Last month, I served a notice of termination on my tenants as I want to sell my property. I gave the tenants the required notice period, signed statutory declaration etc. I have been trying to contact them to arrange getting an engineer to call to conduct a BER cert and inspect the property myself to assess what needs to be done to prepare it for sale. The tenants are not returning my calls or text messages. I never had any problem contacting them before now and I fear they are not communicating with me to try to avoid having to vacate the property. Can anyone advise me what my rights are in this instance? The tenancy is registered with the RTB. I need to access my property and they are not facilitating this. I have a buyer lined up and their behaviour could put the sale in jeopardy.
Tenants not communicating
- Thread starter sl0wc0ach
- Start date
Your tenants are under no obligation to facilitate you in preparing the property for sale and you are not entitled to enter the property without their permission.
There really isn't much you can do before the expiry of the requisite notice period. If you suspect your tenants are planning to over-hold, you might want to start preparing the paperwork for a complaint to the RTB.
There really isn't much you can do before the expiry of the requisite notice period. If you suspect your tenants are planning to over-hold, you might want to start preparing the paperwork for a complaint to the RTB.
Thanks but according to the text below quoted from the RTB website (sorry, I'm not allowed to copy the link), they are in breach of their obligations if they continually refuse to allow me to inspect the property.
"A tenant is entitled to peaceable occupation of a tenancy, and if you wish to inspect the property than a mutually agreeable time must be arranged. However, if the tenant continually refuses you access to the property, they are in breach of their obligation as a tenant. A Tenant is entitled to reasonable time to rectify the breach of obligations. You should first write to the tenant, outlining the below, and requesting a mutually agreeable time for inspections. If the issue persists after the tenant has received the letter, you may issue a 28 day notice of termination for breach of tenant obligations.
It is recommended that all correspondence, including texts, between you and the tenant, are retained for record."
"A tenant is entitled to peaceable occupation of a tenancy, and if you wish to inspect the property than a mutually agreeable time must be arranged. However, if the tenant continually refuses you access to the property, they are in breach of their obligation as a tenant. A Tenant is entitled to reasonable time to rectify the breach of obligations. You should first write to the tenant, outlining the below, and requesting a mutually agreeable time for inspections. If the issue persists after the tenant has received the letter, you may issue a 28 day notice of termination for breach of tenant obligations.
It is recommended that all correspondence, including texts, between you and the tenant, are retained for record."
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SqueezedMiddle
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Sounds like they might be digging in for the long haul. What if they just decide now they are not leaving and don't pay rent. That will take you years going through the motions to get them out.
It's this kind of thing that scares me.
That's why I want to just sell my investment property and get out of this while biased mess.
It's almost like the landlord is just there to hand over his very costly asset and have no control over it anymore.
I heard last week that there is a certain family in Wicklow now where each member of the family have rented a different house and all stopped paying rent and charge other people per room to live there. Owners will take years to get them out, meanwhile the family have made a fortune.
It's this kind of thing that scares me.
That's why I want to just sell my investment property and get out of this while biased mess.
It's almost like the landlord is just there to hand over his very costly asset and have no control over it anymore.
I heard last week that there is a certain family in Wicklow now where each member of the family have rented a different house and all stopped paying rent and charge other people per room to live there. Owners will take years to get them out, meanwhile the family have made a fortune.
Yes, you are entitled to inspect the property at a mutually agreed time and if the tenant continually refuses access you can issue a 28 day termination notice. However, that's not much use to you if you have already issued a termination notice!
Have you written a formal letter to the tenants requesting access? I'm afraid text messages don't count.
Have you written a formal letter to the tenants requesting access? I'm afraid text messages don't count.
I really hope that won't be the case here. Like you, I have had enough of being a landlord and just want to get out but I fear they won't make it easy for me. The property is in a RPZ and rent currently is €700 less than similar properties in the area. Coveney's rent legislation was the last straw for us.
I will write to them now as they obviously want to avoid having to vacate. Email, phone and text were always our methods of communication in the past but I realise this is very different. The termination notice I served doesn't apply for a few more months yet (due to the fact that they've been there so long). A 'breach of obligations' notice requires them to vacate in 28 days which would suit me better. As far as I'm concerned, the sooner I can get them out and sell the place, the better.
