Rent arrears

Haille

Registered User
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I have a tenant who is nearly €1500 in rent arrears.I have given the tenant 2 weeks notice to clear outstanding arrears by tomorrow. The arrears have been ongoing since Christmas, I have given repeated written reminders to no avail, just endless excuses.I am giving tenant 4 weeks notice to leave house as I do not expect any of the arrears to be cleared.My question is should I make contact with PTRB resolution section from tomorrow or should I wait until the 4 weeks notice is up?
What are my chances with recouping arrears if tenant proves inability to pay?
 
Firstly, have you issued the 14 days rent arrears in compliance with the law, i.e have all the details that are required been done correctly? Secondly, the Notice of Termination must also be completed as per the law requirements. Failure complete either correctly will make the NoT invalid and if you try to evict on the basis of an invalid notice it could well cost you in the thousands of euros even if you believe that it was correct.

Landlords are suppose to know how to complete both these Notices correctly, unfortunately, many do not and in a claim brought by a tenant the tenant is often awarded hefty damages.

It is often useless to pursue tenants who have defaulted in rent payments. Firstly, you need to know the tenants current address, secondly the tenant may not have any money (especially if they are on SW). Thirdly, many landlords think that the hassle involved is not worth the end result - the landlord wins the claim but the tenant, for what ever reason, does not pay or the landlord is awarded a few pounds per week which would require such a long time for the debt to be repaid that it is not worth the effort.

By all means contact the PRTB and see what they have to say but I doubt they will help greatly.

As soon as rent is overdue, landlords should immediately issue a 14 days notice of rent arrears. Never let it drag on or the arrears will mount up as you have discovered to your detriment. However, it is vital do everything exactly as the law requires. Keep copies of all correspondence and either have a witness if you deliver any notice to the property by hand or have dated photo or video, or sent all correspondence by registered post. IMHO, registered post can always be refused or the tenant may "act" as though he is out when the postman calls.
 
Haille please proceed carefully. And for sure get an email into the PRTB asking them what to do. You need to be in with the PRTB before the tenants does. It will prove should they (the tenants) take a case for illegal eviction that you were on the ball and doing everything properly from day one. Make sure that you are serving the notices correctly.

Cannot believe you've waited this long. Despite the notice the tenant may overhold and drag it out for a couple of years. You have to decide if this is worth it. PRTB is usless for you in this regard.

Keep everything in writing and by recorded delivery etc.
 
Also bear in mind that the 14 day notice you have given covers ALL of the rent owed, i.e. if they now come up with a portion of the arrears and ask you to allow them to stay, you are still legally allowed to serve the 28 day Notice of Termination for any part of the rent which remains outstanding.

I evicted someone recently for non-payment of rent and hand-delivered both notices myself with a witness so they couldn't say they hadn't received it.

The 28 day Notice of Termination was served with the Gardai present as my tenant had a string of convictions, which I initially didn't know about, and I was fearful that he might attack me.
 
Many thanks Facetious, Bronte, Frances Res for all your help.Both notices have been served correctly.Will probably loose the 28 days rent as well.
 
Try to find out where the tenant is moving to then you can make a claim with the PRTB. If you don't have the tenants address the PRTB cannot send him any notices regarding the claim. Unfortunately, the PRTB are unhelpful in tracing the whereabouts of "missing" tenants - something to do with the data protection act.
 
Would be interested to know wht part of the country u are in ,,, sounds very like y experience laat year ,,, did everything the right way ... ending up taking tenant to court ,,, left with unpaid rent for 9 months , no chance of getting it back ..
i was lucky the tenant took off and i got my place back
 
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