Landlord Raising Rent:So Im leaving, Now LL wont give deposit back.

R

Radwanska

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My situation is that my landlord wants to raise the rent on the apartment that i am renting from him from 700E to 800E. I cannot afford this rent increase so i told him that i would have to move out. He said fine, but he said i lose my deposit(800E). Am i righ to try and demand my deposit back? We dont have a contract or lease. Im not even sure hes registered landlord or paying tax.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

He sounds like a thief ! You are entitled to your money back, so don't accept this ! www.prtb.ie contact these people and get advice on your rights before you do ANYTHING.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

GOBSTOPPER said:
He sounds like a thief ! You are entitled to your money back, so don't accept this ! www.prtb.ie contact these people and get advice on your rights before you do ANYTHING.
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He said i have to give a months notice if i want to leave. I cant find anything online that says that a landlord cant increase rents and withhold deposit otherwise.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

As a matter of interest how much notice has he given about a rent increase. Is he expecting this straightaway or is he giving you a month's notice.

He has no right to withold a deposit unless he has to repair or fix something that has got broken etc.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

What I've noticed some tenants doing, if they pay in arrears (like most do) is not pay the last month's rent.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

Do you pay your rent in advance or arrears?
How long have you been in the property?
Have you signed the PRTB forms which the landlord should have insisted on at the start of the tenancy?
Was there a contract?

I'm pretty sure he is not entitled to withhold the disposit except for breakages * rent arrears. Contact Citizens Advice for some help.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

Radwanska said:
He said i have to give a months notice if i want to leave. I cant find anything online that says that a landlord cant increase rents and withhold deposit otherwise.
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He has to give you proper notice of a rent increase.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

leghorn said:
What I've noticed some tenants doing, if they pay in arrears (like most do) is not pay the last month's rent.
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Yep and if you were my tenant you'd come home to find your stuff on the street and the locks changed.

You say you have no agreement? Even verbal? He sounds like a cowboy. The usual contract would be for 12 month lease with a 6 month get out clause. That means you can move out after 6 months with 1 months notice or wait until the term is finished. Anything that breaches the contract will lose you your deposit, including breaching this agreement. However no agreement, no lose of deposit. You should point this out to him.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

contractor said:
Yep and if you were my tenant you'd come home to find your stuff on the street and the locks changed.
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That is common practice when there is no contract in place. The landlord cant get too annoyed given that it was his responsibility to supply the contract.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

That is common practice when there is no contract in place. The landlord cant get too annoyed given that it was his responsibility to supply the contract.
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You cannot tell the landlord you are not going to pay him your last months rent and expect him to let you sit there in his property with your feet up watching TV all smug and proud at how smart you are. This will escalate and you'll be out of a home sooner than you think. If there's a dispute you need to work it out.

To be honest I don't think there is much you can do without a contract. He has your deposit and with no agreement in place he can pretty much do what he likes. You shouldn't have handed someone 700 euro with no signed agreement as to what it was for. If I were you I'd just give him a months notice and move on. And next time sign a contract!!
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

contractor said:
To be honest I don't think there is much you can do without a contract. He has your deposit and with no agreement in place he can pretty much do what he likes. You shouldn't have handed someone 700 euro with no signed agreement as to what it was for. If I were you I'd just give him a months notice and move on. And next time sign a contract!!
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If the tenancy is more than 6 months old then the tenant has strong protection in law (a part 4 tenancy). The landlord is certainly not free to do what he likes, and your inference above that the OP could quickly see himself thrown out on the street is incorrect. A landlord would be acting illegally to simply change the locks as you suggest.

It is wise to have a lease in place to provide stronger protection to the tenant but the new act provides reasonable protection in the absence of one.

