Leaving rented room, no lease signed.

kirving

Hi, posting on behalf of a friend of mine who is moving out of her rented room which she shares in a house with the landlord and a number of other tenants.

She moved in a couple of months ago and was never asked to sign a lease. The property is not registered with the PRTB.

Long story short, the house is not up to scratch, and in my opinion, dangerous. No vent in the bedroom leading to mould, soaked walls due to damp, no smoke alarm, one shower between up to 9 tenants, endless promises to fix broken shower, cracked draughty windows, broken bed frame meaning a sunken mattress, the list goes on.

A few weeks ago, while she was home alone, ESB Networks arrived and cut the electricity. Two and a half days later, after being forced to eat and sleep elsewhere, and lots of excuses from the landlord, it was eventually restored. There is one reason the ESB do this and that's prolonged non-payment of the bill. I believe that this is very relevant in terms of returning her deposit.

Now I understand that the correct way to leave a property is to pay the final months rent is to pay it on time, giving the months notice at this time, and the landlord returns deposit when the tenant leaves. Given the fact that the landlord obviously couldn't or wouldn't pay the ESB, the likelihood of returning a deposit is slim to none.

A week and a half ago, she left a voice mail asking whether the landlord keeping the deposit in place of the last months rent would be acceptable. Only today was this call returned, with the landlord threatening legal action in such an abusive manner that she cried down the phone.

His argument is that because of an "oral contract" between the tenant and landlord that she would stay for a year, she is responsible for finding another tenant, or face paying the rent herself until that time. He is a solicitor so I believe that threatening legal action is an extreme abuse of his position here.

What can she do here? Is she in fact liable to find another tenant bearing in mind that no lease was signed, and nothing about this was ever mentioned previously.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards,
Kevin

Mrs OBumble

Just leave. She's not liable for anything, and because the LL lives there tenancy law doesn't apply. Probably have to write off her deposit, though.

cerastes

This person is not a landlord if they reside in the property. The PRTB has no relevance in what you describe.
Was there any verbal agreement?
If its not up to scratch, how did she move in and agree to anything? and not see the problems?
She's not liable to stay a year or get new people in, if its not up to scratch, she shouldnt have moved in in the first place but on the same basis it might be possible to recover the deposit by saying she will take him to small claims possibly? even as an idle threat, he may then not want the hassle and decide to move her on quickly, if not she may get something back or at the least she tried.

anonyanony

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Hi, posting on behalf of a friend of mine who is moving out of her rented room which she shares in a house with the landlord and a number of other tenants.

She moved in a couple of months ago and was never asked to sign a lease. The property is not registered with the PRTB.

Long story short, the house is not up to scratch, and in my opinion, dangerous. No vent in the bedroom leading to mould, soaked walls due to damp, no smoke alarm, one shower between up to 9 tenants, endless promises to fix broken shower, cracked draughty windows, broken bed frame meaning a sunken mattress, the list goes on.

A few weeks ago, while she was home alone, ESB Networks arrived and cut the electricity. Two and a half days later, after being forced to eat and sleep elsewhere, and lots of excuses from the landlord, it was eventually restored. There is one reason the ESB do this and that's prolonged non-payment of the bill. I believe that this is very relevant in terms of returning her deposit.

Now I understand that the correct way to leave a property is to pay the final months rent is to pay it on time, giving the months notice at this time, and the landlord returns deposit when the tenant leaves. Given the fact that the landlord obviously couldn't or wouldn't pay the ESB, the likelihood of returning a deposit is slim to none.

A week and a half ago, she left a voice mail asking whether the landlord keeping the deposit in place of the last months rent would be acceptable. Only today was this call returned, with the landlord threatening legal action in such an abusive manner that she cried down the phone.

His argument is that because of an "oral contract" between the tenant and landlord that she would stay for a year, she is responsible for finding another tenant, or face paying the rent herself until that time. He is a solicitor so I believe that threatening legal action is an extreme abuse of his position here.

What can she do here? Is she in fact liable to find another tenant bearing in mind that no lease was signed, and nothing about this was ever mentioned previously.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards,
Kevin

Does she pay in advance? First missed payment expect locks to be changed and her stuff out the door.

She has no rights so can leave asap but LL can kick her out asap also, get her to move valuables somewhere else now.

The_Conductor

Kevin-

She is not a tenant.
She is living there with the owner occupier, under license.
Strictly speaking no notice is required on the part of either party- she can leave when she so chooses.
Normally- you'd give the same amount of notice- as your periodic rent- aka if you pay rent on a weekly basis- you give a week's notice- if its monthly- you give a month's notice.

The 'landlord' (he isn't actually a landlord as he lives there)- cannot compel her to stay.

If the house was built in the last 20 years- its entirely possible that there may be ventilation built into the window frame- this was acceptable under building codes up to 2002- but obviously is vastly inferior to proper ventilation.

She can leave- whenever she decides to- however, its highly unlikely she will get her deposit back.

Also- she has no responsibility for getting someone new for the room- the fact that the owner is living in the property- voids any responsibility she might have had under tenancy law- as she is not considered to be a tenant.

Weyhey

Looks like both parties can only ask for 'reasonable notice' and I suppose the definition of this may depend on the circumstances.


http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/owning_a_home/home_owners/rent_a_room_scheme.html

Have a read of the above. Part of it states:

"If you rent out a room in your home, you are not covered by landlord and tenant legislation so the rights and obligations under that legislation do not apply to you. For example, you are not obliged to register as a landlord with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), provide a rent book to the tenant or ensure that the accommodation provided meets any minimum physical standards.

This also means that private tenants living in your home are living under a licensee agreement,not a tenancy agreement, and are really only entitled to reasonable notice if you choose to terminate the agreement. Tenants are, however, entitled to refer disputes to the Small Claims Court.

Common claims that are heard by the Small Claims Court include disputes about retention of a tenant's deposit for what they consider unfair reasons, or deductions from rent for damage to property that is over and above normal 'wear and tear'."


Also this link:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/sharing_accommodation_with_your_landlord.html

CIARAN_BOYLE

Kev

As a licensee rather than a tennant she has not rights and no real responsibilities other than keeping the house in decent condition while staying there. Advise her to get out of there as soon as she can find a new place and give the deposit up as she is unlikely to get it back.

Ciaran

kirving

Thanks for the responses everyone, the general consensus seems to be the same here. I'll respond more fully when I'm out of work!