# Tenant with No Lease - How to get deposit back?



## WarrenBuffet (1 Mar 2009)

Hi,

My son wants to move out of his rental property. He isnt in the place long (less than 6 months) and has never been happy there for a number of reasons. (Feels he was mislead by landlord when he first moved in.....always stuff going wrong in house etc. However i dont think these reasons are strong enough to terminate a lease according to PRTB rules).

When he initially moved in he was given a lease by the landlord to sign........however he (the landlord) never came back to my son to get the lease back off him and ensure it was signed. My son then forgot about it (until now when he is thinking of moving out!). Therefore the lease was never signed by both parties. 

He has mentioned, informally to the landlord, that he is thinking of moving out - however the landlord has since realised he has no signed copy of the lease and is asking him to sign a new copy!!

The son is now in a quandry. He is not sure should he 

(a) Not sign lease and hand in his notice according to the PRTB guidelines, i.e. in writing, give 28 days notice etc. However he is concerned that by not signing lease he will have no rights and have no chance of getting deposit out of landlord.

(b) Not sign lease, hand in notice according to normal guidelines but not pay this months rent. That way he doesnt have the risk of not getting his deposit. However I am not sure if doing this would leave him open to legal issues?????

(c) Sign lease, give to landlord and hand in notice (in writing, 28 days notice etc). However if he takes this option could he get stuck trying to get someone in to take over the lease (in the current rental market there is no chance someone would pay the lease cost).

Any advice people might have would be much appreciated. This is a tricky one and a bit of a mess.....

Thanks,
WB


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## Butter (1 Mar 2009)

*Re: Tenant with No Lease - Will I get my deposit back?*

If I was your son I would go with option b.  If he's not happy there and is going to move it would be a bit foolish to sign something now which could tie him to a year's lease.  
To be fair to the landlord he should at least give him a month's notice that he is moving out and tell him to keep his month's deposit as rent for his final month.  He might also allow the landlord to show the property to prospective new tenants in this final month and he should leave the property in the same condition that it was in when he moved in.
The landlord made a mistake by allowing him to move in without getting the lease signed by both parties at the time the property was rented.


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## bankrupt (1 Mar 2009)

It would be extremely foolish to sign a new lease now.  I suggest you contact Threshold (www.threshold.ie) to get the letter of the law but he should be able to give notice to his landlord and leave without penalty.  It's the landlord's own fault for not ensuring he had a lease in place.


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## WarrenBuffet (2 Mar 2009)

Thanks for the replies. Think its fairly obvious that he shouldn’t sign the lease – at this stage I am not sure if he is still even under an obligation. He is going to submit notice according to threshold guidelines.  

However now we are not sure about the final month’s rental payment. Should my son 

pay it (and hope to get deposit back assuming landlord behaves according to PRTB rules) or 
withhold and say the landlord can use the deposit as the final month’s rental payment. 

Any opinions on this would be much appreciated. Kinda of a tricky one. 

Thanks,
WB


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## bankrupt (2 Mar 2009)

Strictly speaking he has to pay the rent and then negotiate return of the deposit when the tenancy finishes (less any deductions there may be), one cannot lawfully withold a month's rent.  That said, of course it would be worth asking the landlord if he will agree to this arrangement.


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## shesells (2 Mar 2009)

No landlord should even contemplate using the deposit as the last month's rent. That leaves no fund for what the deposit is meant for, no security against damage or theft from the property. IME the deposit doesn't even always cover the damage/theft...a costly lesson from our first tenants!


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## S.L.F (2 Mar 2009)

shesells said:


> No landlord should even contemplate using the deposit as the last month's rent. That leaves no fund for what the deposit is meant for, no security against damage or theft from the property. IME the deposit doesn't even always cover the damage/theft...a costly lesson from our first tenants!


 
Been a landlord now for about 6 years and I can say I would never let a tenant use the deposit as the last months rent.


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## Bob_tg (2 Mar 2009)

The landlord's perspective is clear.... Looking at it from the tenant's view, though, what's to guarantee that the landlord will return the deposit?


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## AlbacoreA (10 Mar 2009)

Bob_tg said:


> The landlord's perspective is clear.... Looking at it from the tenant's view, though, what's to guarantee that the landlord will return the deposit?


 
The Law.

Is there some difficulty with the Landlord that this can't just be discussed with tenant and landlord.


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