Tenants Rights - no lease

H

Haille

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I want to check what is the correct course of action to follow. My daughter has been a tenant for 6 years with two other tenants which have changed down the years, new tenants have come and gone. My daughter paid her fixed rent separately to the landlord as did the other two tenants. She was not asked to sign a lease at any point and she paid a deposit. She has not missed a rent payment in those 6 years.

A month ago the landlord served notice to quit to all the tenants for end of August 2024. One of the tenants left a few weeks ago. The landlord informed my daughter and the other tenant that their rent is now in arrears in other words he says that the house is let as a unit and that they are responsible for all the rent. This has never arisen before. He says that he is contacting PRTB about unpaid rent.

I am hoping to contact PRTB tomorrow.

1. If no lease was ever signed can my daughter ignore this warning?
2. What are her chances of getting back original deposit?
3. Can a landlord issue a notice to quit in April for the end of August to a tenant who has been resident for 6 years? What is the required length of time that a landlord must give to a tenant who has rented for 6 years given that no lease has been signed, only proof is banking payments for last 6 years as evidence of renting plus bills for electricity and gas.
 
You can look up the property on RTB & see if its registered.

Yes a notice of termination can be issued, what does it say in the notice re grounds?

From memory, the notice period is 6 months where the property is rented over 4 years; so you can challenge that.

It will buy some time, but ultimately the property owner will eventually figure out the right way to do it.

Ignore the unpaid rent for now - without a signed lease its unenforceable.
 
Doesn't matter if there is no written lease and nor does it matter if not registered with RTB. though it does sound like it's registered.

Your daughter has a valid oral lease. And it seems she let the place as an individual not as a group. So she cannot be liable for unpaid rent. The landlord must give her written notice and if he's messed up the dates then the notice is invalid.

The landlord is some chancer trying to make your daughter pay rent in any case since it is he who has served notice. The RTB won't like that. Hilarious that he intends to go to the RTB.

Sounds like the notice period of 6 months is correct:

Notices of Termination | Residential Tenancies Board

RTB operates Ireland's National Tenancy Register and resolving disputes between Landlords, tenants and third parties. Governed by residential Tenancies Act 2004. View more information on landlords and tenancies.
www.rtb.ie www.rtb.ie

What is the reason for the Notice of Termination?

It's good your daughter has proof of individual rent payments to the landlord. Does she have a rent book? Did she get a receipt for the deposit, maybe it was also paid by bank transfer?
 
she could string it out for a couple of years if she really wanted to :)

I'd put a complaint into the RTB, await determination. (This will take 3 months) They will determine that the notice was invalid. A new 6 month notice will have to issue.

So at a minimum, due to the landlord's mishandling, she could easily stay until next February at the earliest.
 
Your daughter needs to ask herself what outcome she is looking for. I think at this point her chances of staying there long term are gone. how much was the deposit ? If only a months rent then she can easily deal with that due to ineptness of the landlord already. If I was her I'd be looking for my next move rather than worrying about the landlord. Get that sorted.
 
Tenants are jointly and severally liable for the rent, so he is justified in asking your daughter to pay the rent of the departed tenant. He is probably not interested in the money, he is interested in getting vacant possession.
 
cremeegg said:
Tenants are jointly and severally liable for the rent, so he is justified in asking your daughter to pay the rent of the departed tenant. He is probably not interested in the money, he is interested in getting vacant possession.
Click to expand...
I would doubt that if the Landlord has charged a fixed rate directly to the OP's daughter and organises the other tenants. To suddenly come up with "it is rented as a full unit and rent shared" won't wash it with the rtb especially if there's no written lease

If however it was the tenant's responsibility to get new tenants when one left, then the LL probably can claim it is rented as a full unit.

So its probably down to who got new tenants in when someone left.

But it is simply delaying the inevitable, so have her keep an eye out for alternative properties in case something that suits comes up.
 
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