Am I being unreasonable with flatmate?

zxcvbnm1

I've been living in a place for the last 3 and and half months.

I basically signed a document saying I accepted the previous tenants lease.I replaced him.
i.e effectively my name is now on the lease with all the terms and conditions instead of him..fair enough !

I joined 2 other guys - one had been there for the last 18 months- the other for last 7 months.

The original lease was signed 3 years ago by random people which none of us current 3 tenants know. It just evolved over the years with randomers.

Anywayy- as each person left no inventory check was ever taken. In much the same way when I moved in i just signed a document saying I now take over the agreement of the tenant I replaced.


Anyway - us 3 are all now leaving by 15 Jan. Long story shorte- me and one of flat mates have been given a 4 week rolling contract max I.e. We could be kicked out at the of any week up to a maximum stay of 4 weeks.the third flatmate who left 3 days ago has now demanded his full deposit back before any inventory is taken for fear we will cause some crazy damage in the next 2 weeks and therefore he would be liable for..
(long story but it requires us to allow his deposit to be given back in full at this point)

This is a very quiet house by the way. Obviously the likelihood of that happening is basically zero which he well knows.

I think he is trying to get a full deposit back and avoid an inventory..he cannot understand our position at all.

In a nutshell, in my opinion he is unfairly trying to use the technicality that he has left a couple of weeks earlier than us then he is completely absolved of any deposit issues.
Given that we have all been living together for the last few months I do believe this is not done in any way in the spirit of fairness.

What is everyone elses take on it?

He is saying in the past everyone else has left at random times over the years without an inventory check so why should he be subjected to it also.

Howver I think that it is going to be a maximum 4 weeks difference then I feel he is unfair.

By the way - before anyone says see what the lease says, we really want to avoid going down the raid of what words are and what are not in the lease. We would prefer to sort out amongst ourselves whereby no one feels shafted.

ztoical

So all your names are on the lease and all of your are moving out and not assigning the lease to someone else? From the sounds of things up till now as each person left they were replaced by a new tenant and the lease was just assigned to the new tenant, if it's a case that you are ending the lease and not assigning it to new tenants it is not the same as when previous tenants left and if all three of you are on the one lease then the other guy has to wait until you move out and the LL returns the deposit. If you each have a lease with the LL then it's none of your concern and you let them deal with the LL regarding their deposit.

The flatmate whose left can always ask the LL to come and inspect the property if they want their depsoit back sooner but if your all on the one lease the LL is unlikely to return any of the deposit until everyone on the lease has left.

tenchi-fan

ztoical is right.

Consider this. A, B and C rent a flat. The deposit of €1,500 is paid to the landlord. If C moves out early, he is not entitled to a refund of the deposit from A and B. If he cannot find someone to replace him who is willing to pay him €500, he will simply have to agree return of the deposit with the landlord.

Tell your friend to make an inventory of the place as it stands when he is moving out, sign and date it, and give you a copy. If any additional damage is done, his inventory will act as evidence that he was not responsible.

But make it clear that you will not refund him the €500* (or whatever the actual amount is) and that you have no legal obligation to.

He is pulling a fast one so don't be bullied by him.

cafecolour

Yeah, the deposit comes from the landlord, not you. If he wants his portion of the deposit back early, he can contact the landlord and see if s/he will do an early walk-through and give him his portion back. It has nothing to do with you.

dub_3

Actually I think the guy leaving has a fair point. In normal circumstances you would have given him back his deposit and taken a similar amount from the next guy moving in.

Nobody moving in, give him back his deposit and when you move out get the money from the landlord.

But, yes I see your problem, what if the landlord doesn't refund the deposit?
Why should he get away without taking a hit?

I suggest getting landlord to do walkthrough and asking for 1/3 of deposit back.
If he says, no money back till you're all out the door, then get him to confirm inventory etc ok and he has no issues giving deposit back.

It would then be reasonable for the remaining two to give the third guy back his deposit. You then each have 50% responsibility for the remainder of your occupation.

So if you trash the place, your loss not his.

The only reason for not doing this is if you think the landlord will act the bollox and invent a silly reason and withold the deposit.

curlzy

Hey OP,

Ring "Threashold" or the "Private Residential Tenancies Board". They can give you proper legal advice and advise you on your rights and responsibilities. I certainly wouldn't be handing over any personal cash to the guy who's leaving. Sounds to me like he's trying to get out of the risk of the landlord withholding some of the deposit by getting it before the landlord does a walk through. So yeah my advise would be get some proper advise from the agencies above and do exactly what they tell you to. For the love of god don't have over any of your cash. You could also tell him he'll have to contact the landlord and sort it out with him.

omega666

zxcvbnm1 wrote: »

I've been living in a place for the last 3 and and half months.

I basically signed a document saying I accepted the previous tenants lease.I replaced him.
i.e effectively my name is now on the lease with all the terms and conditions instead of him..fair enough !

I joined 2 other guys - one had been there for the last 18 months- the other for last 7 months.

The original lease was signed 3 years ago by random people which none of us current 3 tenants know. It just evolved over the years with randomers.

Anywayy- as each person left no inventory check was ever taken. In much the same way when I moved in i just signed a document saying I now take over the agreement of the tenant I replaced.


Anyway - us 3 are all now leaving by 15 Jan. Long story shorte- me and one of flat mates have been given a 4 week rolling contract max I.e. We could be kicked out at the of any week up to a maximum stay of 4 weeks.the third flatmate who left 3 days ago has now demanded his full deposit back before any inventory is taken for fear we will cause some crazy damage in the next 2 weeks and therefore he would be liable for..
(long story but it requires us to allow his deposit to be given back in full at this point)

This is a very quiet house by the way. Obviously the likelihood of that happening is basically zero which he well knows.

I think he is trying to get a full deposit back and avoid an inventory..he cannot understand our position at all.

In a nutshell, in my opinion he is unfairly trying to use the technicality that he has left a couple of weeks earlier than us then he is completely absolved of any deposit issues.
Given that we have all been living together for the last few months I do believe this is not done in any way in the spirit of fairness.

What is everyone elses take on it?

He is saying in the past everyone else has left at random times over the years without an inventory check so why should he be subjected to it also.

Howver I think that it is going to be a maximum 4 weeks difference then I feel he is unfair.

By the way - before anyone says see what the lease says, we really want to avoid going down the raid of what words are and what are not in the lease. We would prefer to sort out amongst ourselves whereby no one feels shafted.

Simply tell him you dont have his deposit so you cant give it back to him.
The landlord has it and if he wants it now then he needs to contact the LL to get it back from him.

Gaureented the LL will say No, Not until everyone leaves the house and the place is checked for damage.

If he comes back to you again tell him sorry thats not my problem,
Problem solved.