RA tenant constantly in arrears own portion, 1 year fixed, Sept 11, what can I do?

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FranceRes

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My tenants moved into my rental property on 5th September 2011 and have a one year fixed-term lease.

They are RA tenants and the bulk of the rent, €124 per week until 31st December 2011 and €113 per week as from 1st January 2012, is paid by the Health Board directly into my bank account.

Their share of the rent, €26 per week, which has now risen to €37 per week as from Jan 2012, is due to be paid directly to me.

The tenants have been late with the rent from day one.

It took 4 weeks for the direct payment to be approved by the local CWO and during this time the rent was paid to the tenant who, when I called them to ask where the rent was, told me that they didn't receive it from the Health Board, which was not true. We eventually got it sorted out and received the rent from the tenants 5 weeks after they moved in.

We have allowed them to pay the rent in arrears as they claim they're unable to pay in advance.

Since moving in, they have been in constant arrears with the entire first 4 week's rent and since then with their portion of the rent.

We issued a 14 day notice on 29th December as they owed rent in arrears due on 02.12.2011, 09.12.2011, 16.12.2011 and 23.12.2011.

They paid the equivalent of their share of 2 week's rent on 1st January i.e. €52.

My question is, can I accept the 2 week's rent they have just paid as payment for the weeks 23.12.2011 and 30.12.2011 and issue them with a 28 day notice to terminate the tenancy for the outstanding 3 week's rent from December?

Anyone any idea how the PRTB would adjudicate in the case where only a portion of the rent is outstanding?

Thanks
 
FranceRes said:
The tenants have been late with the rent from day one.

It took 4 weeks for the direct payment to be approved by the local CWO and during this time the rent was paid to the tenant who, when I called them to ask where the rent was, told me that they didn't receive it from the Health Board, which was not true.
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That's two alarm bells there but you are where you are. You would need to be very careful with getting rid of these tenant's. As they do seem to be paying you some rent any possibility you could slowly get them too pay the arrears until it is up to date, might be easier then going down the eviction route.

You should ask the PRTB directly what you can do, in writing.
 
Thanks for that Bronte, I've asked my solicitor to have a look at the situation to be sure that we are staying inside the law. I'll post her advice for any other landlords who may be in the same situation.
 
There is a document on prtb.ie about termination of tenancy for non-payment of rent. Any use?

On a side note, does it make economic sense to make use of a solicitor at this early stage for such small amounts?
 
I agree with Bacchus on cost re solicitor but also because this is a whole new area and there will not be many solicitors well up on the PRTB rules which need to be followed to the letter.
 
There are other reasons why we are desperate to terminate the tenancy, which unfortunately I can't go into here.
 
FranceRes said:
There are other reasons why we are desperate to terminate the tenancy, which unfortunately I can't go into here.
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You would be amazed at what other posters experiences are of non paying tenants including myself. Have a look at the other threads in the landlords section. There was a particular poster, Mrs O' Brien (I think) who had an awful horror story. If you have more problems than you posted and as long as you don't name names and exact location you can post your other issues with the tenant's.

Also there is another website called landlords.ie for info. In addition there is the IPOA organisation for landlords who can be very helpful.
 
Thanks for that Bronte.

My solicitor has confirmed that if any part of the arrears, which are listed in the 14 day Rent Arrears Notice, are not paid upon expiry of the 14 day period the Landlord is entitled to proceed with the 28 day Notice of Termination of Tenancy.
 
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