A word of warning to any prospective tenants hoping to stand out from the very competitive crowd by offering six months’ rent or more in advance: you might have trouble getting it back if it all goes horribly wrong.
Emma, a solicitor, points out that there is currently no legal mechanism in the Residential Tenancies Act that allows a tenant to claim back overpaid rent.
“This means that if something went wrong with the tenancy, for instance the tenancy ended for reasons that weren’t the fault of the tenant, he or she has real difficulty in getting back this overpaid rent,” she says.
“Overpaying rent can also sometimes mean that tenants requests for repairs go unanswered as the money is already in the bank and that removes the option of the tenant requesting a rent reduction for a failure to repair.”
The current Residential Tenancies Bill proposes a mechanism to allow tenants to recover overpaid rent, Emma explains, but until this is passed into law the best option is to show your landlord you are good for the money without actually paying it in advance.