Lawful Terminations vs Illegal Evictions

Ending a tenancy is a normal part of a tenancy lifecycle and Landlords are entitled to do so. There is an important distinction between the normal rules for ending a tenancy lawfully and illegal evictions:

The RTB takes illegal evictions very seriously as it can potentially leave a tenant homeless. Landlords are urged to seek recourse though the RTB rather than taking the law into their own hands. A landlord found by the RTB to have carried out an unlawful termination may be directed to allow the tenant re-entry into the dwelling and/ or be required to pay substantial damages to the tenant depending on the circumstances of the case. Decision makers have discretion to award up to and including €20,000 in damages.

How to serve a valid Notice of Termination on a Tenant

For all Notices of Termination to be deemed valid, they must be copied to the RTB at the same time as it is served on the tenant. Failure to do so means that the Notice of Termination is invalid. Landlords are asked to attach the Notice of Termination to a completed Notice of Termination return form to assist the RTB in linking the Notice to the relevant tenancy.

It can be emailed to NoticeofTermination@rtb.ie or posted to the Residential Tenancies Board, PO Box 47 Clonakilty, Co. Cork. 

If posting, the RTB recommends using certified post to ensure landlords have proof of the date the RTB was sent the copy of the Notice of Termination. These documents must be sent to the Residential Tenancies Board on the same day as the notice is served on the tenant. Landlords should retain copies and proof of postage for their records. 

Notice Periods

By law the notice period starts on the day immediately following the date of service of the Notice of Termination. The date of service, must be stated in the Notice of Termination, is the date the notice is posted, or hand delivered.  Example: On Monday, 1 July, a landlord posts a Notice of Termination to the tenant giving 28 days notice that the tenancy is being terminated. 1 July is the date of service. The 28-day notice period, starts on Tuesday, 2 July. It is a good idea for landlords to give some extra days’ notice to tenants to make sure the minimum notice period required in the particular circumstance is covered. 

Since 6 July 2022, when a landlord wishes to end a tenancy, there are new notice periods that the landlord must provide a tenant (outlined below). The new notice periods only apply to tenancies that are less than 3 years old. There has been no change to the notice periods for tenancies that are greater than 7 years old. The amount of notice required to end a tenancy depends on how long the tenant has lived in the property. The law sets out minimum notice periods which are different for a landlord and a tenant. The minimum requirement is 90-days for a tenancy that is less than 6 months in duration. Please note that “duration” refers to the total period of time in which a tenant has been living in the dwelling i.e. from the commencement date of the tenancy up to and including the date on which the Notice of Termination is served. 

In order for a Notice of Termination to be valid, it must:

Since 6 July 2022, if a tenant has an issue with the validity of the Notice of Termination they have received, a tenant now has 90-days (from the receipt of the notice) to apply for Dispute Resolution with the RTB. This was increased from 28-days.  

This does not apply to Notices of Termination served for breach of tenant obligations or rent arrears (click here for the 6-step process that must be followed when a landlord wants to end a tenancy because of rent arrears and the tenant has been renting the property for more than 6 months). Where a breach has occurred, the time period to apply for dispute resolution with the RTB is 28-days.  

Note: If you are submitting a Dispute Resolution application for rent arrears or are disputing the validity of a Notice of Termination, you must attach the Notice of Termination to your application. 

Statutory Declaration  

In some instances, a landlord is required to submit a Statutory Declaration with the Notice of Termination.  

Where a landlord intends to sell the property within 9 months of terminating the tenancy, a Statutory Declaration must accompany the Notice of Termination confirming this intention. 

Where a landlord requires the property for their own use or for use by a family member, a Statutory Declaration must accompany the Notice of Termination confirming the intended occupant's identity and (if not the landlord) their relationship to the landlord and the expected duration of the occupation. The Statutory Declaration must also confirm that the landlord is required to offer a tenancy to the tenant if the dwelling is vacated within a period of 12 months from the termination date.  

Sample Statutory Declarations accompany the Notices of Termination. A Statutory Declaration must take a specific format and must be signed in the presence of a Commissioner for Oaths, Practising Solicitor, Notary Public, or Peace Commissioner. Please note that the Declarant must sign the Statutory Declaration themselves, it cannot be signed on their behalf by an authorised agent. 

Student Specific Accommodation

A provider of Student Specific Accommodation is required to serve a valid written Notice of Termination to end a tenancy agreement with a student tenant.  

Students have 90-days to refer a dispute to the RTB in relation to the validity of a Notice of Termination that has been served for a reason other than failure to pay rent or other breach of tenant / licensee obligation. 

Overholding

A tenant is overholding where they continue to occupy the property on a date after the expiry of the notice period specified in a valid Notice of Termination served by the landlord. In such a situation the tenant must continue to pay rent to the landlord and receipt by the landlord of that rent does not imply recognition of an ongoing tenancy. Where a landlord, either verbally or in writing, withdraws a Notice of Termination, the tenancy will then continue.

Regardless of the circumstances of a case, a RTB Adjudicator or Tribunal can only order a tenant to vacate a rented dwelling on the expiration of a valid Notice of Termination, which is fully in compliance with the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. 

Rent Arrears

It is important that at all times rent is paid and where it is not, it is a breach of the tenancy agreement. The notice periods detailed on this page do not apply where the Notice of Termination is served for a breach of tenant obligations or rent arrears. Landlords must still serve a warning notice and where the breach has not been remedied, can proceed to serve a 28-day Notice of Termination.  

