rental question!

demoivre said:

I am astounded at the advice you have received and the landlord IS entitled to the rent for the 12 month period that you signed up to - since when is a lease not a legally binding contract ? Read what it says about leases for fixed periods in [broken link removed] and while you're at it have a read of . As I said earlier you will be doing well to only lose your deposit given you are breaking a legally binding lease contract.

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According to Private Tenancies Board website you are not allowed to sign away your rights under the law. Apparently you can only sign a lease that gives you greater rights, not less. I think the law may have altered the way in which leases work.

The usual practice if there is a strong risk of losing the deposit is not to pay the last month's rent. Sadly I'm in that situation myself as the landlord (thinks we don't know that the agency he runs is actually renting us a house his wife owns - and pays no tax on!), after dithering on repairs, not sending a proper renewal lease after the first year, refused us a rent book, denied us the right to claim rent relief taxback (he even had the cheek to tell us we were not entitled to it), and hasn't maintained the place in years, is just such a greedy Ba****d we don't trust him to return the deposit.

Besides the pre-PRTB situation was that if you left within the length of the lease you'd lose your deposit but in reality I don't think most landlords could claim for the outstanding 2 months rent as the place is now vacant and can be relet.

I find dodgy landlords generally get quiet and pliable once you show knowledge of the PRTB - its been a great thing for tenants.

lff12 said:

The usual practice if there is a strong risk of losing the deposit is not to pay the last month's rent. Sadly I'm in that situation myself as the landlord (thinks we don't know that the agency he runs is actually renting us a house his wife owns - and pays no tax on!), after dithering on repairs, not sending a proper renewal lease after the first year, refused us a rent book, denied us the right to claim rent relief taxback (he even had the cheek to tell us we were not entitled to it), and hasn't maintained the place in years, is just such a greedy Ba****d we don't trust him to return the deposit.

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You may already know this, but you don't need anything from the landlord to claim the rent relief - just submit his/her details (with or without PPS number) on the form.

lff12 said:

I find dodgy landlords generally get quiet and pliable once you show knowledge of the PRTB - its been a great thing for tenants.

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I'm sure the PRTB are the right organisation to go to but I've also heard of the Revenue been made aware of unfair or unreasonable landlords.

I'm not sure how common it is for disgruntled tenants to report tax avoiding landlords to Revenue? Although I'm sure it could be a fairly profitable area for them. (Revenue, not the tenants!)