MAIN POINTS
As of 2004, all landlord are required to register with the RTB if they are renting out a property, the ones that are not mandated to do so other ones where the landlord is living with the tenant and in that case, RTB law does not apply and it cannot help you. Landlords are required to re-register their property with RTB every year now and pay a small fee of €40.
You may check if your landlord has registered with the RTB via this link here.
The three reasons why a landlord may legally kick a tenant out would be if the rent is not being paid on time or there is excessive wear and tear or a lot of noise which is harassing the neighbours.
The two ways for raising a complaint with the RTB are: one is a mediation that can be done over the telephone or Adjudication. For more info, please read my blog here.
Mediation is free of cost and Adjudication is more formal where a hearing takes place between the two parties.
Notice of termination must be 28 days if you have been residing at the property for less than 6-months, however, if you have been living there for a longer period you are entitled to longer notice time.
Tenants must always have something in writing prior to renting out space and should you be sharing the property with the landlord then you must contact threshold.ie for any grievances.
Rents cannot be increased by more than 4% and in the future student accommodations will also fall under the same law.
Even if your landlord is not registered with the RTB you can still lodge a dispute. The landlord will be required to pay €4,000 as fine if not registered.
You're not obliged to pay for any further rent once you have served a 28-day notice and pay for that specific period, you may lose your deposit for breaking the lease but the landlord cannot seize any of your personal belongings.
You must address your disputes via the RTB as they can direct a Garda to help, however, Gardai cannot address directly as this is not a criminal matter.
A landlord can never force you to vacate the property for an unreasonable reason as long as you're paying the rent on time.
You can register a dispute with the RTB within 28 days via a phone call which is also available 24/7 or by writing to them.
Kicking out tenants is illegal if they are not able to pay rent due to no income source as the covid restrictions have been extended till January. However, the rent will be counted in arrears and will be payable in the future.
Should you not speak English RTB also provides interpreters.
If you're in the midst of a deposit retention struggle than the best way to handle is with mediation, it costs nothing and can be resolved easily via the RTB
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