Offered a house and dont know if I can move out of rented property

lametisse · 06-11-2010 11:01AM #1

Hi guys

I have been offered a house by a housing association and would like to move as soon as possible but my contract will end in December. Some people are telling me I do not need to finish my contract when I am offered my own house but knowing my fabulous landlady she will sue me if I even tried to break that contract!! And yet she is telling me that its on the 22nd of December that she will decide if I can stay or go.. and she doesnt require to give me any notice when the contract is over.. I just want to move in my own place and have peace of mind..

My question is when offered a council house does it annuled my contract , can I just move and let PRTB deal with the last month of rent ?? please I want to move out by tomorrow if possible!!

Yawns · 06-11-2010 11:17AM

You can move out tomorrow, but she will be entitled to keep deposit etc and if you have any outstanding rent owed she can make a claim I think for that amount. Just pay here this months rent, and give her a letter of notice saying you are movign out and she can take the deposit to cover the last months rent.

The bit about she can decide wether you stay or go is ****. If you do stay there til December, just give her a letter stating you will not be renewing the lease when it expires and will be moving out and arrange for your deposit to be returned. It can take a while for deposits to be returned so make sure to keep at her about it. Before you go, take pictures of the place if it's in good condition so she cannot claim she needs it painted or things repaired and take it from your deposit.

I don't think being offered a house is reason to annul your contract tbh. But a letter of notice should suffice if you have paid rent for November already, she will just keep deposit for Decembers rent if she's a bitch. If she's not she might return it.

Be nice and explain why you have to move to her. She might be ok with it. You won't know until you ask.

Victor · 06-11-2010 11:35AM

lametisse wrote: »

Some people are telling me I do not need to finish my contract when I am offered my own house

What are these people's qualifications in the matter? While a council / housing association may be able to take a benign view, most landlords can't / won't.

If you have signed a contract to a certain date, you are stuck with it unless you find a (suitable) replacement tenent or the is a fundamental problem with the property, e.g. chronic dampness.

CDfm · 06-11-2010 12:38PM

In fact -it is up to you to find a replacement tenant for the interim aas Victor has said.

In any event, having gotten alternative accomadation you should let her know that you will be moving out.

She may have plans for the property and may want to advertise it etc for which she will need your agreement so the power is not all one sided.

meolwan · 06-11-2010 12:51PM

Contact Threshold Housing Advice to find out what your rights are as a private tenent.

Just Google them for contact details I know that they have offices in Dublin, Galway and Cork from dealing with them in work.

Yawns · 06-11-2010 01:20PM

If his contract expires in December, he just has to pay Novembers rent and let the deposit be taken for last month's rent, he does not need to find a replacement tennant. It's not the start of his contract. The landlord will miss 1 months rent, they can take the security deposit. As long as everything is in perfect working order and no damage has been done to property then he will have paid all his contractual payments and can leave the tennancy. End of.

lametisse · 06-11-2010 01:47PM

It is an empty house and there is way better houses next door to us and cheaper rent which are empty for months at the moment.
I am thinking of that also I wont mind her keeping the deposit for the last month of the contract so I can move on with my life .
She has not been very nice at all, visits even when we were not home. I had my childs birthday with just children and she starts screaming anti-social behavior...not allowed to have anyone visit else I will be doing anti-social behaviour..
In case you are wondering I have very good reputation and letters from other landlords.. my previous landlord wanted to move back but couldnt not get out of the house.. we decided to change houses as we were paying 1000e and the rent in this house was 800e.. my husband lost his job and we started to have some problems with the rent and I always told her that to give us 3 days to sort money out we have always been the maximum days late was 3 days.. the following day we get letters of termination along with the arrears letter.. Threshold knows my story and she even told threshold to back out else she will sue threshold:rolleyes: ... its that bad..
I just want to move out. the house is perfect I have kept it clean nothing is broken . when my child wrote on the wall I have painted the whole wall straight away.. I know it was not in my contract but I have treated this house as my home. Even when I had unexpected visit her friend who is acting as her agent as she is not in ireland at the present always says its very clean and he is always been very nice and always been embarassed about her behaviour.. he was the one that told me of her plans of waiting for me to finish paying december rent then on the 21st getting me to move out without notice..

