Residential Lease Renewal not signed but landlord says tied in.

Hi
A friends landlord signed them up for a 2 year lease which was up 12 months ago. They continued living in the house and paying rent (which was increased at the end of the 2 years) but now due to financial circumstances they can't afford the rent. They did not resign a lease after 2 years. That being the case I said I thought that they would only have to give them 1 months notice to leave. He's giving them a hard time and says that they have to stay for remainder of the 2 years because they verbally accepted a rent change etc after the last lease was up. Is this true?
Hes even refusing to negotiate or lower the rent so they're very worried.

Thanks

Lara

If the lease is up it's a month to month tenancy and they can give reasonable notice (a month is fine) and leave.

If the fixed term lease is finished, your tenancy becomes a month to month tenancy. However, you have to give more than a month's notice. I think OP has been there for over three years so he will have to give 56 days notice. You can download the proper notice from www.prtb.ie

Lara said:

He's giving them a hard time and says that they have to stay for remainder of the 2 years because they verbally accepted a rent change etc after the last lease was up. Is this true?

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Nope, it's makey-uppey nonsense.

There is no possibility of an implied 2 year extension unless he specifically said "This is the new rent and you must stay for two years" - and even if he did, it would probably be incredibly difficult to enforce.

And sharpsuit is correct: 56 days is the correct notice period.

Lara said:

Hes even refusing to negotiate or lower the rent so they're very worried.

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They are also legally entitled to a rent review under section 20 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 -
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2004/en/act/pub/0027/sec0020.html

It sounds as though the landlord is behaving badly, so your friends should consider contacting Threshold.

In the meantime, tell them to make a record of everything that's happened - dates and times of conversations to the extent they can remember them, and the efforts they've made to obtain a rent review. They may need it if this becomes a formal dispute. Indeed, I'd be inclined, in that position, to tell the landlord that if he won't provide a rent review such as they are entitled to under section 20 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 that I'd be (a) terminating the tenancy, and (b) lodging a dispute with the PRTB.

I stand corrected, 56 days it is. This LL is obviously trying to pull a fast one. Tell your friends to get the relevant stuff printed off the PRTB website, shove it in his face and serve him written notice. Tell him they are willing to stay on under a new lease (I wouldn't sign for more than a year though) if the LL agrees to x rent. If not, seek a new home with lower rent. The LL will be forced to look at the going rate and reduce accordingly unless he is very stupid. A few months void is a lot worse than a rent reduction!

What a prat he is...these guys are the ones giving the rest of us bad names. I always release tenants from a lease if they give me a months notice.
Good luck with it.

Thanks all- thats very helpful. Yes the landlords behaviour is pretty bad i have to say but hopefully they'll get it sorted. I'm going to pass all of this information on now!
Lara

There is no way they have to stay for two years. Serve the landlord the proper notice, see the PRTB website for the correct time periods and maybe speak to the PRTB, that's what they are there for. Based on the actions of the landlord they need to be really carefull when leaving, the property should be in the same cleanliness as when it was rented, apart from normal wear and tear, and take pictures of how they leave it in case there is any dispute about the deposit.