Tenants moving out before agreed time

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Marcecie

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this is my first time renting so excuse my ignorance, I rented a new house in Dec for 2 years to people from UK we signed a tenancy agreement and I gave them a rent book but last week they gave me a months notice said they did not like Ireland and were moving back to UK they also refused to pay rent said I was to take it out of deposit, I have registered with the new rental board since Jan but they have not cashed cheque yet or contacted me, tenants are keeping house in good condition utility bills are in their name and furniture is their own has anyone else had this problem
 
It is unacceptable (but understandable) that they do not want to pay a months rent just to get it back at the end of the month

But how do you feel about them personally?
Do you feel they will do something on you before they move out
If you are worried about them doing anything untoward, let them know they will be evicted immediately

Is there a time period in the lease in which they can be evicted for non-payment of rent? I usually put in seven days
Believe me if they are planning to leave the country in a matter of weeks they will want somewhere to stay until then, and will/should comply

On the other hand if you are happy with how they are keeping the place and have no other concerns, do a full inspection now and ask for payment of any damages straight away

Then advertise the property for rent today, let them know that since they have not paid the rent, in lieu of deposit, that you understand but that people are going to be looking around in the meantime and for them to keep the place tidy

unfortunately, in a situation like this the PRTB are not going to be able to anything for you
If they move out and are gone back to the UK I cannot see them chasing them for unpaid rent

It is down to as I said above how you feel about the tennants
Being a landlord is like being a employer, you are in control

Unhappy: get them out, keep deposit and rent again
Happy: inspect, advertise and rent again
 
AFAIK there were new laws passed late last year which define a contract between a tenant and landlord more precisely. If you have a contract with the tenant then this should be used as the basis for your argument above. However, any contract can only be enforced 6 months into the contract.

It sounds from what your saying that your tenants may have stayed less than 6 months and therefore entitled to leave giving just one months notice. This works both ways for tenant and landlord.
 
thanks for tips, i had no problems with them they were there less than 6 months due to move out next week so decided to leave things till moving day as utility bill were in their name when I passed by today I discovered they had already left, the house is clean and keys are in letterbox but oil company contacted me looking for their phone number which is disconnected as they owe them money
 
I don't know what you need to do regarding the oil (probably nothing as you had no agreement with them).

For your next tenancy, secure a deposit greater than the monthly rental. Write into the contract that the last months rent prior to departure may not be taken out of the deposit.

ninsaga
 
ninsaga said:
For your next tenancy, secure a deposit greater than the monthly rental. Write into the contract that the last months rent prior to departure may not be taken out of the deposit.
Click to expand...

Does this really protect you though. If they decide not to pay the rent for 2 months before leaving, chances are they will have moved out before you get the legal wheels moving to evict them.
 
I agree with the previous poster - if a tenant simply doesn't pay the last month's rent, what recourse does the landlord have?
What exactly will going down the legal route achieve?
 
I had a similar position recently - but the tenant had stayed for 14months. The way I looked at it he spent €14000 with me & left me with a broken washing machine & other small problems which cost me €300 to sort out. Overall I think you have to allow you will make some losses & accept it.
Can anybody comment if the poster's losses are able to be written off against their tax bill at the end of the year?
 
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