Advice on notice periods / leaving a reneted property

jinkybhoy

Hi

This is for my sister in law.

She rented house August 13 - 1 Year lease. She wants out. Lease was a fairly standard lease (they got it off the internet as far as I could see).

The landlord hasn't been great - water isn't drinkable, washing machine broke and she had to get a replacemenet, chimney wasn't cleaned as promised, garden not cleaned as promised - various things that I would see as a valid reason for breaking lease early - Please correct me if I'm wrong on this.

What kind of notice does she have to give and how would she go about doing it to ensure that she has the best possible chance of getting deposit back?

She has rented through an estate agent but she has been in contact with landlord several times for various problems - The agent seems a bit clueless and landlord isn't much better.

Advice please and thank you in advance.

djimi

If she wants to use any of those issues as a way out of the lease then she has to be able to show that she made an effort to get the landlord to sort the issues first. Issues put in writing, requesting resolution date, follow up letter with deadline for resolution etc. If the landlord has still made no effort then she can seek to terminate the lease, but it may involve going through the PRTB to get the deposit back.

The other option is to reassign the remainder of the lease. More information here: http://www.threshold.ie/advice/ending-a-tenancy/assignment-and-subletting/ This would probably be the quickest and cleanest way out, as the landlord cannot refuse the reassignment, and if she is in a strong rental market (ie most of Dublin at the moment) then she most likely wont have any problems finding someone who wants a 6 month lease.

D3PO

jinkybhoy wrote: »

Hi

This is for my sister in law.

She rented house August 13 - 1 Year lease. She wants out. Lease was a fairly standard lease (they got it off the internet as far as I could see).

The landlord hasn't been great - water isn't drinkable, washing machine broke and she had to get a replacemenet, chimney wasn't cleaned as promised, garden not cleaned as promised - various things that I would see as a valid reason for breaking lease early - Please correct me if I'm wrong on this.

.

your absolutly wrong on this. A chimney not cleaned or garden not cleaned (which can be passed onto the tenants as being responsible via the lease)

nor can the washing machine breaking down (your post suggests the LL sorted the problem)

So no she cant give notice and just leave as Djimi has pointed out she can look to reassign the lease.

The only thing in your post that may have credence if not sorted is the drinkable water situation. But Im not sure that drinkable water is a legal requirment of a LL anyway. Yes they must supply water but legally thats for washing Im not sure there is an onus on drinking water.

what exactly is wrong with the water anyway and when did the tenant approach the LL about it and what was the response ? For all we know this is down to the water issues out west that cannot be controlled by landlords and they cannot be held to account on when such problems will be fixed.

djimi

Yeah drinking water is often outside of the control of the landlord. Where I grew up our water was so chlorinated the kitchen basically stank like a swimming pool every time we turned on the tap. The solution was to get a Brita jug.

I took the issue of the washing machine to mean that it broke and the tenant had to replace it. If the landlord got it sorted then there is no issue.

jinkybhoy

D3PO wrote: »

your absolutly wrong on this. A chimney not cleaned or garden not cleaned (which can be passed onto the tenants as being responsible via the lease)

nor can the washing machine breaking down (your post suggests the LL sorted the problem)

So no she cant give notice and just leave as Djimi has pointed out she can look to reassign the lease.

The only thing in your post that may have credence if not sorted is the drinkable water situation. But Im not sure that drinkable water is a legal requirment of a LL anyway. Yes they must supply water but legally thats for washing Im not sure there is an onus on drinking water.

what exactly is wrong with the water anyway and when did the tenant approach the LL about it and what was the response ? For all we know this is down to the water issues out west that cannot be controlled by landlords and they cannot be held to account on when such problems will be fixed.

With regards the water - It seems to be an issue with the private well that is part of the house. The water is a dark colour and definitely would not be something I would consider drinkable - it's not a wider issue - She has checked with neighbours.

It also causes a problem as the tank in the attic that supplies the water to showers becomes dirty and this in turn causes the water from the showers to be even worse - the tenant has cleaned this twice in 6 months but it doesn't last long. It has been brought to the attention of the landlord and estate agent but nothing has been done.

With regards the garden and chimney - Landlord said they would do it - Tenant didn't ask - they said they would do it.

jinkybhoy

djimi wrote: »

Yeah drinking water is often outside of the control of the landlord. Where I grew up our water was so chlorinated the kitchen basically stank like a swimming pool every time we turned on the tap. The solution was to get a Brita jug.

I took the issue of the washing machine to mean that it broke and the tenant had to replace it. If the landlord got it sorted then there is no issue.

sorry - should have been clearer - washing machine broke - she called landlord - a few times - in the end she just bought one and reduced the rent by the amount.

djimi

If the water is that bad (that its actually affecting the sanitary facilities in the property) then it might be worth contacting the council and see if they would be willing to carry out an inspection to see if the property meets standards.

Have a look here at section 6 (4) (a):

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1993/en/si/0147.html#zzsi147y1993a6

(4) Each sink, watercloset, fixed bath or shower required to be provided by these Regulations shall have—


( a ) an adequate piped supply of water including, in the case of each such sink, a piped supply of cold water taken direct from the service pipe supplying water from the public main or other source to the building containing the house

djimi

jinkybhoy wrote: »

sorry - should have been clearer - washing machine broke - she called landlord - a few times - in the end she just bought one and reduced the rent by the amount.

Its not particularly fair on the tenant for the landlord to do this, but if the tenant has replaced the appliance and has been properly reimbursed then the matter would be deemed to be closed. The time to use this as a possible way out of the lease was when the landlord was ignoring her and before she replaced the appliance.

jinkybhoy

djimi wrote: »

If the water is that bad (that its actually affecting the sanitary facilities in the property) then it might be worth contacting the council and see if they would be willing to carry out an inspection to see if the property meets standards.

Have a look here at section 6 (4) (a):

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1993/en/si/0147.html#zzsi147y1993a6

Well all their clothes smell of copper and we supply them with drinking water from our house - we're not that far.

If the water is that bad - Is that a valid reason to give 28 days notice (if this is the correct amount of time)?

jinkybhoy

djimi wrote: »

Its not particularly fair on the tenant for the landlord to do this, but if the tenant has replaced the appliance and has been properly reimbursed then the matter would be deemed to be closed. The time to use this as a possible way out of the lease was when the landlord was ignoring her and before she replaced the appliance.

That seems fair enough. Thanks

djimi

jinkybhoy wrote: »

Well all their clothes smell of copper and we supply them with drinking water from our house - we're not that far.

If the water is that bad - Is that a valid reason to give 28 days notice (if this is the correct amount of time)?

She would need to show that all reasonable attempts were made to have this rectified, and that the landlord failed in their obligations.

To be honest, in a matter of this nature Im not sure if its quite so black and white (its not like a broken boiler or something). Thats why I suggested getting the council involved. They can carry out an inspection, and if the property is deemed not to meet mimimum standards (and a property without adequate water supply certainly would not) then at least you will have their backing in any attempt to terminate the tenancy.

D3PO

yeah the water situaiton is murky pardon the pun not sure of the situation re this. Id agree with Djimi though a call to the LL to discuss the matter and how it may be resolved and also a call to the council would be the best port of call.

As it stands I wouldnt think that its a reason to be able to hand in notice to terminate the lease just yet at least. Document the issue in writing send to the LL via registered letter, suggest a timeframe in the letter thats reasonable to have it rectified i.e not just saying have it fixed tomorrow.

thats the first set of things to do then you can look into the options should no solution be found at a future stage.