# Unpaid rent



## Haille (20 Mar 2011)

I rented out house to tenant end of Nov.2010.She had applied for rent allowance which she finally got.She owes me 7 weeks rent €910  some of this goes back to when she initially moved in and in recent weeks not passing on rent allowance.I have a deposit of €350.She gave notice to quit 2 weeks ago so she has 2 weeks left [presumably wont pay these either] About 5 or six weeks ago I gave her a list of her unpaid amounts. My question  is what are landlords' experiences in trying to recoup rent through PTRB system .I registered tenant when she moved in.While I could contact the Health Board/ Rent allowance section and tell them she is not passing on rental income.This might stop them paying her allowance but I doubt if Health Board would be interested in recouping my losses.
      What is the PTRB system of recouping unpaid rent , does it involve fines ? How long does the process take?


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## medo (20 Mar 2011)

I cant be of much help but I recently researched rent allowance as I hadnt accepted it before and new tenants were asking if I would accept it. You should immediately report to the rent allowance office what she owes you and they will stop her payments immediately, as they said if its not being passed on to you then she is obviously not using it for the intended purpose. If she hasnt passed on her rent allowance to you and gave her 4 weeks notice to you then its obvious she intends to leave with the money she recieved from them. So, report immediately and then set about the task of recouping it.


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## AlbacoreA (21 Mar 2011)

I know someone about to ask the HSE the same about recouping rent in a similar circumstance. 



Haille said:


> ....
> What is the PTRB system of recouping unpaid rent , does it involve fines ? How long does the process take?



You can look at the PRTB site and see their judgements, and the length of time it takes. The PRTB can't enforce anything AFAIK. If they schedule a replayment plan with the tenant and they don't stick to it, theres nothing the PRTB can do. You'd have to go to court.


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## sophia (8 May 2012)

*Tenants spending rent allowance*

Where do i stand with tenants who are not paying the rent allowance into my mortgage account? I've made several phone calls to the CWO and he will not deal with me, i tried to get it paid direct to my account but he said no that the tenants are his clients not me.
Can i get the police involved now as this is fraud and i'm now going to try evict them from the property.
Anyone with any experience of this?


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## AlbacoreA (9 May 2012)

Report them to the CWO, they should then cut the dole and the payment. 

Then do this
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/if_your_landlord_wants_you_to_leave.html

Make sure that its not some mix up though and they can't be persuaded to leave or pay up in the meantime. Once you report them any chance of them paying is gone. They may decide to overstay. Maybe not.

Best option is to talk them into leaving though.


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## facetious (9 May 2012)

To evict a tenant for non payment of rent, you must go through the correct process as laid down in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.
If brief, you must first issue a 14 day rent arrears notice in the prescribed format (sample with notes on the PRTB website) to give the tenant the chance to pay the rent. If the arrears are not paid then you can issue a notice of Termination to evict the tenant. Again, this notice must be in the prescribed format or it will be invalid. If the tenant has a Part 4 tenancy, two notices of rent arrears must be issued, though the first does not have to give the tenant 14 days to pay.

As regards recovering any rent arrears when the tenant has vacated, you will have to have the tenants new address or the legal documents cannot be served on the tenant. The PRTB are not very helpful in this matter. The time period may be anything from 6 months (if you're very lucky) to a year or two.

In the case where the tenant overholds, the PRTB say that they will give priority to such cases - but I wouldn't hold my breath for an adjudication.

If you do not proceed via the correct route with valid notices (even if you believe the notices to be valid - and I have seen instances of solicitors issuing invalid notices) - then it could cost you very heavily in fines of possibly up to 10,000 euros.

I hate to say it, but not receiving rent is one of the main reasons why so many landlords will not accept tenants on SW - which is a pity for the good SW tenants. Furthermore, the tenants/social welfare office seem to be able to hide behind the data protection act and not help landlords in recovering rent arrears.


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## norejon (9 May 2012)

you need to serve the 14day rent arrears notice asap , check prtb site for the correct format of this ,,


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