Lease query

PH4T

I am sharing a flat with another guy. I took out the lease and then found him to take the other room but we are both on the lease until May.

He has just told me he is not paying Feburarys rent and is moving out today.

Our rent is due on Monday.

In theory his deposit covers the next months rent. The only problem is the rent is higher than the market value now as rents have fallen a lot since we signed the lease. I won't be able to sub let his room for what he was paying.

Is this my problem or the landlords?

What are my options here?

Arathorn

It's your problem, well it should be yours and his as he is on the lease. You might have to take the hit, at least it would only be for 3 months though as you can use his deposit until february.

Make sure to get bill money off him too.

PH4T

Arathorn wrote: »

It's your problem, well it should be yours and his as he is on the lease. You might have to take the hit, at least it would only be for 3 months though as you can use his deposit until february.

Make sure to get bill money off him too.

We both had to register with the The Private Residential Tenancies Board.

Can I just pay my portion of the rent and the landlord goes after him for his portion?

Ste.phen

If he's on the lease until May then *both* of you are liable for the rent until May.
Landlord likely won't care where the money comes from, and thus will hassle you regardless of the fact it's the other guy being an ass and leaving that caused the problem.

Might it be worth getting someone in until May and subsidising their rent? Definitely cheaper than trying to replace the other guy. though at the end of the day it's the other guy's responsiblity to do that.

Ste.phen

PH4T wrote: »

Can I just pay my portion of the rent and the landlord goes after him for his portion?

That might work, but as far as the landlord is concerned there's no 'portion's, so why would the landlord accept that solution? His contract is with both of you, you're probably joint and severally liable. (i.e if he stops paying, you're the go-to guy)

PH4T

Ste.phen wrote: »

Might it be worth getting someone in until May and subsidising their rent? Definitely cheaper than trying to replace the other guy. though at the end of the day it's the other guy's responsiblity to do that.

I'm thinking of cancelling the standing order and talking to the landlord to see if he will reduce the rent in line with the market rent. If he does then I'll offer to look for someone else. But I don't see why I should have to subsidise someone else. Is this a bad idea?

I'm worried that if I pay the rent for both of us the landlord will just tell me to go after the other guy myself. Whereas if I don't pay any rent then it's his problem as well.

Alternatively, I had always thought you could get out of a lease by giving a months notice. Could I just give a months notice now, use his deposit to pay his portion this month and then leave at the end of the month and get my deposit back?

Arathorn

You can only get out of it if you find someone new who wants to rent it out, otherwise the landlord can come after you both for the remaining rent. You probably wont get your deposit back is this case either.

Ste.phen

PH4T wrote: »

Alternatively, I had always thought you could get out of a lease by giving a months notice.

Not unless that's in the lease. There's ways of getting out of leases like that but they all involve finding someone else to take your place on the lease.

Could I just give a months notice now, use his deposit to pay his portion this month and then leave at the end of the month and get my deposit back?

If your lease allows you to break it with a month's notice, then yes, absolutely, that's probably your best option

PH4T

Arathorn wrote: »

You can only get out of it if you find someone new who wants to rent it out, otherwise the landlord can come after you both for the remaining rent. You probably wont get your deposit back is this case either.

I won't be able to rent it out for as much as he way paying.

PH4T

Ste.phen wrote: »

Not unless that's in the lease. There's ways of getting out of leases like that but they all involve finding someone else to take your place on the lease.


If your lease allows you to break it with a month's notice, then yes, absolutely, that's probably your best option

It's not in the lease that i can break it with one months notice but someone else told me that the law is on the side of tennants and not landlords in this case and you should be able to get out of it...

haven27

You can break the lease quite easily by just handing in your months notice but that said your contract probably states that by doing so you forfeit your security deposit.

MysticalSoul

A Lease is a legal binding Contract, so if broken, especially in the current economic climate, the landlord will probably go after you for the rent remaining, for the duration of the Lease.

Arathorn

PH4T wrote: »

I won't be able to rent it out for as much as he way paying.

Thats the risk you take when you sign a lease, do you have a good relationship with the landlord? maybe he will let you out of it with a months notice, I wouldn't expect the deposit back though

PH4T

irishamethyst wrote: »

A Lease is a legal binding Contract, so if broken, especially in the current economic climate, the landlord will probably go after you for the rent remaining, for the duration of the Lease.

Well I don't mind paying my portion of the rent but how can the landlord go after me for the other half?

PH4T

PH4T wrote: »

What are my options here?

FYI I found some useful information on the Threshold website:

Ending Your Tenancy

If you want to terminate your tenancy and move out of your property, you must give the landlord notice in writing. A phone call, text message or even an email will not do. Even if the landlord is agreeable to a tenant's oral notice to leave, Threshold recommends that the tenant follows up the oral notice with formal written one.

A tenant who does not serve the landlord with formal written notice endangers their deposit. If a written lease is in place, the tenant could also be held liable for the remainder of the rent owed for the rest of the lease period.

The Residential Tenancies Act provides how a tenant should terminate a tenancy. The notice must be in writing and signed by the tenant. It should specify the date of service and the date the notice will expire. The notice must state the following: "Any issue as to the validity of the notice or the right of the tenant to serve it, must be referred to the Private Residential Tenancies Board under Part 6 within 28 days from the date of receipt of it."

For a draft Notice of Termination, please click here>>

The length of notice given by a tenant depends on how long the tenant has lived in the property. The longer the tenancy, the longer the notice period. Please note the notice periods provided in the Residential Tenancies Act as laid out in the Table below.

Duration of tenancy Notice by tenant
Less than 6 months 28 days
6 or more months but less than 1 year 35 days
1 year or more but less than 2 years 42 days
2 or more years 56 days

A tenant can give 28 days notice at any time if the landlord is in breach of his or her obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act or the tenancy agreement. If a tenant wishes to avail of the shorter period, the tenant must notify the landlord in writing of the breach and to give the landlord a reasonable opportunity to rectify the position.

What happens if there is a fixed term lease in place?
A tenant cannot avail of the notice periods where they are bound by a fixed term lease which they signed. They can, however, end the tenancy where the landlord is in breach of an obligation and where they have written to the landlord regarding the breach and giving the landlord an opportunity to rectify the position.

A tenant can also avail of section 186 of the Residential Tenancies Act to end a fixed term lease where the landlord refuses their wish to assign the lease to somebody else.

If a tenant wants to end of fixed-term tenancy early, they should inform the landlord in writing of their wish to assign or sublet the lease. Where the landlord refuses to give his or her consent, the tenant is entitled to serve a Notice of Termination.

The length of notice is determined by duration of the tenancy (see the Table above) and the Notice should correspond to the example Notice of Termination provided above.

The tenant is entitled to the return of their deposit if they take these steps.