Help please for naive landlord
I have a joint tenancy agreement in place on my property both tenants have been fine but they have split up and it’s not been on good terms.
She moved out following an altercation and told me he was going to be arrested and she couldn’t pay the rent alone so served notice. Tenancy agreement said 2 months but she sounded desperate financially so I agreed to accept a months notice.
No charges were brought against him and he returned to the house. He doesn’t want her in the house so changed the locks, this is a breach of contract but I am not to worried I will get a key and if work is shoddy I have the bond. She is trying to get key out of me but I have said I don’t have one and can’t get one at this stage. I think if she wants access she either has to change the locks herself or get court order to get access.
She wants the bond back it’s in DPS but she is lead tenant so it will go to her. He has asked me today if he can stay on for few more weeks after the date the 1 months notice has expired.
Could someone help me with what my options are and some advice please.
Think this house Will be sold when it’s all over, but of accidental landlord and it’s bloody hard work. I am way to soft as well which doesn’t help .
Thanks In advance
Is this a fixed term tenancy or has it become periodic? If its periodic, is it statutory periodic or contractual periodic? If its periodic then one tenant can serve a valid notice to end the tenancy for both tenants. If the notice is not valid then the landlord does usually have the option of accepting an invalid notice, however, in the case of joint tenants, this may only be an option if neither tenant opposes it as he could otherwise later challenge the notice as invalid. If you have some evidence that he was aware of the notice and did not oppose it originally or that he accepts it as valid now, then it may be valid. It would probably take a specialist lawyer to examine the evidence and tell you whether you could rely on it.
If the notice is valid then his tenancy would end and if you allow him to stay on you would be creating a new undocumented periodic tenancy. In this case I would refuse his request to stay on as I’m not sure the tenancy is any longer viable and the notice is probably your best way of ending it.
If you dont think you can rely on the notice then I would still refuse his request, but tread more carefully. If he gets legal advice and/or refuses to leave, come back for more suggestions.
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Thanks for the response.
This is a joint fixed term tenancy they are 6 months into a 12 month contract. So one tenant has served notice and moved out and the other is staying for now and hasn’t served notice.
She is demanding the deposit back and wants off the lease stating as she has served notice I have to create a new agreement with him apparently she has had legal advice.
One valid notice ends the tenancy for both.