Ah, I see.
Yes, a "breach of obligations" notice might get you vacant possession more quickly but I think you need to be careful not to give your tenant grounds for arguing that you are simply trying to circumvent the notice requirements. Definitely reference all previous attempts to make contact by email/text/'phone in your letter, specifying the relevant dates, and give your tenant a reasonable time (perhaps 10 days) to make contact with you. Obviously make sure you keep a copy of the letter and it probably makes sense to send it by recorded post.
Also, bear in mind that a tenant’s obligation is “to allow, at reasonable intervals, the landlord, or any other person or persons acting on the landlord’s behalf, access to the dwelling (on a date and time agreed in advance with the tenant) for the purposes of inspecting the dwelling.” When was the last time you or your agent inspected the property?
I wouldn't have thought so.
Maybe it could be considered reasonable if there were specific issues to be addressed that warranted a further inspection after such a short period but in general it sounds excessive to me.
Bear in mind that your tenants are entitled to peaceable occupation - they are not obliged to facilitate your plans to sell the property.
OK. Thanks for the advice. So is there anything I can do now in preparation for what I believe will be their over-holding in a few months time?
Do I need a solicitor? Should I continue to try to contact them in the intervening period or just leave them alone?
Any advice on what to do at this stage would be greatly appreciated.
Do I need a solicitor? Should I continue to try to contact them in the intervening period or just leave them alone?
Any advice on what to do at this stage would be greatly appreciated.
To be honest, I think you should just leave them alone.
If they are paying their rent and otherwise discharging their obligations then they are upholding their side of the bargain and have a right to peaceable occupation.
If you genuinely anticipate that they are going to over-hold then I suppose you could start to pull the papers together to file a complaint with the RTB when the times comes - the RTB website describes the process in some detail. You don't need a solicitor to file a complaint with the RTB.
It's always possible that you are worrying about something that mightn't come to pass.
If they are paying their rent and otherwise discharging their obligations then they are upholding their side of the bargain and have a right to peaceable occupation.
If you genuinely anticipate that they are going to over-hold then I suppose you could start to pull the papers together to file a complaint with the RTB when the times comes - the RTB website describes the process in some detail. You don't need a solicitor to file a complaint with the RTB.
It's always possible that you are worrying about something that mightn't come to pass.
JoeRoberts
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For your immediate problem, check if the existing Ber Cert can be reissued without new inspection.
I had this done before, there was a 4 year period before original cert and reissue but the firm issued a new one without inspection on the basis that there were no alterations to the property ( new fee of course )
I had this done before, there was a 4 year period before original cert and reissue but the firm issued a new one without inspection on the basis that there were no alterations to the property ( new fee of course )
What mechanism do you think will get them out in "years"
You can get a RTB determination, but it wont be enforced.
You can get a court order, but that wont be enforced either.
If you forcibly evict them you are liable to criminal prosecution.
This does not happen often, but there is no legal mechanism to evict a tenant who refuses to leave, over any time frame, even if they pay no rent.
I would be delighted to be contradicted.
This is purely anecdotal (so take it with a pinch of salt) but I was told recently that the RTB are planning to support contempt proceedings relating to over-holding tenants that are ignoring eviction orders.
Apparently the Sheriff is completely overwhelmed with outstanding eviction orders and the whole system (which was never a model of efficiency) has now ground to a halt.
Imagine tenants being carted off to serve time for failing to comply with a court order because they can't afford to rent anywhere else?
I can't point you to anything to back up that anecdote but intuitively it makes sense that over-holding cases would increase as a result of rent controls. After all, they artificially benefit sitting tenants and increase rents for everybody else due to a lack of supply/turnover.
Rent controls (or any other price controls) are beyond dumb.
Apparently the Sheriff is completely overwhelmed with outstanding eviction orders and the whole system (which was never a model of efficiency) has now ground to a halt.
Imagine tenants being carted off to serve time for failing to comply with a court order because they can't afford to rent anywhere else?
I can't point you to anything to back up that anecdote but intuitively it makes sense that over-holding cases would increase as a result of rent controls. After all, they artificially benefit sitting tenants and increase rents for everybody else due to a lack of supply/turnover.
Rent controls (or any other price controls) are beyond dumb.