Yawns · 06-11-2010 03:36PM

Just pay this months rent, write a letter informing her of 30 days notice and instructing her to keep deposit for month of December. Tell her you have photographs of the house on the day of moving out and have the agent witness all in good order. Let her cry legal action all she wants. If you have written proof of her threatenign action etc she'll only be ignored in court. As long as there is no dmg and all contractual rent is paid for, she hasn't a leg to stand on. She knows this and you do too.

What I would do is arrange for her agent to come to the house to collect keys and have a written statement that all is in good working order. Get the agent to sign along with yourself, make some copies. 1 for agent, 1 for LL, 1 for yourself.

Oh and she's not allowed to show up at your door without prior notice and you can refuse to let her in. Tenants have rights. If you have visitors, there's nothing she can do. They are only there for an hour or so. Unless you signed a contract saying you won't have anyone else in the house at all even for a cuppa tea, tell her to take a long walk of a short pier. I got along great with my landlord but I wouldn't let him up unannounced. Even a phone call an hour before hand I would be alright with, but not just knocking on the door.

lametisse · 06-11-2010 04:57PM

thanks Lawns I will send her a registered letter to her and to the agent as she is not in the country. I did went to a lawyer and the lawyer told me to sue her for harrassment and for things being said to ruin my reputation but at the end of the day I dont want to become that person you know.. I suppose because I am too soft she is walking all over me in a way

But I want to leave this area my head held up high

Treehouse72 · 06-11-2010 05:12PM

Just take the hit on the November rent and give her due notice that you'll be quitting on the 22 December. I don't see that that breaks your lease in any way.

And I would advise you NOT to play silly buggers - for example, it is not acceptable to not pay your last month's rent and tell the LL to take your deposit in lieu. That would be tantamount to not paying your rent and leaves you open to being come after. Play it by the book.

Yawns · 06-11-2010 06:24PM

if the LL is a bitch you could be waiting months for the deposit to be returned. Don't pay last months and let her take deposit. She can't come after you legally as the last months rent will be covered by the deposit. As long as there is no damage and everything is in good working order, it will be fine.

OS119 · 06-11-2010 11:05PM

Yawns wrote: »

if the LL is a bitch you could be waiting months for the deposit to be returned. Don't pay last months and let her take deposit. She can't come after you legally as the last months rent will be covered by the deposit. As long as there is no damage and everything is in good working order, it will be fine.

that would be my view - people can can scream and shout all they want about contracts and how the LL will sue for the remaining rent, but the hard reality is that it almost never happens: it is always in the LL's interest to get the property turned round and rented out again ASAP, time they spend chasing ex-tenants is money wasted, and LL's know it.

personally i'd try and be the bigger guy to start with - let the LL/agent know asap that you'll be leaving before the contract is up (if you mention unemployment they won't even bother thinking about chasing you - whats the point spending money on a lawyer to chase someone for money they've not got?), and give them a chance to get the property rented out. if they get shitty try and play hard ball over a month (and you could argue the LL has broken the contract by entering the property without notice for no reason anyway) then i'd just cancel your payments and leg it.

and yes, i'm a landlord...

lametisse · 08-11-2010 01:46PM

Hi all thanks a lot for your messages but it is always more complicated than that with her.. always and it doesnt matter if she is right or wrong she doesnt care if i owe her 5 euros or 500e, she is a first time landlord and I do pray to God for the next victims..

