Rental Dilemma

S

sarahfleming

Registered User
Messages
170
Hope someone can help me here.

Renting a house for nearly 3 years. The owner has told us over a month ago that they are selling down house but with the way the property market is at the moment, he said it might not sell until at least Christmas. Once we heard that the house was being put for sale we have been looking everyday for something suitable as we do not want auctioneers traipsing through the house with people when we are at work. The landlord has our initial deposit and the rent is due on the first of each month.

We found somewhere ideal yesterday and ready to move into at the start of the second week of July so we placed deposits on it yesterday. We now have to inform our present landlord of this. The landlord is not PRTB registered. We have had a few disputes with them over the few years, minor wnough though. How can this be handled as we have been told that we are obliged to give 56 days notice thus meaning that we must pay 2 further months rent while living in the new place. Surely there is some solution to this especially when the present house we are in is for sale.

Anybody with any ideas or solutions, I would be grateful please.

Thanks
 
Just because he is not registered with the PRTB does not mean you cannot contact them for advice. I would give him notice in writing ASAP.
It would be unfair of him to expect that you will stay until it suits him to sell. Given that you are there a number of years I appreciate how important it is for you to find somewhere suitable.
good luck with it all.
 
Rang the PRTB but they are only spouting the legally obligations. Does anybody know how we would stand if we offset our deposit against this month as we will only be there a week??? Or is there any other suggestions besides barricading ourselves in :)
 
sarahfleming said:
Rang the PRTB but they are only spouting the legally obligations. Does anybody know how we would stand if we offset our deposit against this month as we will only be there a week??? Or is there any other suggestions besides barricading ourselves in :)
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:confused: Where or how you stand is determined by the legal obligations. Them trying to make you aware of them is all anyone here on AAM can do.... other than just giving you an opinion which is totally meaningless.
 
"Rang the PRTB but they are only spouting the legally obligations"

Well this is what you need to know right? :confused:
You need to know what is the minimum notice you need to give to your landlord? Yes if you leave now the landlord could offset your deposit against this months rent but you will still be liable for all rent outstanding for the remainder of the notice period and also for any extras such as outstanding bills damage etc. which the deposit is supposed to cover. The landlord will be entitled to persue you for any rent unpaid if that's what you are asking?
However if you pay by the month a lot of landlords are reasonable and will accept a months notice (maybe they are not aware of the minimum notice periods?);)
 
Hi Sarah,

I would first just give him the notice, 1 month would be justified given the length of your stay. I would ask for him to agree the date in writing for your tenancy to finish. He isn't in a great position because realistically if you leave tomorrow he cannot go through Prtb to claim monies owed because he cannot register once a tenancy has ceased. If he does he could find tax implications, penalties etc as reasons to back off.

If you have a rent book with full rental details this is considered a viable alternative to a lease so that would have no bearing on the matter.

I think given that he has been up front about the sale you should be straight with him and should he become difficult at least you are in the stronger position - Good luck
 
You have the advantage in these dealings as the landlord is breaking the law by being not PRTB registered. It is more than likely that the landlord is not registered because he is a tax evader.

Given the circumstances, 1 months notice seems fair. Landlord knows that he has no legal backup, so would be a fool to object. If he seeks more rent, tell him that you'll have to report the tenancy to both PRTB and Revenue as you'll need to claim back the tax credits you are entitled to for renting in order to pay him (remember, he is costing you money in tax credits because he is not PRTB registered).

I bet that the PRTB & Revenue are the last thing he wants to see.

I hate tax evaders, so if it were me, even if he was good about things, I'd wait a few weeks and then try to claim my tax credits for all the rent I've paid over past few years - no reason why you should lose out financially in order to protect a tax cheat criminal.
 
csirl said:
remember, he is costing you money in tax credits because he is not PRTB registered
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The landlord doesn't have to be PRTB registered for the tenant to qualify for rent relief - in fact, the Revenue love it when tenants of non-compliant landlords apply, because then it means they can have a nice hard look at the landlord's income based on the tenant's application for relief.
 
The landlord doesn't have to be PRTB registered for the tenant to qualify for rent relief - in fact, the Revenue love it when tenants of non-compliant landlords apply, because then it means they can have a nice hard look at the landlord's income based on the tenant's application for relief.
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:) you might as well claim the tax as Revenue will get around to him sometime soon.
 
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