Tenants using deposit for last months rent

S

Sipe

Registered User
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Hi

Our tenants of close to 3 years have advised us that they are moving out within 3 weeks and are using the deposit as their last months rent. Their lease isn’t up until October.

What are the rights of a landlord in this instance? Do we have chance of seeing the rent?

Thx!
 
What is your concern, the deposit covers it and you have knowledge of them for a long time, if you do not trust them then ask that they pay the rent.
 
Technically they are breach of the lease if they use the deposit for rent.

There's nothing left for damages otherwise.
 
AlbacoreA said:
Technically they are breach of the lease if they use the deposit for rent.
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There's no "technically" about it - the OP's tenants would be in clear breach of their statutory obligations if they don't pay the agreed rent in full as it falls due for payment.

Also, the OP is entitled to 8 weeks' notice of termination from his tenants and is entitled to the agreed rent up to expiry of that notice period.

I'm sure a lot of landlords are inclined to let these things go but the OP would certainly have grounds to file a complaint with the RTB if his tenants don't meet their obligations.
 
So my views are contrary to the last few posters, never mind making complaints or demands, you know them three years, if they have proved solid and your property visits were satisfactory then I would have no issues, good tenants are good tenants and a three year term with no vacancy or leasing fees is not bad.
 
A tenant who doesn’t give the appropriate notice and who refuses to pay his/her final months’s rent is not a good tenant.
 
In fairness if you got 3 yrs trouble free, unless they destroy the place the deposit is not biggie. But its more the principle. do it by the book or not.
 
Hello,

What was their reason for the short notice, and their decision to vacate before the end of the lease ?

If they didn't give one, I would arrange to pop over to them and ask them what's going on. Exceptional circumstances may be a factor here, but if they are not, then you could take the opportunity to remind your tenants of their obligations under the lease and ask them how they propose to honor their commitments. You could also take the opportunity to have a quick look around and identify any repairs that may need to be attended to.

Based on all we see and hear, you shouldn't have a problem finding a new tenant at similar rent. That gives a level of underlying comfort here. If they have been good tenants for the three year period, I would be inclined to give them some flexibility (although that would be subject to how they are behaving when you speak with them etc.)
 
I would suggest that most of the time, providing insufficient notice by tenants is based on the new landlord not giving tenants enough/any lead time before taking on a property. Such is the power that landlords have at the moment that tenants, when moving to a new property, are given a 'take it or leave it' offer that makes no allowance for notice periods with their current landlord.

For example: I viewed a property on 23rd January and I was told that if I wanted to take it on, it was being leased from the 27th January.
 
Exceptional circumstances or not, how are you to know they'll be telling the truth? If I as a Landlord break my agreement there's plenty of do gooders out there to make the law work in their favour. They, the tenants just can't up and go, pay the remainder of their wrong notice with the deposit and think they'll get away with it. Serious questions need answering, contracts need to be paid in full.
 

And? I don't see what your problem was/is?
 
noproblem said:
And? I don't see what your problem was/is?
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That tenants are not simply gaming the system in some way. Tenants can give notice with no knowledge that they will be able to move at the end of the period, whereas landlords can give notice with full knowledge of what they will do at the end of the period.

In my case, the point was I had 4 days notice of taking on the new property (or not, and gamble over where I'd live) but a requirement to give 112 days to my existing landlord.
 
Sipe, you have to ask yourself, is it worth all the hassle to make complaint to the RTB, have they been good tenants, is the house in reasonable condition, is there a likelihood of a fallow period after they leave?
 
Thanks everyone for your replies!

We are non resident so the property is managed by an agent so it’s hard for us to find out what’s really behind it. And the agent isn’t good so they aren’t good at noticing problems (we often pick up problems from their pictures after hey tell us everything is fabulous)

We are just concerned if they damage the place etc or leave the place in a complete mess, we have absolutely no come back. At least with the deposit you can insist they clean up to the standard they got the place. All going well, we would give their full deposit, but who knows.

Our previous tenants did damage and we got stung so just nervous about that too (broken beds and chairs).

The other point is that it seems tenants can leave whenever they want. It’s not so easy if we needed them to leave with such short notice. We now need to find new tenants at short notice mid lease when we hadnt budgeted for it. And who knows if the property will be in a move in condition when they vacate.... and what it will cost us to any issues which perhaps would have been protected by the deposit.
 
IdesofMarch said:
Sipe, you have to ask yourself, is it worth all the hassle to make complaint to the RTB, have they been good tenants, is the house in reasonable condition, is there a likelihood of a fallow period after they leave?
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What kind of complaint could we make and what would the outcome be?

Thx
 
Gordon Gekko said:
A tenant who doesn’t give the appropriate notice and who refuses to pay his/her final months’s rent is not a good tenant.
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In this day and age, a tenant who doesn't trash the place and pays their rent is a good tenant. You really need to put things into context.

Sipe, Id say you have been hassle free in your role as a Landlord, and lucky for you.. but these guys are moving on regardless, if you want to meet trouble half way, continue on your mission and you wont be disappointed.

All the posters saying, get stuck in, demand this and that, guarantee you, they'd be the first to see sense. Move on.
 
From my experience, it’s fairly common for tenants to use deposit as final months rent.
I now take a deposit of 6 weeks.
 
@Sipe

Your complaint would relate to rent arrears, failure to provide an adequate notice of termination and failure on the part of your tenant to observe their obligations.

The process for submitting a dispute for adjudication is outlined in some detail on the RTB's website:-
https://onestopshop.rtb.ie/dispute-resolution-old/submitting-a-dispute-online/

Whether or not you decide to go down this road is obviously up to you - I'm just trying to answer your actual questions.

Regardless, it sounds like you should be in the market for a new agent...
 
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