The RTB encourages tenants and landlords to communicate any issues with rent arrears as early as possible to try to rectify the arrears and prevent the ending of the tenancy. If you wish to pursue a case against a tenant who has vacated you can submit a Dispute Resolution Application Form..The landlord can also serve a Notice of Termination for breach of tenants responsibilities. Please note, the RTB prioritises cases where there are rent arrears. 

If you are not in possession of a current address for the tenant, please provide a PPS number for the tenant when submitting your application. The RTB will make every effort to source a current contact address for the tenant by searching our own registration database, and other government approved databases but please be aware that if a tenant has moved to a new location it may take a number of weeks before the new address is updated on the data base.

A tenant must continue to pay their rent in full until the tenancy ends and while any disputes are ongoing. Where a dispute has arisen between a tenant and landlord and it has failed to be resolved, a dispute can be referred to the RTB. If a tenant has withheld payment of rent in this instance, they should recommence paying rent and wait for the dispute to be heard. 

If the tenant is in receipt of Rent Supplement and is not paying rent then the Community Welfare Service for the area should be contacted to have the supplement suspended until the case is heard.

If a landlord wants to end a tenancy because of rent arrears and the tenant has been renting the property for more than 6 months then the 6-step process set out below must be followed.

The following 6-step process outlines the new rules and requirements established in the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020, relating to tenancy terminations due to rent arrears. Failure to adhere to these steps will lead to a Notice of Termination being deemed invalid.

6-step process for landlords and tenants in a rent arrears

Where a tenant has fallen into rent arrears, they should contact their landlord to see if the issue can be resolved or a mutually satisfactory agreement can be reached.

Please see further information and examples of agreement templates to aid tenants and landlords in reaching their own payment plans here.

If it is not possible to resolve the issue of arrears, the landlord can proceed to serve a written rent arrears warning notice to give the tenant a minimum of 28 days to pay the rent arrears.

A landlord must serve a written rent arrears warning notice; an email or text message will not suffice. The warning notice must set out the full amount of rent arrears owed by the tenant and explain that failure to pay 100% of the rent owed within the time provided will result in a Notice of Termination being served.

The RTB has a sample warning notice for rent arrears to support landlords which can be downloaded below. The RTB would strongly encourage that you use this notice.

Landlords must provide a copy of the 28-day written rent arrears warning notice that was served on the tenant to the RTB. The 28-day period will count from the date the RTB or tenant receives the warning notice - whichever is later - so landlords are encouraged to send both notices at the same time.

Please note that failure to submit a copy of the warning notice to the RTB will invalidate any related Notice of Termination.

The RTB will write to the landlord acknowledging receipt of the written rent arrears warning notice and will provide information on the new landlord rights.

The RTB will also write to the tenant confirming that the RTB received a copy of the written rent arrears warning notice that was served on them. In writing to the tenant, the RTB will provide information as will enable the tenant to obtain advice from MABS and will also ask the tenant to give his or her consent to refer the tenant to MABS.

Where a tenant grants consent to the RTB, the RTB will assist the tenant in obtaining MABS advice. Tenants are not obliged to complete this step, but engagement with MABS is recommended. It is hoped that the majority of tenancy arrears situations will be resolved at this stage in the process.

If the landlord has followed step 1-3 and the tenant has not re-paid the rent arrears in full within the 28 days, the landlord can proceed to serve a 28-day Notice of Termination. They can serve this once the 28-day warning notice has expired.

A landlord must also send a copy of the Notice of Termination they have served on their tenant for rent arrears to the RTB (by email to rentarrears@rtb.ie or by post) on the same day they serve it on their tenant. Please note that if the landlord does not send the copy of the Notice of Termination to both the tenant and RTB, the Notice of Termination will be invalid.

Sample Notice of Termination for rent arrears can be found here.

Upon receipt of the Notice of Termination for rent arrears, the RTB shall notify the tenant in writing of his or her right to refer a tenancy termination dispute to the RTB for resolution within 28 days of receipt of the Notice of Termination. Tenants will also be reminded of their rights and responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, as amended regarding rental payments.

Tenants should ensure to keep copies of notices received.

Local Authority Assistance - Notice of Termination for Rented Property Being Sold

If you have served/received a Notice of Termination because your rental accommodation is to be sold, your local authority is available to assist you.

Assistance available to you can be found in this Information sheet.

Remedial Notices

There are strict rules that must be complied with to lawfully terminate a tenancy. 

One of the requirements is that the landlord (or tenant if he/she is terminating the tenancy) must serve a valid notice of termination. To be valid the notice of termination must contain the information required by the law. Details of these requirements can be found here. 

There are certain circumstances where an RTB adjudicator or tenancy tribunal can overlook minor errors in a notice of termination through the ‘slip rule’ or alternatively they can direct that a remedial notice of termination be served. The ‘slip rule’ and ‘remedial notice rule’ can only be exercised in limited circumstances, where the error does not prejudice the original notice of termination in a material respect and where the notice of termination otherwise complies with the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (as amended)(the “Act”).   

Where an adjudicator or tenancy tribunal direct that a remedial notice may be served, additional rules apply. The  landlord or tenant (whoever is terminating the tenancy), must serve the remedial notice within 28 days of the issue of the Determination Order. The notice period that must be given in a remedial notice depends on the circumstances. Where on the date of service of the remedial notice, the notice period in the original notice: 

Example – slip rule 

Example - remedial notice of termination