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Fixed term lease expiring - notice period?

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  • 16-06-2019 11:08am
    #1
    ghenry
    Registered Users Posts: 2 ✭


    Hi,

    I am a landlord renting out a property on a one year fixed term lease due to expire on August 31st. I have decided to take it off the market at the end of the lease as I need it for my own personal use. With the recent changes to the Residential Tenancies Act I am unsure what notice period I have to give. Am I expected to give 90 days notice even on a fixed term contract? It's unclear if this applies when a fixed term lease is due to end anyway.

    If I do have to give 90 days notice I am already past that, do i still put the last day of the lease on the notice (technically 77 days from now) or I put the day 90 days from now as the last day even though the lease will expire before that? Obviously I will discuss with the tenant in person before sending the notice.

    Any insight would be appreciated.


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    #2
    sunnysoutheast
    Registered Users Posts: 2,072 ✭✭✭sunnysoutheast


    ghenry wrote: »
    Hi,

    I am a landlord renting out a property on a one year fixed term lease due to expire on August 31st. I have decided to take it off the market at the end of the lease as I need it for my own personal use. With the recent changes to the Residential Tenancies Act I am unsure what notice period I have to give. Am I expected to give 90 days notice even on a fixed term contract? It's unclear if this applies when a fixed term lease is due to end anyway.

    If I do have to give 90 days notice I am already past that, do i still put the last day of the lease on the notice (technically 77 days from now) or I put the day 90 days from now as the last day even though the lease will expire before that? Obviously I will discuss with the tenant in person before sending the notice.

    Any insight would be appreciated.

    I think I've read on here before that the interpretation the RTB put on it is that you have to wait until the fixed term ends before you can give notice to terminate for one of the defined reasons.

    It didn't seem right to me but I'm sure that's what I read.


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    #3
    dennyk
    Registered Users Posts: 1,652 ✭✭✭dennyk


    I haven't seen a specific definition from the RTB on whether notice can be served during a fixed term lease to take effect after the lease has expired. If you want to be safe, you may want to wait until a couple days after the expiration of the lease term to serve your 90 day notice. If you don't, the tenant may challenge your notice and create a significant delay, especially if the RTB rules against you.

    Also, note that as the tenant has been in your property for over six months, they are under a Part 4 tenancy for six years and you can only terminate the tenancy for one of the allowable reasons under Part 4 of the RTA. Even under a fixed term lease, the tenancy does not end at the expiration of the lease term if the tenant has been there six months and acquired Part 4 rights; it simply becomes a Part 4 tenancy. Legally the tenant is required to notify you at least a month before the lease term expires that they wish to remain in the property, but failure to notify does not invalidate their Part 4 rights, it just means you might be able to pursue the tenant for costs incurred as a result of their failure to notify (e.g. new rental listing fees because you assumed the property would be vacant and you'd have to find a new tenant).

    When you do serve notice, make very certain that you follow the termination notice requirements exactly, including the required statutory declaration that you require the property for your own use. If the tenant challenges the validity of your notice and you have in fact made a material error or omission, the notice will be void and you'll have to start over with a valid notice and begin a new notice period all over again.


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