for beers or dinner.

Thankfully, I have a copy of the notice in writing, im sure that helps.
And my former housemates are friends of mine so they have backed up my story, but the company still wont budge.
What should i do?

MorningStar

First off I am landlord so if you think I maybe bias you know that.

Very few appartments are rented on a room by room basis so the rent is normally for the entire place. DI you all have individual leases.

By not having a conformation they recived the letter you left yourself open to them claiming they never got the letter. The letter may not have been given to the person responsible due to the nature you sent it.

Did your flat mates actually mention it to the comapny?

What way is your whole rent managed? Management companies are normally there to manage the building and not rental in Ireland. It might be quite new here but it sounds odd. Giving a letter to a cleaning lady for example is no good. Any place in the building is likely to mbe maintence people not the people responsible for rent

A copy of notice without confirmation of reciept isn't much use if that is what you are suggesting?

THe situation desribed all sounds a little odd to me. Is the whole building owned by one company that rents it out?

theceltichitman

Yes, we all had individual leases. It was let on a room by room basis.
It was made by a developer, is owned by various landlords(we never met them) and managed by a property management company, who look after rent payments as well as maintenance. The rent is paid by standing order to the management companies own bank account.
They have an office on site, which was rarely occupied and at the time, had no contact number.
According to my lease, i was to give notice in writing, by either
a) delivering it to the person(ie the management company, who werent around),
b) leaving it at the address where they were based
or c) affixing it to the outside of the address(could have fallen off or been taken)
I chose (b), by slipping it under the door.
And there was no sign of them on the day i moved out, so i left my keys in the apartment for them to get themselves.
The lads in the place said they never got a chance to mention it to the company when i asked them about it, they forgot about it after a couple of weeks.

MorningStar

Very odd situation described.
Meant to post this

http://www.threshold.ie/page.asp?menu=70&page=160

Leases for fixed Periods

A formal lease or letting agreement is usually for a fixed period (e.g. a year). You cannot be asked to leave during that time unless you are in rent arrears or in breach of your tenancy obligations. If you are in rent arrears, you must be notified by the landlord in writing. If you have not met your rent arrears within 14 days, then the landlord may issue you with 28 days notice of termination. You are entitled to formal notice of any claim that you have broken the tenancy conditions and to be given time to set things right.

If you want to leave before the lease is up you could be held liable for the rent for the balance of the letting period. However, if you can arrange for another tenant to take over the rest of your lease, the landlord may agree to this.

They could just claim they never recieved the letter and the responsibility to make sure they do is yours. I find it really hard to believe a lease suggests sticking the letter on the door. They noramly say just say "give written notice" and leave it at that. I am really curious which developer did this. THe short of it is you signed a lease and broke it, you may feel you informed the management company but you did not insure this happened. As the room was not inspected or any sign of interest in it did you not think it was odd? You don't get your deposit back untill there is an inspection and that is normally when you give the keys back.

jhegarty

MorningStar wrote:

THe short of it is you signed a lease and broke it

no he didn't ... he did exactly as asked of him in his lease....

theceltichitman

The bit about posting notice on the outside of a place is from the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, Section 6, Service Of Notices.
My lease contained this section of the Act specifically, but in fact, all of the Act applies.
I fulfilled my obligation in this respect, with witnesses and copied proof.
Leaving a notice at their office if they`re not there is deemed as acceptable as handing it to them in person, as per the Act.
When my notice was up and I left, i assumed they had received it.
I`ve been too busy to check with them since then, until they phoned me about the rent.

MorningStar

theceltichitman wrote:

The bit about posting notice on the outside of a place is from the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, Section 6, Service Of Notices.
My lease contained this section of the Act specifically, but in fact, all of the Act applies.
I fulfilled my obligation in this respect, with witnesses and copied proof.
Leaving a notice at their office if they`re not there is deemed as acceptable as handing it to them in person, as per the Act.
When my notice was up and I left, i assumed they had received it.
I`ve been too busy to check with them since then, until they phoned me about the rent.

THey can still make you pay the full lease agreement under law as I stated regardless. You were seen on the premises after you left so good luck proving you weren't there if they choose to file against you. AS a tenant you need to protect yourself. AS they have your money they are in a better situation than you. You did nothing to check on the situation after 6 weeks? You look in the wrong. You never agreed with them that they would not charge you the lease total.