Late rental payments

turtleback78

Hi

Myself and my partner have been renting a house in Dublin since October on a 1 year fixed term lease. All good until last month (feb) when due to a job change we were 2 weeks late with our rent. All the while in contact with the Landlord advising of the situation, the rent was payed in full 2 weeks late.

Now this month the rent will be delayed again by one week due to a delayed salary payment from the new job...again very annoying and this will be the last occurrence of this for sure.

The Landlord had been extremely agitated from the get go and has threatened (by email) with eviction. Now I have rented many times as has my partner and understand the issues caused by late rents....however we have not (nor have either of us ever been) issued with a 14 day rent notice as of yet.

Can the landlord instigate an eviction as it stands and if so would this get through the PRTB?

Obviously we are both aware of the Landlords position but have communicated as much information and assurance as possible that this is a Blip.

Any comments of note welcome.

Victor

turtleback78 wrote: »

Can the landlord instigate an eviction as it stands and if so would this get through the PRTB?

He needs to go through the full procedure.

I wouldn't overly worry about it. He is putting you on notice that you have to pay on time. Times might be tight for him also. Might a bank overdraft solve the issue for next month.

When you can afford it, delivering a bottle of wine and a thank you for his understanding / to apologise for the problems might be appreciated.

djimi

If the landlord wants to start an eviction process due to unpaid rent they must give you (I think) 30 days in which you can rectify the problem, so I wouldnt worry about being evicted provided of course you do actually pay the rent when you say you will!

Cathmandooo

A landlord doesn't want to get rid of tenants that pay their rent, he was just putting the frighteners on you that you must pay on time. I wouldn't worry about it, hopefully you'll be back on track next month and all will be fine again.

odds_on

djimi wrote: »

If the landlord wants to start an eviction process due to unpaid rent they must give you (I think) 30 days in which you can rectify the problem, so I wouldnt worry about being evicted provided of course you do actually pay the rent when you say you will!

With a Fixed term lease, as soon as the rent is not paid, when due, a landlord can issue a 14 days notice of rent arrears - if the rent is paid within the 14 day limit, the landlord can go no further.

If the tenant does not pay the rent arrears in full until the 15th day or later, the landlord can issue a Notice of Termination giving the tenant 28 days to vacate. If the tenant pays the rent after the 14th day of the 14 day notice, the landlord is entitled to continue with the Notice of Termination or withdraw it and let the tenant remain.

turtleback78

Thanks for the response thus far...it's reassuring to know it's not all doomsday scenarios.

There is a section of the Lease which states the lease cab be terminated fir "unremedied breach of a covenant of the lease" would late payments fall under this?

Zulu

The landlord is worried this is going to be an ongoing thing.

Cathmandooo

turtleback78 wrote: »

There is a section of the Lease which states the lease cab be terminated fir "unremedied breach of a covenant of the lease" would late payments fall under this?

I'd say that's open to interpretation. It could mean that alright, or it could mean that you've been given formal notice but you never followed through with payment.

Honestly though, you've paid your rent, if you can get back on track to pay on the agreed date next month then great, it's really not worth a landlords while to be evicting paying tenants, it costs the landlord money to change tenants.

djimi

turtleback78 wrote: »

Thanks for the response thus far...it's reassuring to know it's not all doomsday scenarios.

There is a section of the Lease which states the lease cab be terminated fir "unremedied breach of a covenant of the lease" would late payments fall under this?

The lease can say what it likes; if its not in line with what is set out in the RTA then it doesnt mean a whole lot.

djimi

odds_on wrote: »

With a Fixed term lease, as soon as the rent is not paid, when due, a landlord can issue a 14 days notice of rent arrears - if the rent is paid within the 14 day limit, the landlord can go no further.

If the tenant does not pay the rent arrears in full until the 15th day or later, the landlord can issue a Notice of Termination giving the tenant 28 days to vacate. If the tenant pays the rent after the 14th day of the 14 day notice, the landlord is entitled to continue with the Notice of Termination or withdraw it and let the tenant remain.

Fair enough; that must have been what I was thinking of. I thought the notice period was longer than that; 14 days doesnt seem a lot?

discodavie

djimi wrote: »

Fair enough; that must have been what I was thinking of. I thought the notice period was longer than that; 14 days doesnt seem a lot?

Its 14 days from the issue of the notice to pay the amount outstanding in full. If thats done the landlord cannot continue.

If the tenant fails to pay the full balance the landlord can issue a 28 day notice for breach of tenant obligations and there is where the eviction process begins.

However if the tenant manages to make full payment to the landlord they(landlord) can go no further as the 14 day notice is invalidated by the payment being made.

hardCopy

discodavie wrote: »

Its 14 days from the issue of the notice to pay the amount outstanding in full. If thats done the landlord cannot continue.

If the tenant fails to pay the full balance the landlord can issue a 28 day notice for breach of tenant obligations and there is where the eviction process begins.

However if the tenant manages to make full payment to the landlord they(landlord) can go no further as the 14 day notice is invalidated by the payment being made.

So tenants can essentially pay late as often as they like as?

discodavie

hardCopy wrote: »

So tenants can essentially pay late as often as they like as?

Essentially yes.

As long as they pay in full within the 14 days from issue of notice.

The 2004 RTA gave great protection to tenants but did nothing for landlords with bad tenants except give us defined legal routes

odds_on

turtleback78 wrote: »

Thanks for the response thus far...it's reassuring to know it's not all doomsday scenarios.

There is a section of the Lease which states the lease cab be terminated fir "unremedied breach of a covenant of the lease" would late payments fall under this?

Yes, rent arrears are a breach of a tenant's obligations. A tenant's first obligation is to pay the rent in full and on time.

However, a landlord wishing to act on any breach of obligations must follow a prescribed process: advise the tenant of the breach and give a time frame during which the breach must be remedied.

In relation to rent arrears this is done by issuing a 14 day notice of rent arrears, after which, if not paid (remedied) a landlord may then proceed with a Notice of Termination (read eviction) which must give the tenant 28 full days notice to leave.

odds_on

hardCopy wrote: »

So tenants can essentially pay late as often as they like as?

Many leases have a clause that if the landlord has to send a letter reminding the tenant that the rent was not paid on time (or in full), the tenant may be liable to a set administration charge, often 25 or 50 euros.

Furthermore, if the tenant is looking for a reference at the end of the tenancy, don't expect a glowing one.