Dear Claudine,

I have renting a property to Tenants for the last five months. I registered as a Landlord with the Private Residential Tenancies Board once they had signed the 12 month Lease. Unfortunately, the Tenants have not paid the rent for the last month and they say they can only pay me half the rent for October. I cannot afford to pay the mortgage on the property myself. Can you please advise me as to what I should do as I now want them to leave the property?

Thanks

Claire

Dear Claire,

Thank you very much for your letter. As you have registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) there are a number of options open to you. Firstly, Tenancy Agreements are regulated by the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 which has significantly increased the rights of Tenants. As your Tenants have been leasing the property for less than six months and they have breached their obligations under the Lease by not paying the rent you are only required to give them fourteen days notice. However, they must be sent a 14 day warning letter regarding the outstanding arrears. Once the 14 days have elapsed you can serve them with 28 days Notice of Termination of the Tenancy Agreement. This Notice must be in writing, signed by you, specifying the date of service, the reason for termination and refer to them to the PRTB if they are disputing the validity of the Notice. Arrange to meet them before they leave to ensure that they have left the property in good condition, have paid all the utility bills and obtain the keys. As they were in arrears with the rent, you can withhold their deposit for the amount due to you.

I hope that the above information to you is helpful.

Kind Regards.

Claudine