Tenant not paying rent

molod

Hi all . problem .... iv a tenant that is €700 in arrears and has changed the lock without my permission, hes on social welfare, so not his money to spend on drink.
what can i do ?? please help !! can i evict him straight away??

Can't evict straight away but you can serve notice of eviction. Could take months to actually get him out unfortunately.

Mongfinder General

molod wrote: »

Hi all . problem .... iv a tenant that is €700 in arrears and has changed the lock without my permission, hes on social welfare, so not his money to spend on drink.
what can i do ?? please help !! can i evict him straight away??

Did the tenant sign a contract? Are you living in the same house?

shruikan2553

You have to send a notice of arrears or whatever its called. It gives the tenants 14 days to pay or you will start eviction. At this point you may give notice of eviction and after that it becomes a lot more difficult if he doesn't leave. Make sure you follow the law as this is one of those odd things where you will be the one in trouble.

The_Conductor

shruikan2553 wrote: »

You have to send a notice of arrears or whatever its called. It gives the tenants 14 days to pay or you will start eviction. At this point you may give notice of eviction and after that it becomes a lot more difficult if he doesn't leave. Make sure you follow the law as this is one of those odd things where you will be the one in trouble.

14 day notice of arrears- detailing exactly the arrears, and when they were due, and giving 14 days to clear all arrears.

On the elapse of the 14 days- when the arrears in their entirety are not paid- notice of eviction- based on non-payment of rent. Don't mention the changing of the locks- as this will imply you have tried to gain unauthorised access to the property.

The length of time to vacate the property, for the eviction notice- depends entirely on how long they have been tenants in the property.

On the elapse of the notice of eviction- if he has not vacated the property- its a PRTB case.

With the notice of arrears- and the notice of eviction- registered post for both- maintain a proper paper trail.

odds_on

The_Conductor wrote: »

14 day notice of arrears- detailing exactly the arrears, and when they were due, and giving 14 days to clear all arrears.

On the elapse of the 14 days- when the arrears in their entirety are not paid- notice of eviction- based on non-payment of rent. Don't mention the changing of the locks- as this will imply you have tried to gain unauthorised access to the property.

The length of time to vacate the property, for the eviction notice- depends entirely on how long they have been tenants in the property.

On the elapse of the notice of eviction- if he has not vacated the property- its a PRTB case.

With the notice of arrears- and the notice of eviction- registered post for both- maintain a proper paper trail.

Is it not 28 days when it is for non payment of rent?

Mrs OBumble

Changing the lock is a breach of tenancy conditions - it may or may not give you more leeway.

If you are not aware of your rights and obligations as a landlord, you need proper legal advice, not randoms on the interwebz. Get a lawyer.

the_syco

Send letters by registered post. Hand delivered & no official proof that it was delivered can be argued it was never sent.

gaius c

molod wrote: »

Hi all . problem .... iv a tenant that is €700 in arrears and has changed the lock without my permission, hes on social welfare, so not his money to spend on drink.
what can i do ?? please help !! can i evict him straight away??

Don't think that's particularly relevant information.

TimeToShine

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Changing the lock is a breach of tenancy conditions - it may or may not give you more leeway.

If you are not aware of your rights and obligations as a landlord, you need proper legal advice, not randoms on the interwebz. Get a lawyer.

Sounds like you're telling her to invest more money into what is essentially a sinkhole. It sounds, from the OP, that the tenant might be a bit of a waster (not because of SW, the drink comment) and any payout is highly unlikely if not impossible.

OP all you can really do is serve the notice of arrears and then the eviction notice - and knock every day looking for your rent.

odds_on

TimeToShine wrote: »

Sounds like you're telling her to invest more money into what is essentially a sinkhole. It sounds, from the OP, that the tenant might be a bit of a waster (not because of SW, the drink comment) and any payout is highly unlikely if not impossible.

OP all you can really do is serve the notice of arrears and then the eviction notice - and knock every day looking for your rent.

IMHO, that would be classed as depriving the tenant (although in arrears of rent) of his peaceful enjoyment of the property. Stupid as the law is.

Mrs OBumble

TimeToShine wrote: »

and knock every day looking for your rent.

After giving 24 hours notice that you're going to do so, of course!

OP, this is why you need real legal advice.

Eldarion

Honestly, if the tenant hasn't engaged at this point to try to resolve the arrears it's best to get the ball rolling on notice of arrears and notice of eviction straight away. You can try knocking on the door once or twice but don't be going down every day, that's just madness.

Unfortunately, if the tenant knows the law he can drag the eviction process out for a long time while the PRTB gets to his case. Ideally you will get back payment of rent missed but that can be a whole other headache trying to retrieve.

You have my sympathies, the situation you're describing is probably the biggest problem with renting in this country. Hope it all works out for you.

the_syco

Oh, and don't report the tenant to Social Welfare if they are doing anything they shouldn't be doing, because if they have no money, they'll just stay longer. Well, not until they move...