How can I legally get rid of a tenant?

WhyTheFace

Hi,

I rent a 2.5 bed townhouse to a single tenant (male, late 30's) with a local mgmt company taking 10%. I live in Dublin City and the house is in Galway.

While the tenant has been OK to deal with he is very slow at paying rent and is always several weeks behind. In the past 4 years I have never put up the rent once and the area is not a rent pressure zone. The house next door (in the same condition) is currently getting 50% more rent than me. I searched on DAFT and there are only 8 (entire) properties for rent in the town, popular due to its proximity to Galway City.

If I decide to up the rent (by say 20%) he would be paying 650e for the entire house which is reasonable.

I am just curious as to what my/his rights are? If he refuses to pay and then refuses to leave how much notice must I give him to vacate? Can he legally stay?

The reason I am contemplating this now is that after him being 4 years there I must re-register him with RTB next month.

Thanks in advance for your advice

Graham

Read the paragraph that begins "If a landlord wishes to stop a Further Part 4 tenancy"

https://onestopshop.rtb.ie/beginning-a-tenancy/security-of-tenure/

It is also worth pointing out there are suggestions the rules for designating RPZs may change. Consider what happens to your below market rent if you find the property suddenly in a designated RPZ with little notice.

the_syco

WhyTheFace wrote: »

the area is not a rent pressure zone

Yet. It's not in the RPZ yet.

Up the rent to the local average, and if he doesn't pay on time, go through the motions of evictions. Perhaps get legal advice from someone that deals with this sort of business, so everything is by the book. Perhaps drop the agency.

Spook_ie

If you're paying an agency shouldn't they be sorting it for you?

WhyTheFace

Spook_ie wrote: »

If you're paying an agency shouldn't they be sorting it for you?

Hi, sorting what aspect?

I just don't want to create un-necessary stress. If he protests by not paying rent yet refusing to leave it might not be worth the hassle. You hear/read horror stories online etc.

Spook_ie

WhyTheFace wrote: »

Hi, sorting what aspect?

I just don't want to create un-necessary stress. If he protests by not paying rent yet refusing to leave it might not be worth the hassle. You hear/read horror stories online etc.

All aspects, otherwise why pay them?

WhyTheFace

Spook_ie wrote: »

All aspects, otherwise why pay them?

Yes she will be doing all the work, I don't plan on contacting him at all, I just can't see how much she can do if it turns nasty...not paying rent/refusing to leave etc.

But yes I very much plan to make full use of the agent!

overkill602

please remember a decent LL will be shafted you should consider exiting the business
more rule and regs may devalue the house i would recommend you sell up

TCM

Unfortunately with great difficulty.

happyfriday74

If you're paying an agency shouldn't they be sorting it for you?

Exactly.

Your agent should be able to advise you here

_Brian

WhyTheFace wrote: »

Hi,

I rent a 2.5 bed townhouse to a single tenant (male, late 30's) with a local mgmt company taking 10%. I live in Dublin City and the house is in Galway.

While the tenant has been OK to deal with he is very slow at paying rent and is always several weeks behind. In the past 4 years I have never put up the rent once and the area is not a rent pressure zone. The house next door (in the same condition) is currently getting 50% more rent than me. I searched on DAFT and there are only 8 (entire) properties for rent in the town, popular due to its proximity to Galway City.

If I decide to up the rent (by say 20%) he would be paying 650e for the entire house which is reasonable.

I am just curious as to what my/his rights are? If he refuses to pay and then refuses to leave how much notice must I give him to vacate? Can he legally stay?

The reason I am contemplating this now is that after him being 4 years there I must re-register him with RTB next month.

Thanks in advance for your advice

Been single property landlord for 12 years.

Best advice I can give is get the rent up to average for the area ASAP, even aim for 10% above.
Got bitten letting for below market rate and property was trashed anyway, no appreciation for cheap rents out there now.

Get the extra cash in, even just to spend it on extra maintenance and keep it in better than average condition.

Plus you could get caught overnight in a tent controlled zone and have no position to catch up. If he’s the sort to stick his heels in and overstay then he’s going to do that at some stage, better find out now than later.

WhyTheFace

_Brian wrote: »

Been single property landlord for 12 years.

Best advice I can give is get the rent up to average for the area ASAP, even aim for 10% above.
Got bitten letting for below market rate and property was trashed anyway, no appreciation for cheap rents out there now.

Get the extra cash in, even just to spend it on extra maintenance and keep it in better than average condition.

