# Tenant moved in boyfriend without asking landlord



## Trudy (7 Jan 2011)

Can anyone advise me how best to deal with a tenant who moved in her boyfriend without asking me and then arranged to reduce the rent for other three tenants. I am still getting the same original rent. 


Can I increase the rent for the couple who are sharing the room?
Should I get the five tenants to sign a lease and what protection does that give me and them?


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## shesells (7 Jan 2011)

What does the lease say? Is is a by-room lease or a full house lease? Who signed the lease?

All of these will affect the answers.


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## Trudy (7 Jan 2011)

Thanks for your reply shesells. The tenants did not sign a lease so am wondering if I should get them to sign one. Previous leases I had were full house. Full rent amount is paid monthly.


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## millieforbes (8 Jan 2011)

Personally, I wouldn't mind this change if all the tenants are happy and they have arranged to split the rent among themselves. In the current climate lower rent for everyone may mean you can keep the tenants for longer without a reduction in the amount paid to you

but for form's sake it might be worth pulling them up on moving someone in without telling you to ensure this doesn't become a habit.


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## shesells (8 Jan 2011)

Trudy said:


> Thanks for your reply shesells. The tenants did not sign a lease so am wondering if I should get them to sign one. Previous leases I had were full house. Full rent amount is paid monthly.



So you have no lease in place and there are people living in your house..albeit paying rent? You definitely need to have a lease in place.


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## Trudy (8 Jan 2011)

*Tenant moved in boyfriend*

I appreciate your feedback on this..Yes, I have five tenants in the house and no lease. What is the worst case scenario with them not having signed a lease?


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## twofor1 (8 Jan 2011)

I think a written lease is essential, it makes things simpler and clearer for both parties, in this case, as well as other issues, it would name your four existing tenants and state no others.

But even without a lease there is a tenancy, and as such both landlord and tenant’s rights and obligations are covered under the RT Act.

*tenancies / Leases*

The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 applies to every dwelling which is occupied on foot of a tenancy. A tenancy can take a number of different forms and may be oral, written or implied. A written tenancy is known as a lease.

http://public.prtb.ie/DownloadDocs/Leases%20and%20Licences.doc


An important question here is have you registered this tenancy with the PRTB, if not there is a legal obligation on you to do so and you cannot claim mortgage interest relief.

Also if not registered, tenants can avail of the dispute resolution service but you cannot.

If you have registered, you need to update this tenancy registration with your new additional tenant.


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## Trudy (9 Jan 2011)

*Tenant moved in boyfriend*

Thank you for that advice about getting a lease. I have registered with the PRTB but need to add the fifth tenant.


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## oldnick (9 Jan 2011)

As I dont understand every aspect of the Residential tenancies Act (about 140 pages on the web!) I am happy to stand corrected on this , but..
.. if you register this fifth person ,are you not now declaring him as your tenant with all the tenancy rights as per the Act ?


If you're OK with the fifth person ,although you're a bit annoyed about the cheek of it, then accept it. As a previous poster says ,be happy you're getting then full rent.
But, of course, the other three tenants should be happy as well. As they're paying less they probably are, but have you checked this.

If you are unhappy about this fifth person then write ,stating that you cannot accept any more than four persons ,other than temporary guests of registered tenants.
 And do not register him. 
Keep everything in writing so it is clear that you were very reasonable in asking him to vacate the premises..

But really all this is a bit late - even the shortest written agreement would have helped.


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## Bronte (10 Jan 2011)

I would leave well enough alone.  If you're getting the original rent as agreed and the tenants are well behaved then there are no issues.  You should add the new tenant to the PRTB registration.  If you ask for more rent you increase the likelyhood of someone leaving.  Not a good idea in the current market.


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## Trudy (10 Jan 2011)

*Tenant moved in boyfriend*

Thank you oldnick and Bronte for your replies. 
Due to the current climate, I am inclined to leave well enough alone as you suggest and not increase the rent.  Also, I have had no complaints from the other  tenants about the situation (perhaps due to their rent reduction) and the full rent is always paid on time. I realise however, that I do need to check this out with these other tenants and intend to do so in the coming weeks when I meet them.
many thanks
Trudy


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