Moving out before end of lease - landlord's reaction?

JayConlon91

so heres the deal...signed a year long lease in september. my name was the only name on it but i was living with my girlfriend my best mate and his girlfriend..my mate and his woman broke up so she moved out and my girl moved home for family reasons so theres only me and the mate here now and we cant afford the rent. we dont get on with the landlord well so i rent deduction wont be an option but what can happen if i give adequate notice for departure and i dont mind if she keeps the deposit at all?? can she hound me for the last few months rent??
any advice would be helpful lads

Trudiha

Probably best to ask in the Accommodation thread, you might get a blasting but they someone will finally tell you your legal position.

lkionm

This thread is gonna get moved just like ye will be.

LizT

Moved to Accomodation & Property. Please note their charter now applies.

JayConlon91

sorry about the posting in here guys my apologies

The_Conductor

No worries.

As you have a lease, it is a legally binding agreement between you and the landlord. Normally, you cannot break the lease unless-

1. There is a break clause in the lease
2. The landlord is in breach of his or her obligations
3. You come to an agreement with the landlord to set aside the lease.

If you do break the lease- without reasonable grounds, the landlord may-

Deduct any costs associated with re-letting the property from your deposit
Pursue you for any rent foregone between your vacating the property and the landlord retenanting it.
Pursue you for any difference in rent, if on retenanting the property the rent is lower than that specified in your lease.

If you are proposing to vacate the lease- you have the option of reassigning the lease to a new tenant. Aka- you have to find a new tenant to take your place, and the new tenant must be acceptable to the landlord.

Normal notice periods- which must be served in writing to the landlord, are 35 days- as you've been in the property between 6 months and a year.

Having a lease means you have a legal agreement with the landlord- your first step is to dig out a copy of the lease, and go through it in detail to see exactly what your rights and obligations are (and what the rights and obligations of your landlord are).

JayConlon91

thanks that was really helpful..the only thing in this case now is that i checked the prtb list and this accomadation isnt registered on it could i use this to my advantage just i really cant afford the rent on the back to education allowance which goes back to 100e over the summer with the rent being 74e a week

djimi

I doubt the property not being registered would be in any way to your advantage. Its certainly not grounds for being able to break the lease unfortunately. The PRTB site is rarely up to date, so its possible that the property is actually registered anyway and its just not showing.

Your best option really is reassignment; this gives you a legal out and will allow you to retain your deposit (or as much of it as you are entitled to after deductions).

Check your lease though; it may contain a break clause which you can trigger.

odds_on

smccarrick wrote: »

No worries.

As you have a lease, it is a legally binding agreement between you and the landlord. Normally, you cannot break the lease unless-

1. There is a break clause in the lease
2. The landlord is in breach of his or her obligations
3. You come to an agreement with the landlord to set aside the lease.

If you do break the lease- without reasonable grounds, the landlord may-

Deduct any costs associated with re-letting the property from your deposit
Pursue you for any rent foregone between your vacating the property and the landlord retenanting it.
Pursue you for any difference in rent, if on retenanting the property the rent is lower than that specified in your lease.

If you are proposing to vacate the lease- you have the option of reassigning the lease to a new tenant. Aka- you have to find a new tenant to take your place, and the new tenant must be acceptable to the landlord.

Normal notice periods- which must be served in writing to the landlord, are 35 days- as you've been in the property between 6 months and a year.

Having a lease means you have a legal agreement with the landlord- your first step is to dig out a copy of the lease, and go through it in detail to see exactly what your rights and obligations are (and what the rights and obligations of your landlord are).

This notice period only applies to Periodic or Part 4 tenancies, not to a Fixed term lease.

Basically, there is no such thing as a notice period with a fixed term lease as a tenant cannot just give notice and leave.

It is possible to give notice to vacate, by mutual agreement with the landlord and the notice period agreed accordingly. However, the landlord is not obliged to accept any notice.

If the landlord is in breach, a Notice of Termination with a notice period of 28 days is valid provided the landlord has been advised in writing of the breach, requested to remedy the issue and has failed to remedy the breach within a reasonable time.

Bigcheeze

you could talk to your landlord and ask if they will agree to ending the lease early.

A smart landlord will take the view that if a tenant does not want to be in the property, there's not much to be gained from trying to force them to stay.
Getting in to conflict with tenants is rarely a winning strategy for landlords.

JayConlon91

thanks everyone for your feedback its been helpful so all i can really do is ask the landlord to agree to let me move out really but i knw that if she hasnt got the tenancy registered there is a 3000e fine so if i was a landlord i rather let the tenant move out and be up a deposit rather than pay 3k ha

The_Conductor

JayConlon91 wrote: »

thanks everyone for your feedback its been helpful so all i can really do is ask the landlord to agree to let me move out really but i knw that if she hasnt got the tenancy registered there is a 3000e fine so if i was a landlord i rather let the tenant move out and be up a deposit rather than pay 3k ha

Don't go threatening her- and also- just because its not on the PRTB website, does not mean its not registered- its far from unusual for it to take 6 months or longer to be added onto the website.

Get your lease- and go through it. Don't go down the road of threatening people- it will only come back to haunt you sooner or later, if you do........

JayConlon91

oh ye i am going to ask for the lease first the threat is a last resort but this accomadation was being rented before this by a family and by a couple before that and also there is a man in the apartment above who has been here over a year

UDP

You are allowed to sub let the apartment and if the landlord refuses then you can break the lease. The landlord might not refuse though and you would be entirely responsible for the sub let tenants including any damage they cause. Double check this information though.

Edit: it's correct

citizens information wrote:

Decide whether to allow the tenant to sub-let or assign a tenancy (however if you refuse to allow a tenant to assign or sublet a tenancy this refusal can gives the tenant the right to terminate a fixed-term tenancy before its expiry date)

www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/landlords_rights_and_obligations.html

JayConlon91

oh i must see will she be open for that so and i hope she says no haha..thanks for the help very much appreaciated

wush06

If I was the landlord I would prefer that you came and talked to me before it all turns sour. I would like to have my place back in one piece then in bits with no rent for months like in some cases. Good luck op

JayConlon91

oh i wouldnt trash the place anyway its in perfect condition like i knw i dont get on with her and all but i wouldnt go that far