Tenants leaving well before 56-day legal notice period. Can I keep their deposit?

Sarenco said:
For example, the OP's tenants could argue that the OP failed to mitigate his losses by not promptly advertising the property to alternative tenants.
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The agent has been in, pictures have been taken and it'll be on the market some time this week.

As I said it wasn't possible to do this sooner as I was busy with work one week and after that the place was full of boxes as they were gradually moving out.
 
Arnie Hammer said:
As I said it wasn't possible to do this sooner as I was busy with work
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Playing devil's advocate, your tenants could argue that they shouldn't be penalised by the fact that you were busy elsewhere.

Again, I'm not saying that argument would necessarily succeed but there is always an element of uncertainty with any RTB adjudication.
 
Playing devil's advocate, the landlord could argue that had the tenants given the correct 56 day notice, they would have been in a position to advertise in a reasonable timeframe.
 
Personally I would return the deposit and send them on their way, especially as they've been good tenants. You'll fill their spot no bother - rental accommodation is in demand from what I've heard.

I am waiting for a problematic tenant to move on at the moment. They caused untold problems, causing fear to neighbours being the reason I'm returning deposit and smiling sweetly to get them out. No more sleepless night will mean it's money well spent.

It's a real pity RTB aren't more supportive of landlords but from what I've read here I'd rather not have dealings with them either.
 

I think this is half the issue on this thread. From an easy life perspective give back the deposit and move on but its fundamentally wrong to do so as they breached their contract and the Landlord is entitled to keep the deposit in full. By always returning deposits landlords are effectively giving the thumbs up to this type of behavior. I am not disagreeing with your strategy above, I know its hard dealing with troublesome tenants and you will do what you have to. It's a shame that landlords are always over a barrel.

If I take out life insurance and lie about an illness and fundamentally die of that illness the life company will not pay out as I broke the contract.
 
Update: I managed to get new tenants in (same rent) at the end of October.

I wrote to the previous tenants advising them that I was keeping two weeks rent for lack of legal notice (and that I could have kept more). I didn't retain anything for damage as there was nothing material, and I returned the rest.

They were not happy about this at all but I didn't budge. I got an email from the RTB saying that previous tenants have taken a case, going straight to adjudication. I've registered on the RTB website (it's a bit confusing) but their claim doesn't seem to be there yet. The good news is that due to Covid they are doing no hearings so it is all written submissions.
 

Is there a risk that you will have additional costs if the ruling goes against you?

My two cents is that you were right in keeping some of the deposit. I am all for being a fair and understanding landlord, but in this case in my opinion the tenants could have given more notice. At the end of the day being a landlord is a business and the regulation and tax has reduced the ability for small private landlords to be more considerate.
 
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Dublinbay12 said:
Is there a risk that you will have additional costs if the ruling goes against you?
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Maybe.

But I read some judgements on the RTB website where landlords have to basically pay a few hundred euros damage. But this is for cases with really bad landlord behaviour like giving 3 days notice by whatsapp.

I have everything in writing and explained my reasons by letter to the tenants very quickly and returned half the deposit. So I don't think I can be accused of acting unreasonably.

Sarenco said:
Best of luck @Arnie Hammer - do let us know how you get on.
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I will.
 
Sorry for being too lazy to re-read the whole thread but did you notify the tenants of this originally so that they could have had time to re-think the notice period ?
 
elcato said:
Sorry for being too lazy to re-read the whole thread but did you notify the tenants of this originally so that they could have had time to re-think the notice period ?
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I said it over the phone at the time but when they gave notice they had already signed a lease on new place and were packing up.

Anyway I can't see how it is my job to inform the other party of what the law says they have to do.
 
Arnie Hammer said:
Not yet. The adjudication date was two weeks ago and it was all done via email. I don't know how long it is before I'll hear from the RTB about the result.
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You may not even hear from them directly, run an occasional search on the RTB site.
 
I'm in shock.

I got the adjudication report from the RTB this morning and it's gone against me. Basically I had some emails with the tenants agreeing to show up and inspect the property, collect keys, etc when they were moving out. The RTB says that this is evidence that I agreed a shorter period of notice than is legally required. Apparently this is allowed under Section 69 of the Act. So I have to refund the tenants the two weeks rent I retained after they moved out. So they've got away with 16 days notice even though legally its 56.

I have ten days to decide whether to appeal.
 
No surprise there unfortunately, they usually side with the tenants.
 
I would definitely appeal it. But get your ducks in a row. No harm dragging this out and pissing off both the tenant and the RTB. At least you'll get some satisfaction from that.
 
Sorry to hear this Arnie but not "really" surprised. It pays to remember that there's no sympathy in business and showing tenants sympathy will more times than not come back to haunt you. That's my opinion. Too many sob stories doing the rounds and no wonder there's owners running away from the renting business. The big boys are taking over the letting now, so let's see how tenants get on with their sad tales with those boys. For the vast majority of people thinking of buying property to let and thinking they'll make a few soft quid out of it? Keep your money and look elsewhere for investments, this isn't the trade for individuals anymore.
 
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