Normally if the house is a principal place of residence for the owner of the property or landlord or any member of their family the Residential Tenancies Act doesn’t apply. These are the situations where landlords live with flatmates or boarders or any people they invite to live with them.
Though there is a special provision in the Residential Tenancies Act, where landlords and their flatmates can choose to contract into the Residential Tenancies Act or even parts of it. This is normally done by completing a tenancy agreement.
In cases like this, it is essential that all parties are aware of what it means to opt in, what obligations they have and what is required of them to comply with the law.
It is important to include terms confirming what exactly everyone agreed to, how the Residential Tenancies Act (or what parts of it) will apply to this agreement.
Both a residential tenancy agreement and a flat/house-sharing agreement can be used as a starting point.
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