Notice to Landlord

dolongit

Hi All

We (myself, fiancee and 3 year old boy) are moving home from a private rented accommodation that we moved into in November 2013 into a house we have recently purchased.

We got a 1 year lease from our landlord when we moved in (15th November 2013) but have not re-signed one for subsequent years. We informed our landlord on the 29th of May that we would be moving house when our latest month expires (15th June) but he has told us yesterday that he is only giving us back HALF of our deposit as we did not give him the full month notice and that we only gave him 18 days notice.

He has said that we can live in the house until the 28th of June if we want but he would not be giving our full deposit back.

We have no requirement to stay until that date as we are getting our keys to the new house tomorrow (9th June) and will have all our stuff moved by the 15th.

Is our landlord within his rights to hold half our deposit even though he hasn't got us signed into a contract for the last 2 and a half years? There is absolutely nothing wrong with the house and it is in possibly better condition now than when we first rented it from him.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

coffeyt

Going by the length of time you are in the property you are in a part 4 tenancy agreement so no fixed term lease is required. As you are in the property more than 2 years but less than 4, the required notice you should have given to terminate would have been 8 weeks or 56 days as far as I can see which means you definitely did not give enough notice.

How much rent does half your deposit equate to?

You gave just over 2 weeks notice when your landlord would have been entitled to 8 weeks. I think if half the deposit equates to another 2 weeks rent, you should just agree to that as the landlord is being very fair to you.

dolongit

coffeyt wrote: »

Going by the length of time you are in the property you are in a part 4 tenancy agreement so no fixed term lease is required. As you are in the property more than 2 years but less than 4, the required notice you should have given to terminate would have been 8 weeks or 56 days as far as I can see which means you definitely did not give enough notice.

How much rent does half your deposit equate to?

You gave just over 2 weeks notice when your landlord would have been entitled to 8 weeks. I think if half the deposit equates to another 2 weeks rent, you should just agree to that as the landlord is being very fair to you.

As far as im aware the 8 weeks is if the landlord wants us to vacate his property not if we want to leave. I may be wrong though

coffeyt

dolongit wrote: »

As far as im aware the 8 weeks is if the landlord wants us to vacate his property not if we want to leave. I may be wrong though

No, the notice period required by you is also 8 weeks.

Fol20

dolongit wrote: »

As far as im aware the 8 weeks is if the landlord wants us to vacate his property not if we want to leave. I may be wrong though

Based on your comment, you could basically call your ll and give him a days notice. Its the same notice for ll and tenants. Generally most will be fine with a months notice as it gives them time to prepare for the new let etc. If you wont be in the house after the 15th, i would suck it up sacrifice the 2 weeks rent and make sure the bills are transferred into the ll name on the 15th so at least you can save those costs.

Lux23

Maybe suggest that you can help him find new tenants before you move out?

Fol20

Lux23 wrote: »

Maybe suggest that you can help him find new tenants before you move out?

If your renting the entire house, i know as a landlord i wouldnt want you doing that as you will just get anyone you can to wash your hands with it.

The_Conductor

Plus its a Part IV tenancy- not a fixed term lease (any longer) so- its not that you are assigning the lease to another party........

GGTrek

OP please check this:
https://www.rtb.ie/docs/default-source/default-document-library/pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=0

You have to give 8 weeks and 2 weeks rent discount from deposit in your case is very fair. Even though in the current housing crisis situation if there is no damage to property and you let the landlord arrange viewings while you are still inside, the property will be rented 2-3 days after you leave. My suggestion is to call your LL and negotiate flexible viewing hours vs less discount from deposit, he/she might say no, but at least you tried. Also check your lease agreement, I remember some really badly drafted lease agreements providing very short notice periods irrespective of the length of the tenancy. The RTA allows this if it favours the tenants! In such case what is written in the lease is what counts. I doubt it will be less than 28 days, but you never know: Ireland is full of dumb letting agents.

To the other posters, termination notices periods are not symmetric at all: a LL always has to give a period greater or equal than the respective one given by tenant. For example in the OP case a notice period given by LL would be a minimum of 84 days which is 12 weeks, on average after 4 years the LL's notice period is as much as twice the tenant's one. Please check accuracy of such simple issues as notice periods:
https://www.rtb.ie/docs/default-source/notice-of-termination-landlord/required-notice-periodsF6CA0F251B28.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Pkiernan

dolongit wrote: »

As far as im aware the 8 weeks is if the landlord wants us to vacate his property not if we want to leave. I may be wrong though

How did you come to that conclusion?
You are in breach of your obligations. Do the right thing and pay up.

Ultimate Seduction

How would you feel if the landlord rang you and said you have to leave the property in 18 days?

The_Conductor

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

How would you feel if the landlord rang you and said you have to leave the property in 18 days?

I think the point the OP thought he was making was that the landlord has to give notice, but the tenant doesn't.......... It ain't so.

Sixtoes

You've obviously known for a few months that you'd be leaving. Sounds to me like you were trying to be smart (not saying anything in case the sale was delayed) and it has backfired.