Plus you could get caught overnight in a tent controlled zone and have no position to catch up. If he’s the sort to stick his heels in and overstay then he’s going to do that at some stage, better find out now than later.

Wise words Brian, thanks!

pc7

The fact the letting agency hadnt even broached a rent rise in four years would trouble me. Be sure you advise them to follow ALL RTB guidelines on rental increase, they seem to have dropped the ball thus far.

WhyTheFace

pc7 wrote: »

The fact the letting agency hadnt even broached a rent rise in four years would trouble me. Be sure you advise them to follow ALL RTB guidelines on rental increase, they seem to have dropped the ball thus far.

Yes I am not that happy with them, they never mentioned anything about rent underpayments until I did my own reconciliations.

mrslancaster

WhyTheFace wrote: »

Yes I am not that happy with them, they never mentioned anything about rent underpayments until I did my own reconciliations.

Did the tenant underpay or pay late?

10pennymixup

Value your product cheaply, and most people will also value it so. Value your product to the maximum, and most people will also value it so.

Is the tenant in rent arrears of any amount at this moment. If so, I think you may get some better advice here re notices and periods etc.

I'd still go ahead, no matter what the possible consequences, with the rent increase. As others have said, do not get caught out by possible RPZ legislation for your area.

dennyk

If the tenant is in rent arrears at any time, you can issue a 14-day notice for failure to pay rent. If they don't pay you the full arrears within that notice period, you can then issue a 28-day notice to terminate the tenancy; this termination notice is still valid even if the tenant later pays their arrears after the 28-day notice has been issued. See this RTB page for details. Make sure you follow the required notice formats to the letter, and it's best to add on a couple extra days to each notice period to make certain you won't miscalculate or get tripped up on the dates and give your tenant justification to challenge the validity.

Unfortunately if you follow that procedure and the tenant refuses to pay or vacate, that's when the long and difficult process of securing a legal eviction begins...

mrslancaster

dennyk wrote: »

…. Unfortunately if you follow that procedure and the tenant refuses to pay or vacate, that's when the long and difficult process of securing a legal eviction begins...

It seems that's the one situation that LL's have the most problems with. If a LL is screwed over by a tenant, it makes things more difficult for all that LL's future tenants and makes other LL's very nervous. A few bad tenants can hurt all tenants imo.

I remember years ago in one place we rented, the LL kept the utility bills in his name. We paid the rent in advance and bills in arrears. If we hadn't paid the bills, the LL would not pay the ESB and they would have cut the apartment off. It was in the signed lease and the same for all the other apartments in the block.

From various posts on boards, it seems that tenants who stop paying rent stay in the property until the RTB sort out the dispute.

I'm sure utility companies cut off the power if they're not paid and I'd imagine it's no joke living without light & heat. It wouldn't surprise me if some LL's went back to that and that would be terrible for all the good tenants out there who pay their rent on time, take care of the property and treat it as their home but who knows what LL's could do to reduce risks?

dennyk

mrslancaster wrote: »

It wouldn't surprise me if some LL's went back to that and that would be terrible for all the good tenants out there who pay their rent on time, take care of the property and treat it as their home but who knows what LL's could do to reduce risks?

Well, illegal constructive evictions are definitely not the right move; morally right or not, that will generally end with the landlord being on the hook for a good sum of money to be paid to their former (and quite possibly still current) tenant.

Unfortunately there's really little a landlord can do to protect themselves; even decent people with the best of intentions can become desperate if faced with the specter of homelessness and resort to overholding rather than seeing themselves and their family out on the street because they can't find or afford another place (and of course, there are always some tenants who aren't really decent in the first place...). It's an institutional problem that needs to be fixed at a much higher level, really; there needs to be a process in place that respects the rights of tenants but also provides a way to evict a true non-performing tenant quickly and relatively easily when necessary. Homelessness is certainly a problem and I'm not one for mercilessly throwing people out on the street, but it's also not fair to demand that private landlords shoulder the entire burden of housing people who can't (or won't) pay. It's the state that should be taking on that burden.

4ensic15

_Brian wrote: »

Been single property landlord for 12 years.

Best advice I can give is get the rent up to average for the area ASAP, even aim for 10% above.
.

If you try to go 10% above and the tenant complains that you are charging above market rent and wins an RTB case, the entire increase will not be allowed take effect and the rent will be in permafrost for 2 years after. It is better to be slightly conservative when setting rent so that it can be justified if the need arises. RTB hearings into market rent are expensive places to be.

WhyTheFace

I have increased the rent by 20% which is still 20% below what I could get for a new let.

Agent said she must give 3 month's notice.