With the lifting of the eviction ban, some tenants will be facing notices from their landlords at the moment.
While this is always a stressful time, there are steps that can be taken once you have received a notice.
Stephen Large, Threshold’s Dublin services manager, spoke to BreakingNews.ie about the steps to take after receiving an eviction notice.
Written notice
"The first thing is if your landlord wants you to leave the property, he/she must give you a written notice of termination. That's the first key point, it has to be in writing. Email, text message, WhatsApp, verbal - none of those are considered a valid notice.
"The second step is to check the reason the landlord is asking you to end the tenancy. After six months, your landlord can only end the tenancy on specific grounds which are set out in the Residential Tenancies Act.
"These are things like if the landlord is selling the property, if the property is needed for a family member or the landlord, if it is no longer suitable for the tenants' needs, a change of use or substantial renovations.
"Each of those have their own specific requirements."
What if my landlord is selling?
Mr Large said the most common reason for the ending of tenancies is the landlord looking to sell the property.
"The landlord has to be selling the property within nine months of that tenancy ending, the landlord also has to provide what's called a statutory declaration along with the notice. That's an additional protection or layer to ensure that the landlord is ending the tenancy for the reason they are stating.
"In the past there has been situations whereby the landlord indicated it was for sale or family use, but the property was subsequently put up for rent."
The notice has to be given with the reason if the tenant has been living in the property for six months or more.
"It gets very technical but if someone has received a notice of termination, do contact us and we can assist. We can review the notice and advise them as to whether it is valid or not."
If the eviction is not valid, tenants can contact the Residential Tenancies Board who will carry out an investigation, and advocate on their behalf.
Tenant in-Situ scheme
"The Tenant in-Situ scheme means people on payments like HAP, when they receive their notice they can approach the relevant local authority who can then buy the property and rent it back to them.
"The availability of private rental properties is in short supply, particularly for people on the likes of HAP.
"The problem is more pronounced in urban areas; Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick.
"But the issue is across the country whether you're in Cavan, Monaghan, Sligo or Dublin, it applies across the country."
Cost Rental Tenant in Situ scheme
The Cost Rental Tenant in Situ scheme is for private tenants who have received a notice of termination and are at risk of homelessness because their landlord is selling. With this scheme the Housing Agency can buy the rental property from your landlord, so they can rent it to you instead.
New termination dates
With the eviction ban over as of October 31st, evictions have resumed from April 1st.
If your original termination date was between October 28th, 2022 and January 31st, 2023, your new termination dates are as follows:
If your original termination date was between February 1st, 2023 and March 31st, 2023, your new termination dates are as follows:
Mr Large said there has been a noticeable increase in requests for help since the lifting of the eviction ban.
"Certainly since the lifting of the ban we have seen a significant increase in queries, and we have been prioritising tenancies ending on April 1st or 15th.
"We have been quite busy in the last few weeks in terms of trying to contact tenants who have been in contact with us and have revised termination dates from the start of this month. To see where they currently are and what the next steps are.
"It's a broad spectrum from people who have been able to negotiate additional time to make arrangements with landlords to tenants in-situ whose landlords have sold to the local authorities.
"The other side of the coin is people who have already left, moved in with family and friends, or are entering homeless services."
He urged people to contact Threshold for advice when they have received a written notice of termination.
"If it's valid the next step is contacting the landlord to see if they can organise a bit more time to make alternative arrangements.
"If that's possible, then great. The next step is linking in with the local authority to see what options are applicable to you. If the landlord is selling the property you can direct them towards the local authority and those schemes."