I wrote an email to her explaing the situation as been advised by you guys and I got a fantastic email back that I better expect a court summons as she will sue me for breach of contract and that I will not be getting any money back and there will be an inspection on the day I move out which I dont mind and she will be doing an inventory of her things... which is just the kitchen: cooker, fridge, washer and dryer and dishwasher and a single bed upstairs.. should worry that she put more things on her inventory list??

At the moment I am afraid of everything she could do and I will be arrested if I try to get in the property after I move.. which Trust me will never do as I will be so glad to move on with my life!! than to have to deal with her ever again ...

Osgoodisgood · 08-11-2010 03:32PM

OP, you will be in breach of contract if you don't pay every month as per your contract. The deposit is not there to provide an optional last month payment mechanism. Your LL by the sound of things will persue you through the courts and you will have given her a stick to beat you with.

ztoical · 08-11-2010 06:49PM

lametisse wrote: »

should worry that she put more things on her inventory list??

Do you have a copy of the inventory list from when you moved in? She can't just go adding things to it.

If your lease is till end of the december then you need to pay your rent for November and December. Alot of people in Ireland just use the deposit as the last months rent and most LL are ok with that or not bothered enough to go after people over it but she sounds like a bit of a nut case who would go after you. Just do everything above board. Pay the rent owed as per your contract, make sure you have copies of your lease and the inventory and that you take loads of photos when you move out and before she comes to check the place. Get copies of all your bills to show there is nothing outstanding on any of the accounts. Make sure you keep copies/records of any emails/texts/phone calls with her and if she doesn't return your deposit within a week of moving out I'd start threatening her with court.

OS119 · 08-11-2010 06:57PM

lametisse wrote: »

At the moment I am afraid of everything she could do and I will be arrested if I try to get in the property after I move.. which Trust me will never do as I will be so glad to move on with my life!! than to have to deal with her ever again ...

the inventory should be signed by both parties on the assumption of the tenancy - without both signatures its just a peice of paper with a wishlist on it, it has no weight.

you will not be arrested, her problem with you is a civil matter and not a criminal one - and whatever anyone says, her solicitor will tell her to bin any action, you will not be persued through through the courts for 1 months rent.

lots people on this board go on about 'contract! - i'll persue you till your dying day!', yet, oddly enough, nobody ever comes to this board saying 'i'm being chased through the courts because i left a tenancy early', or indeed have i ever met (and i'm a landlord remember) anyone who has ever taken anyone to court over an abbandoned tenancy, or tried to do it myself.

and i've run from a from a few while at uni - and i never heard from them again...

ztoical · 08-11-2010 08:10PM

OS119 wrote: »

lots people on this board go on about 'contract! - i'll persue you till your dying day!', yet, oddly enough, nobody ever comes to this board saying 'i'm being chased through the courts because i left a tenancy early', or indeed have i ever met (and i'm a landlord remember) anyone who has ever taken anyone to court over an abbandoned tenancy, or tried to do it myself.

and i've run from a from a few while at uni - and i never heard from them again...

In the majority of cases I would agree but I remember the OP posting about this LL before and frankly she sounds totally nuts and I wouldn't put it past her to make the OP's life a misery for the next month or so.

lametisse · 08-11-2010 08:29PM

I got in touch with threshold today and threshold got in touch with her and now she is telling me i will be getting sued for getting 3rd parties involved..

its unbeleivable she uses big words as she is a lawyer herself , its not that a dumb dumb but legal jargons and me ..we are not friends.

I am just sick of her threats and harrassments ..I have all the emails and all and I was the one when she gave me the contract who added the kitchen things I told her that I want to put them on the list just in case!! If I was a bad person I wouldnt have done that.. She gave me an empty house ..its a long story.. it has been months.. I have been scammed into that house on rent to buy promises.. and all

This is why I just want to get on with my life now, I always dealt with landlords some very nice and some not too nice but I have always left the houses in good terms with them and got excellent references with them for the way I kept the house and always have been involved in helping around with the neighbourhood..

Offered a house and dont know if I can move out of rented property

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