Is this Notice of Termination valid?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517081#Comment_120517081

Doesn't the letting agent need to provide evidence that the property has indeed been sold?

Dial Hard

Seriously, OP, it sounds like you're putting 2 and 2 together and getting 10.

Just wait and see what happens next. You haven't been given any notice to leave, the apartment *clearly* hasn't been sold and it sounds like you've been paying below market rent since you moved in. Keep quiet and sit tight, is my advice.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517119#Comment_120517119

I completely agree.

Just when I saw the letting agent describe him telling me to find somewhere else as "an opportune moment", I thought otherwise.

What kind of person describes telling another person they're about to lose their home as "an opportune moment".

That's the kind of reason that has animated my fervour here.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517129#Comment_120517129

Quite literally anyone thinking of selling up and trying to make themselves feel better about it.

My own brother described his wife selling the house I'd rented off her for 9 years and me having to move home to my parents last year as "a new chapter".

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517093#Comment_120517093

Only when the notice of termination is served, which it hadn’t.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

“Animated my fervour” that’s a super phrase. If he does sell up, I’ll rent you a room in my gaff, you sound like a scream. 🙂

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517209#Comment_120517209

I accept. :)

Uncle Pierre

Whatever about the legalities or otherwise of the situation here, I can't get past how the OP has such huge disdain for the letting agent by using words like slippery, nasty, unscrupulous and even "scum of the earth" to describe him, when the agent has actually doing OP a huge favour by facilitating an arrangement that saves OP somewhere from €400 to €500 a month, or up to €6,000 a year.

And repeated mention of an "illegitimate" rent increase last year suggests that OP was paying even less for his first year or so of the tenancy, potentially saving up to €600 or even more per month on market rates for similar properties in the area.

Personally I reckon I'd be keeping the head down and saying nothing, and continuing to save €500 per month with the current arrangement, instead of rocking the boat over potentially claiming a tax credit that's only worth €500 a year.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517312#Comment_120517312

Personally I reckon I'd be keeping the head down and saying nothing, and continuing to save €500 per month with the current arrangement, instead of rocking the boat over potentially claiming a tax credit that's only worth €500 a year.

That's the advice I'm taking alright from this thread.

But just to layer more evidence onto why I'm always suspect of this letting agent, here are some of the clauses of the agreement that was signed at the beginning of the tenancy.

You can see that it's littered with illegitimate clauses - all of which are at my expense, conveniently.

Clause 18 below suggests I have already agreed to vacate within 2-months of the owner selling.

dennyk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518142#Comment_120518142

That clause is not compliant with Part 4 of the Residential Tenancies Act and would therefore be void. Your landlord would need to issue you notice as required by the Act. A two-month notice would be invalid regardless of what your tenancy agreement says; your agreement doesn't override the law.

You are also not responsible for repairs to the property or the provided furnishings or appliances; that is the responsibility of the landlord. If you cause damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, you could ultimately be held responsible for it and have to pay the cost (or have it deducted from your deposit), but your landlord would still be the one who would have to arrange and pay for any repairs up front.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518142#Comment_120518142

That’s a short term letting agreement, which doesn’t cover your tenancy

short term is less than 14 days.

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/owning_a_home/home_owners/renting_your_property_for_shortterm_lets.html

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518326#Comment_120518326

Is there any rationale as to why I'd be issued a short-term letting agreement when the agreement itself states that it would last at least 1-year?

I'm trying to understand the significance etc.

Just received a response from RTB about locating my RTB number.

They responded as follows:

Thank you for your email submitted to the Investigations and Sanctions (I&S) Unit of the RTB dated 24th April 2023

I have searched our register and could not locate a registration for the property, The information that you have provided has been sent to the registration enforcement unit for processing.

Thank you for taking the time to submit this information to the RTB.  

As I suspected, the property is not registered.

Why would they avoid registering the property?

Is there some tax issue involved possibly?

Hmm...

Does anyone know what kind of sanctions may be applied to the landlord?

I'm now more than convinced that the reason for their sudden request for me to leave the property is related to this.

DownByTheGarden

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518520#Comment_120518520

I registered i dont know how many tenants over the years and a couple of times i had accusations that I hadnt registered them. Last one was under the impression that i couldnt raise the rent on them after the previous tenant sent them a letter stating the rent they used to pay. So they asked the RTB, who said that I was not allowed to increase the rent by that amount, which I actually was allowed to under their rules at the time. Then they accused me of not being registered, accompanied by a similar response to the quoted mail, to their queries from the RTB. The funny thing is that I got a letter from the RTB a few weeks ago telling me to re-register tenants. They can go fcuk themselves at this point as i no longer even own the property.

dennyk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518520#Comment_120518520

Could be any number of reasons; the landlord didn't know about the requirement to register, or they were too lazy, or they didn't want to pay the annual fees, or they thought they can get away with other shady nonsense more easily (evading income tax, claiming the CGT PPR exemption on the property when they do sell it, violating the Residential Tenancies Act with invalid termination notices or making illegal demands of their tenant, etc.) if the tenancy wasn't registered. As for sanctions, the RTB will just charge them a late fee for late registration at worst, but if the landlord is up to anything else shady, their situation might now come to the attention of Revenue via information sharing, who might conduct their own investigation or audit if they think the landlord has been doing something wrong tax-wise.

