Tenants not acknowledging Notice of Termination

Hi! My sister has an apartment let out in Dublin. She wants to sell it and so has given the tenants notice of termination - by registered post - they refused to sign, by certified ordinary post - they said they never got it - by courier - they refused to sign for letter. What next? No rent paid either! She has also emailed and texted them all - 3 of them - and still no response. She's really upset s about it. She is in her early 60s and doesn't need this kind of stress. She wants to sell now and use the money to add to her monthly pension.

What does the lease say? Check out what she's entitled to do from the PRTB website, and then treat a non-refusal to sign courier-delivered letter (backed up by texts) as adequate notice.

Yes, it will be ignored initially but then when your sister will have sent around a locksmith to change the locks after due time; then they'll quickly get the message. (After going through the processs of proper notifications, I would advise them that a locksmith would be calling around one of the days that week, and that they have your sister's contact details if they need to arrange to collect any of their stuff after that date)

Whatever about the threat of changing the locks, don't change the locks!

There is a lawful process for getting rid of tenants -- eviction. Changing the locks is taking the law into your own hands and I suspect is grounds for a successful lawsuit against you.

Might be no harm also checking it out from a tenants legal rights point of view on how a landlord can legitimately terminate a tenancy might help make sure you don't get into bigger trouble or you might get a few tips on what to do next.

http://www.threshold.ie/advice/ending-a-tenancy/how-your-landlord-may-end-your-tenancy/

Tenants not responding to notice of termination

Hi! Thanks to all of you for your replies. I had a similar situation several years ago, and eventually the tenants backed down, but not until the very last moment - it was so stressful. Now my sister has this problem with her tenants - she is so stressed about it - but I will show her all your advice. The law is definitely on the side of the tenant. A number of friends/acquaintances have gotten out of being landlords, and I can completely see why.

Hi Elaine, I have found that the best approach is for the LL to go to the property themselves. In your sister's case, if she's stressed and doesn't want to deal with them, she should get a relative / friend who is assertive to go to the property in the evening when it's obvious that there's someone home.

He/she should introduce themselves as acting on behalf of or as an agent of the LL and notify them that although the notice to terminate has been refused, the date of termination still stands and that they will be expected to be out by that date or there will be legal consequences.

I would guess that the fact that she is emailing, texting and using mail to contact them would indicate to them, instead of phone calls and turning up at the door, that she is avoiding face-to-face contact and they may consider this a sign of weakness?

She should of course be absolutely sure that she is adhering to the quite strict notice of termination of tenancy procedures as outlined by the PRTB.

You don't mention what kind of lease the tenants have - if it's a fixed term lease and they are not at or coming to the end of that lease, your sister cannot legally serve notice to terminate the tenancy because she wants to sell. Even if they are coming to the end of that lease, adequate and precise notice has to be served.

If, however, there are rent arrears, she can serve notice to terminate for this reason but the notice to terminate must state the reason for the termination.

The Irishlandlord.com website has lots of good information and they provide sample letters and forms.

Maybe if you post back with some more info, such as the type of lease etc., you'll be able to get more precise info as to how your sister can proceed.

She should definitely not change the locks!

This may be obvious, but she should also keep all proof-of-postage slips that she received for sending the registered and courier mail.