problem with tenant changing contract

[ciara-irish]

Hi all,

I am looking for some help. I have a tenant who wishes to break our contract and move out. I have no problem with him moving out but he is claiming to have paid a deposit. I've a signed copy of the contract which shows that no deposit was paid. The tenant has however filled in on his copy that he did pay one. There is no bank lodgement to support this & when he did move in initially he could not pay a full month's rent upfront so it took two weeks to get the rent paid. (He blamed this on social welfare).

The tenant is now looking for a refund of the deposit and if it is not paid he's threatening to take some of the furniture with him.

How do I proceed with this? I am registered with the PRTB but have heard there is a back-log in resolving cases. I can contact my solicitor on Monday but what do I do if he refuses to leave without the deposit? If he takes furniture I can report the theft. I am now issuing him with his notice to ensure that he is gone within 28 days, but if he does not pay heed to this, what can I do?

I would greatly appreciate any advice, thank you in advance.

 

[shesells]

Did you not insist he paid a deposit at some stage? At the very least you should have a deposit of a month's rent or more, that is there to protect you and your property.

Any note about paying a deposit should be signed by both parties so it's unlikely that he would be awarded a refund, however if he does remove any of your belongings from the property that is definitely theft and a matter for the Gardai. I'm hoping you have a full inventory to prove what you left in the the property?

 

[ciara-irish]

Hi shesells,

Thank you for your reply. At the time when the tenant moved in he claimed that he had just got out of hospital and did not have the extra cash. I know we should have insisted on one or looked for alternative tenants, but we took him on his word.

Yes we have a full inventory and photos of the furnishings. I just hope it doesn't end this way.

Thank you.

 

[theTinker]

I could suggest only a few things.

I think you should pay a visit to your property and take photographs of everything and the condition of everything closely. If it breaks between now and 28 days, a judge would far more inclined to believe the damage was intentional if its within the last 28 days.

I think you should text or email the tenant and ask them when they paid the deposit and in what form, and inform them that any threats made of theft will be reported to your legal representation. Hopefully you can get a reply from them stating some rubbish about the threat so you have a written record.
Also failure to prove they paid a deposit would work in your favour too.

If you need to, near the end say you will meet them the day after the end of the agreement and 'deal with thier request'. You have two ways of doing this, meeting them in the apartment for an 'inspection' of the property so you can see if anything is need of repair.
Try to make it sound like you are assessing whether you could deduct from thier deposit without being too obvious as you dont want to look like you might have it on written proof. As they are due to move out, bring some help with you(cleaners ) so you feel safe, They are obliged to leave. Then explain to them that you remember no deposit, and that they have no proof of it, that you have a contract showing no deposit SIGNED by them, and that they cannot show you anything which suggests they paid a deposit.
Basically just make them hang on till the very end waiting on it, when you are there, they are not going to touch your property, and you should definitely bring some male support along incase they try to forcefully remove your property.
They have every right to bring you to court or judgment but that would be a win for you so its just trying to avoid that last akward day imo.

In all cases where i've rented, the landlord always inspects on the last day when im due to move out, so its reasonable enough.