Refund of rent for tenant asked to leave

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SomeRandomer

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Hi, a relation of mine has a house where she rents out rooms individually, as opposed to renting the whole house to one person, so people move in and stay for different lengths of time then another person moves in etc. (the owner doesn't live in the property).

Recently one tenant was causing issues with the other tenants e.g. broke a smoothie maker belonging to another tenant but denied doing it, wasn't doing her share of the cleaning, was having her bf stay over multiple nights per week (which is against the house rules), having loud late night arguments with her bf etc. All the other tenants complained about her so the owner gave this troublesome tenant one month notice to leave on July 31st, saying she would need the room back by September 1st.

So the tenant already found a new place and will move on August 5th which is 5 days into the month. She had already paid the full month's rent For August but now wants it all refunded. The owner offered to refund her 3 weeks of the rent she paid for August.

Are there any specific rules for this scenario i.e. what are the obligations regarding the rent already paid, and how much the owner should refund etc (the rent is paid monthly)? The Threshold website doesn't seem to have any info on this specifically.

Is the tenant obliged to pay some / all of the rent for August i.e. adhere to the one month notice period given by the owner (even thought the owner asked her to leave)? The owner wants to do the right thing and is happy to stick to whatever the rules might be (if any).

Any links to specific rules on this much appreciated.
 
I think three weeks rent refund is being generous. The owner is in this situation because of the problem tenant but the owner will be down the rent for August.

Sharing accommodation with your landlord

This document explains the position of tenants who live in their landlord's home. There are different rules, depending on whether or not your accommodation is self-contained.
www.citizensinformation.ie www.citizensinformation.ie
 
Speaking from experience, the object of the exercise is get rid of the problem and keep the other tenants happy.

I'd keep the pro rata rent and offer it towards the broken smoothie wotsit.

I'd make sure to be there when she is leaving as well.
 
The above Citizen's Information link doesn't apply as the owner doesn't live in the house.

The tenants in this situation are [broken link removed], but your friend must be very careful that the contracts signed clearly calls this out. They'll also need to abide by the termination conditions in that contract. If there's any doubt, might be safer return the 3 weeks rent.
 
The landlord wants the tenant out (ideally asap) as the tenant is causing problems. The tenant has obliged and is moving out before the end of the termination notice. If there has been no damage to the property then landlord should return 26/31 of the rent (i.e. approximately 3 week's rent) plus, if any, security deposit.
 
I can't figure out if the owner is in the house or not. What I would do is work out the rent for 5 days and return the remainder less the cost of the smoothie maker.
 
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