OP - also consider contacting Threshold for more detailed advice (www.threshold.ie), they are very helpful.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

OP - it doesn't matter if you do not have a lease/contract. Also it doesn't matter if he is registered with the PRTB or pays taxes from your point of view. You've paid a deposit you're entitled to it back as long as you haven't damaged anything. Can you give one months notice and leave? I'm sure he has to give you proper notice of a rent increase in any case and if you don't accept it you should be able to give him notice. The PRTB website will tell you. They will also help you so why don't you call them that's what they're there for. There are many threads here on AAM on landlords/PRTB. The PRTB seems to be very good at acting for tenants.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

bankrupt said:
If the tenancy is more than 6 months old then the tenant has strong protection in law (a part 4 tenancy). The landlord is certainly not free to do what he likes, and your inference above that the OP could quickly see himself thrown out on the street is incorrect. A landlord would be acting illegally to simply change the locks as you suggest.

It is wise to have a lease in place to provide stronger protection to the tenant but the new act provides reasonable protection in the absence of one.

OP - also consider contacting Threshold for more detailed advice (www.threshold.ie), they are very helpful.
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There's no agreement as to what the 700 euro he handed over was for. But glad to hear the tenant is protected from rogue landlords like this. I was not suggesting that the landloard could legally turf him out.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

Yep and if you were my tenant you'd come home to find your stuff on the street and the locks changed.
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As other people have said it is you that would find yourself in trouble no matter how right you were. The other problem is that rarely will a tenant let you know that they are going to not pay the last months rent its usually a drawn out practice.

OP do you have a rent book?
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

Radwanska said:
My situation is that my landlord wants to raise the rent on the apartment that i am renting from him from 700E to 800E. I cannot afford this rent increase so i told him that i would have to move out. He said fine, but he said i lose my deposit(800E). Am i righ to try and demand my deposit back? We dont have a contract or lease. Im not even sure hes registered landlord or paying tax.
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Some strong worlds getting thrown around in the replies here. Some from contractor are highly illegal and would leave a landlord liable to a hefty fine from the prtb.

If you are renting a full property, (i.e. not sharing) you are entitled to a minimum of 1 months written notice of the rent increase, (i.e. it's 1 full month, then it's due at the next payment). The rent can only be reviewed once every 12 months (thus if you're there less than 12 months it can't be raised till after the 12 month period is up. That's the law as per the Residential Tenancies Act, available on www.prtb.ie
It is my experience that you have to fight strongly for your rights with regard to renting in Ireland. Familarize yourself with your rights on threshold.ie and give them a ring for advice. Some of the info you get from the various board sites can be quite inaccurate (all you have to do is read this thread to see that).


The prtb has a 6 month backlog at the moment so maybe not the route to go if things are tight for you. If the situation is totally unworkable, you might be better to pay the 800 and give 1 months notice, then you're only be down 100 rather than losing the 700 deposit.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

Yep and if you were my tenant you'd come home to find your stuff on the street and the locks changed.
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Just to clarify, I didn't say I'd necessarily take this course of action, just that I'm aware that others have. If paying in arrears, it's easy to just not pay up the last month's rent.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

leghorn said:
Just to clarify, I didn't say I'd necessarily take this course of action, just that I'm aware that others have. If paying in arrears, it's easy to just not pay up the last month's rent.
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Fair enough. I hear that a lot though "just don't pay your last months rent" as if tenants have squatters rights. I wouldn't necessarily turf someone out either, I guess my point is that kind of action is going to escalate things and you could find the situation unworkable.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

I was given 1 weeks notice of the increase.
sam h said:
Do you pay your rent in advance or arrears?
How long have you been in the property?
Have you signed the PRTB forms which the landlord should have insisted on at the start of the tenancy?
Was there a contract?
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I pay one week in advance
I have been in the property for 3 months
I never signed anything
There was no contract

i ended up giving him the extra money but i told him i was giving my 2 weeks notice on the apartment. i call the prtb but they said it would take monnths for a adjudication hearing, i just cant wait that long and dont need my landlord threatening me.
 
Re: Landlord Raising Rent

Sorry to hear you gave you notice as I reckon his tactics are nothing short of bullying - if he only rented 3 months ago, he should have checked market rates at that stage.

Have you made an agreement to get your deposit back? There is NO reason for him to hold this back unless you have rent arrears or cause damage to the property.
 
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