It is certainly possible that the landlord was hoping that you wouldn't know your legal rights and that you'd just quietly feck off when asked to instead of bringing their failure to register to the attention of the RTB (and maybe Revenue) by trying to claim your tax credit. It remains to be seen whether they'll take the loss gracefully and leave things be or whether they'll double down and attempt to terminate your tenancy (legally or otherwise), though. Just in case, it might be wise to start looking around for alternatives; while you are legally entitled to 180 days of notice if they do have a valid reason to terminate, that's not as long as it sounds in the current rental market, unfortunately.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518344#Comment_120518344

because some people are dodgy. And wilL issue out any documents that favour them

in hope that no one notices

DownByTheGarden

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518678#Comment_120518678

From my experience with the RTB id say all of that is as likely as hot tea staying in a chocolate teapot :)

Its more likely that the RTB dont know their arse from their elbow tbh

Claw Hammer

O/P the way things are going, it looks like you will find yourself on the side of the road before long. In case you hadn't noticed, finding an alternative rental will be very difficult.

DownByTheGarden

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518690#Comment_120518690

True. Amazig how many people will wait til the last minute and then wonder why, with a couple of weeks left, they are looking at homelessness.

Papers are full of that too.

If it was me id be all guns blazing right away looking for somewhere to live. More chance of not being homeless in 6 months or a year if you get into action straight away.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518690#Comment_120518690

I understand and accept that the landlord / letting agent will pull as many strings as possible to terminate my tenancy.

I already surveyed Daft earlier today and there seems to be quite a lot of rentals available between 2.5 - 3.5k, which is fine for me.

I doubt it would be that hard? Maybe for people who cannot afford a place to rent by themselves for that rate, but those rates are no problem for me (thankfully).

But I can only really start any search when a legitimate notice to terminate comes my way.

I've no doubt they'll try to scam my deposit out of me too (2.2k).

dennyk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518689#Comment_120518689

That's certainly a possibility as well, but the evasiveness of the landlord/agent when asked for the registration details and the suspicious timing of the "oh yeah, sure, we'll get that to you, and oh by the way the landlord's selling your place and will be giving you notice, so you'd best be getting the f*ck out now, if you take our meaning..." response indicates the failure is more likely to be on the landlord's side in this case.

Uncle Pierre

My final word here will be just an observation that OP here must be on a hell of a lot more money than me, if he can afford up to €3,500 per month in rent. That's up to €42,000 per year.

spaceHopper

There is no way he as sold it. Would you buy an apartment without looking at it? The email means nothing until they serve you with the correct notice. I'd either say nothing and wait and see. They way they might not get around to serving you a valid notice for a few more months buying you more time. Or I'd say ok I'll keep an eye out for the notice to quit. Then check it's valid before doing anything else.

You could look for somewhere and suggest they buy you out of the required notice period.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518953#Comment_120518953

There's plenty of people renting at that level and more. I have friends whose rent is over 7k a month. They can easily afford it and have no interest in buying, they're not from here originally and plan to retire to their boat within the next couple of years.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120519097#Comment_120519097

The letting agent is clearly lying, and I have the lies in print in my email inbox.

That, in tandem with their lies over registration and so forth (as well as dubious clauses in their tenancy), would surely bode well for me if this case were referred to the RTB.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518953#Comment_120518953

I'm fortunate enough to be able to comfortably rent at these rates on my own, for sure.

I take it when people say it's difficult to get a place in Dublin, that perhaps it refers to these high rates in many cases? If so, then I don't have to worry too much about securing my next place. Though I would rather defer that as long as possible and in full accordance with the tenant rights afforded to me.

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518344#Comment_120518344

If the lease states that it is for at least one year then it is a fixed term lease and you are entitled to the longer of the fixed term or the notice reasons and period of the residential tenancies act.

Sounds like they were trying to give you advanced notice of what's coming down the line in order to give you extra time to find a new place. Its up to you how you use that time but my advice would be to try and find new accommodation.

SwimClub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120519257#Comment_120519257

The most likely is that they don't want to record your current rent with the RTB due to RPZs.

Whether renting to someone else or selling if there is no register of your rent it doesn't set the new rent or the knock on value of the place to a new landlord buying it.

To give notice to you they must send it to the RTB and that means it must be registered, that involves recording the current rent and that is a hit to the owner one way or another.

It sounds like your request to register triggered all of this, an email to the letting agent stating that you note that receiving a valid termination notice requires RTB registration and the number you asked for and you look forward to receiving it should clear matters up. Tell them you're happy to have a call to discuss.

mrslancaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120519653#Comment_120519653

+1. The less stress involved is the way to go imo. There are dodgy landlords and tenants want to get back at them for bending the rules but I've read many times on boards that landlords will avoid renting to tenants who have cases with the rtb. There's no point in causing yourself hassle and headaches so get a discounted rental period to cover the amount of the tax refund and come to some agreement with the agent/landlord to facilitate early vacating of the property as suggested by spacehopper above.

It's annoying but we've all come accross suppliers in many different sectors who break or bend the rules and people who don't have time for fighting battles just try to sort out the best outcome for their own situation.

Seriously, who needs the grief? I'd be sorting myself out with a reference, a deposit refund plus the amount of the tax refund and finding alternative accomodation asap with a proper lease and a tenancy that is registered correctly. You can always get a solicitor to review any new lease before you sign it to avoid any problems down the line.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120520044#Comment_120520044

It's not so much about grief, but surely there's something to be said about fighting your corner. If nobody did anything, why would dodgy letting agents stop their behaviour?

And this is particularly acute when talking about potential criminal or tax avoidance situations.