I am interested in peoples' opinions on this. I am helping a Polish national initiate a case against a landlord due to the non-return of a deposit of €875. The tenant had lost his job here suddenly and, once he realised there was no more work here, he decided to return home to Poland. He informed the landlord 5 weeks before he vacated the premises and was told that his deposit would be refunded. When he moved out, however, the landlord told him he wasn't giving back any cash as he had broken the terms of the lease. The main point here was that the tenant had not said it in writing. The tenant went back home the next day without his deposit.
At this point I was asked by the tenant to help. I called the landlord a few times but he wouldn't engage with me at all. So I initiated proceedings with the PRTB. That was one year ago.
This week a date has been set. The PRTB have sent me the landlords side of the story. In the lease it does say that it is a 12 month tenancy and to break this would result in forfeit of the deposit. The tenant said he signed a lease but his poor grasp of the English language meant he may as well have been signing his life away (I am not using that as an excuse by the way). If the landlord had engaged with me and furnished me a copy of the lease, I would have viewed things differently.
My question is this: in light of the above is there any point even showing up to the PRTB next week? I don't want to waste any more time with this if the tenant hasn't a hope in hell.
By the way I am a landlord myself and if I was given 5 weeks verbal notice of a tenants' wish to vacate the premises, I would not forfeit their deposit.
At this point I was asked by the tenant to help. I called the landlord a few times but he wouldn't engage with me at all. So I initiated proceedings with the PRTB. That was one year ago.
This week a date has been set. The PRTB have sent me the landlords side of the story. In the lease it does say that it is a 12 month tenancy and to break this would result in forfeit of the deposit. The tenant said he signed a lease but his poor grasp of the English language meant he may as well have been signing his life away (I am not using that as an excuse by the way). If the landlord had engaged with me and furnished me a copy of the lease, I would have viewed things differently.
My question is this: in light of the above is there any point even showing up to the PRTB next week? I don't want to waste any more time with this if the tenant hasn't a hope in hell.
By the way I am a landlord myself and if I was given 5 weeks verbal notice of a tenants' wish to vacate the premises, I would not forfeit their deposit.