Want to move out of a rented house...

Justyna

Hi..
I just wanted to ask a question..maybe someone will know anything about it..

I have to move out ( because of a new job in a different city) before the lease ends (brake the lease?) from a house ( i am the main tenant) and my landlord told me that he will take me to court...can he do that?
Thanks

Jo King

What is there to stop him?

the_syco

How long left is there in the lease, and does he mind if you get someone to stay there for the remainder of your lease?

homah_7ft

How long have you been leasing there? Your required period of notice depends on this. I would advise you to contact your local citizens advice centre.

Galway City
Galway CIC

Augustine House
St Augustine Street
Galway City
Co. Galway

Tel: +353 91 563 344

fax: +353 91 563 687

email: galway.cic@galwaycic.ie

or check here to find your nearest centre http://www.citizensinformationboard.ie/citizens/citizens_centres.html

Best of luck.

antoinolachtnai

The required notice period may or may not also depend on the lease. I would really suggest contacting threshold instead of/as well as the CIC. These things are a bit technical. If you are in the first six months of your tenancy one thing might apply, if you are in the 42 months following, something different would probably be the case.

It is unlikely, but possible, that the landlord could take you to the District Court.

He would probably have to bring you to the Private Rented Tenancies Board (PRTB).

This could take him quite a while. Really, he is going to have to do some sort of deal with you.

But call threshold and ask them what they think.

godtabh

antoinolachtnai wrote:

The required notice period may or may not also depend on the lease. I would really suggest contacting threshold instead of/as well as the CIC. These things are a bit technical. If you are in the first six months of your tenancy one thing might apply, if you are in the 42 months following, something different would probably be the case.

It is unlikely, but possible, that the landlord could take you to the District Court.

He would probably have to bring you to the Private Rented Tenancies Board (PRTB).

This could take him quite a while. Really, he is going to have to do some sort of deal with you.

But call threshold and ask them what they think.

I thought the lease counldnt take away from the tenants rights i.e if the law calls for a months notice if you leaving there for more than 6 months the lease couldnt affect this

The_Conductor

Justyna wrote:

Hi..
I just wanted to ask a question..maybe someone will know anything about it..

I have to move out ( because of a new job in a different city) before the lease ends (brake the lease?) from a house ( i am the main tenant) and my landlord told me that he will take me to court...can he do that?
Thanks

Justyna- can you clarify a few things.

1. Have you rented the house and subsequently sublet it to a number of other people with the landlords knowledge?
2. How long have you been living in the house (this denotes the notice period for both you and the landlord).
3. Is the property fully registered with the PRTB etc?

What Antoin says is correct

Up to 6 months = 28 days notice
6 to 12 months = 35 days notice
12 to 24 months = 42 days notice
24 to 36 months = 56 days notice
36 to 48 months = 56 days notice

(its on a 4 year cycle there after).

A very good document is a brief introduction to the 2004 Residential Tenancies Act (copy attached to this post)- I suggest you read it.

Regards,

Shane

antoinolachtnai

kearnsr wrote:

I thought the lease counldnt take away from the tenants rights i.e if the law calls for a months notice if you leaving there for more than 6 months the lease couldnt affect this

It depends really. The lease could reduce the OP's right to terminate during the first six months. Also, the Act does have provision for mutually agreed lengthened notice periods and these could be used to construct what is effectively a binding 12-month contract.

The Act also gives you various rights to substitute somebody different in the lease. The rules about this are quite technical and I wouldn't like to give a summary of them, but they seem sensible enough.

Anyway, nobody's going to be going to the circuit court to argue about what is ultimately going to be a settlement for a maximum of a few hundred euros. The landlord and tenant have to do a deal.

If there is going to be continuity (i.e., the landlord isn't going to have to re-let the place) and the other people in the house are reputable I can't see that there is going to be a problem.

How Strange

Justyna, I've never heard of a landlord taking a tenant to court for moving out in the middle of the lease. In my experience, you advertise the room and make sure there someone is moving into it when you move out. You exchange deposits with the new person so the landlord still holds the deposit on the room and then the landlord will change the name on the lease.

If I were you I would suggest getting someone in to take your room and if he is not agreeable to that then contact Treshold. They will tie him up in so much red tape that he won't be able to say boo to you without them knowing about it.

The_Conductor

How Strange wrote:

Justyna, I've never heard of a landlord taking a tenant to court for moving out in the middle of the lease. In my experience, you advertise the room and make sure there someone is moving into it when you move out. You exchange deposits with the new person so the landlord still holds the deposit on the room and then the landlord will change the name on the lease.

If I were you I would suggest getting someone in to take your room and if he is not agreeable to that then contact Treshold. They will tie him up in so much red tape that he won't be able to say boo to you without them knowing about it.

The person who you get to move in has to be fully acceptable to the landlord- you are not entitled to simply put the room up on DAFT (or where-ever) and take in someone off the street.

Also- in your case- it sounds as though you have rented the whole house, and are legally subletting rooms, with the tacit agreement of the landlord (please correct me if I am wrong). In this case- were you to move out, the landlord would be in a very badly diminished position- unless he/she was able to come to an agreement with the remaining tenants (irrespective of whether you sublet your room or not).

OP- could you clarify whether you have a lease with the landlord in *your* name and are subletting rooms with the agreement of the landlord to other parties (which is what my understanding of the case is). If this is the case, it is significantly different from you simply abondoning your own room- you are abondoning the house (along with whatever obligations you have towards both the landlord and also the other people staying in the house).

Afuera

As far as I know, if you ask the landlord to assign the lease to someone else (one of the other tenants living in the house for example) and he refuses, then you can legitimately break the fixed term lease (with notice). antoinolachtnai's advice to contact Threshold is good as they would be able to take all the relevant details of your case and advise you accordingly.

Afuera

smccarrick wrote:

Also- in your case- it sounds as though you have rented the whole house, and are legally subletting rooms, with the tacit agreement of the landlord (please correct me if I am wrong).

I was under the impression that this was a multi-occupancy arrangement with one head tenant. If so, the other tenants would be considered licensees. As a licensee they can request to become full tenants from the landlord and it can't be denied without good reason.

antoinolachtnai

Obviously it is best to do these things by consent and agreement, but I think the landlord has a bit less discretion in these matters than smccarrick says.

I would say that the people the OP has living in the house are licensees rather than (sub)tenants.

The licensees may be entitled to become tenants of the OP's lease under the Act. There is a whole technical rigmarole in there about this type of situation. The right of the landlord to refuse new or alternative tenants is untested as far as I know, but it is probably very limited.

I think 'moving out of' is a less charged word to use than 'abandoning'.

Justyna

Thanks everyone...its sorted just need to find new tenants ..