# Breaking A One Year Lease Early



## taytoman (18 Aug 2015)

Hello

I am currently "between houses"- bought out of existing home and waiting for a new homes development that will be ready in about 6 months time. I am staying with elderly relatives but can't hack this for another 6 months.

My problem is that I need to rent a house/ apartment for 6 months, but almost all leases seem to be for a year.

Question- if you sign a one year lease but break it after 6 months, what is the situation? I know people will say "it depends on the lease you signed.."However, in general terms, am I correct in believing that most lease terms state that I will loose my deposit unless the landlord / letting agent is feeling generous/ can re-let straight away?


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## staff (18 Aug 2015)

A cheaper and less formal arrangement could be to "rent a room" from someone and specify at the start that it is probably only going to be for 6 months.  It does mean sharing a house / apt with someone else but it might suit you if it is only short-term.

If you look up Daft.ie you might even find someone who only wants to rent a room for 6 months.  There are plenty of different options on there.


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## taytoman (19 Aug 2015)

Thanks for that suggestion but I'm not that desperate yet! Seriously, I'm at an age where I would find that very difficult


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## Páid (19 Aug 2015)

Daft's advanced search allows you to specify no leases or leases with terms of 3, 6 or 9 months.


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## Thirsty (19 Aug 2015)

Contact landlords directly and ask them, the default tends to be 1 yr, but they may be willing to consider you as you are that bit more 'mature' (no offence intended!); to be honest you might well find yourself staying longer than 6 months.  Building work rarely goes 100% to schedule & then you've the legal side to be completed.


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## facetious (20 Aug 2015)

Landlords cannot extricate themselves from a fixed term agreement but tenants can. There is a process for an assignment in which the tenant bears all the costs of the process. That may include finding a replacement tenant, paying for any advertizing and legal fees etc. However, assignments in Ireland are usually just an informal agreement and no legal paperwork done.

The tenant must first seek the landlord's permission for an assignment and, to the tenant's advantage, if he refuses the request, the tenant may give 28 days notice and vacate without losing his deposit. The landlord has the right to vet and reference any prospective tenant.


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## taytoman (20 Aug 2015)

Sorry, just to go back to my original question; Is it the case in Dublin 2015 that most one year rental contracts

(1) allow the tenant to break the contract but forfeit their deposit, or is it the case that (2) if the tenant breaks the contract they are on the hook financially for the rest of the remaining rental term unless the contract allows for re-assignment as per facetious's v helpful post?

The short term rental options on DAFT are unfortunately very thin on the ground and expensive. Sorry for labouring this but I assumed (1) was the usual situation


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## facetious (20 Aug 2015)

taytoman said:


> Sorry, just to go back to my original question; Is it the case in Dublin 2015 that most one year rental contracts
> 
> (1) allow the tenant to break the contract but forfeit their deposit, or is it the case that (2) if the tenant breaks the contract they are on the hook financially for the rest of the remaining rental term unless the contract allows for re-assignment as per facetious's v helpful post?
> 
> The short term rental options on DAFT are unfortunately very thin on the ground and expensive. Sorry for labouring this but I assumed (1) was the usual situation


The usual initial rental period is 12 months, fixed term. If the tenant vacates before the end if the fixed term he may lose all of his deposit and is also liable for the remaining rent as it falls due,to the end of the contract. In this case the landlord is obliged to find a replacement tenant as quickly as possible. If the landlord finds a replacement before a rent period is up, then he should return, pro rata, some of the deposit. If the landlord fails to find a replacement then the tenant loses all his deposit and, as I mentioned above, he is liable for the rent, as it falls due until a replacement is found. It should be noted that the landlord is also entitled to be re-imbursed for any of his expenses which may  include Daft.ie, agents fees etc.

However, Irish legislators, in their infinite wisdom (cough, cough!) have provided a tenant with a way of exiting a fixed term lease and also entitling the tenant to a full refund of his deposit. This is enshrined in law. The tenant must first seek permission from his landlord. Then, the tenant must find a replacement by whatever means he chooses (adverts on Daft.ie, newspapers, in supermarkets etc. and the tenant is responsible for any costs involved. Once the replacement moves in, the tenant is off the hook.

The most common form is by assignment and is particularly common in house shares, provided the landlord has granted his permission. However, in some cases, the tenants in a house share do all the worm themselves, without informing the landlord and this person becomes a lodger/licensee and not a tenant.


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## taytoman (21 Aug 2015)

Thank you for a very informative and detailed post. So its scenario (2) usually and not scenario(1).


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## facetious (22 Aug 2015)

Neither scenario your (1) nor (2) but an assignment is the usual method in which case you do not lose your deposit nor are you on the hook for the remaining term of the lease agreement.


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