When the landlord dies, a receiver is appointed or the bank repossesses

If your landlord dies, a receiver is appointed over the home, or the lender takes it back, your tenancy continues. The Residential Tenancies Act attaches to the dwelling and the tenancy, not to the person who signed the lease. Whoever steps in takes over the landlord's obligations and the landlord's limits. They must respect your Part 4 rights, keep the home up to standard, and end the tenancy only with a valid notice of termination on a ground the Act allows.

What changes is who you deal with, who you pay, and who can sign a notice. That is where the practical trouble starts, because an executor, a receiver or a bank often writes to a tenant as if the tenancy were an inconvenience. It is not. Nothing in the three situations below is a ground for ending a tenancy on its own.

This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only. Keep every letter, every proof of appointment and the rent record in your tenancy file; the dates will matter.

The tenancy continues

Your start date does not change. The regime you are under, fixed by the date the tenancy began, does not change. Your length of tenancy for notice purposes, and the notice period that goes with it, keep running from the day you first moved in. If you had Part 4 rights last week, you have them this week.

Whoever becomes the landlord may use only the grounds your regime allows. For a tenancy that began on or after 1 March 2026, the new landlord's own size decides which those are. A valid notice still needs everything in section 62. That means in writing, signed by the landlord or their agent, dated, with the date of service, the termination date and the reason. It must say you may refer a dispute to the RTB, carry a declaration where the ground needs one, and reach the RTB as a copy within 7 days. Notice of termination: what a valid notice must contain lists each item.

Nobody, in any of these situations, may change the locks, cut off a service, remove your belongings or tell you to be gone by Friday. Those are improper conduct the RTB investigates, and the Gardaí on 999 or 112 for anything that is a crime or a danger tonight. Illegal eviction, lock-outs and cut-offs covers the response.

When the landlord dies

The landlord's interest in the home passes to their estate. Until probate or letters of administration are granted, nobody has formal authority to act, which can take months. Once granted, the executor or administrator, called the personal representative, stands in the landlord's place. They collect the rent, must carry out repairs, and may serve a notice of termination on any ground that was open to the landlord.

Keep paying rent to the account you have always used until you are told in writing to do otherwise. A family member who rings and asks you to pay them is not enough; ask for written confirmation of who the personal representative is and, when it exists, a copy of the grant. If the old account is closed and nobody has yet been appointed, set the rent aside each month in a separate account and keep a record of each payment you would have made. The estate is entitled to every cent when it is ready, and you want the record to show it was there.

The death is not a ground for ending the tenancy. The personal representative may serve a notice to sell, with the statutory declaration, if the sale ground is open under your regime. That is any landlord for a tenancy that began before 1 March 2026, and a smaller landlord for a 2026 tenancy. A family member who inherits the home becomes the landlord when it is transferred to them, and from then may use the family-occupation ground if it is open and they genuinely intend to live there. Until the transfer, the estate cannot use that ground on their behalf. Landlord or family moving in explains what the ground needs.

The deposit is a debt the estate owes you at the end of the tenancy. Write to the personal representative asking them to confirm they hold it. If the home is sold with you in place, the buyer takes over that obligation.

When a receiver is appointed

A receiver is appointed by a lender under the terms of the landlord's mortgage when the landlord has defaulted. The receiver takes control of the home to collect the rent and, usually, to sell it. The appointment is between the lender and the landlord; you are not a party to it, and it does not end your tenancy.

The first letter from a receiver usually tells you to pay rent to a new account. Before you do, ask in writing for a copy of the deed of appointment and the name of the lender. A genuine receiver will send it. Do not change where the rent goes on a phone call or an unsigned letter; a tenant who pays the wrong person can be asked to pay twice. Once you have the proof, pay the receiver and tell the landlord in writing that you have done so and why.

The RTB's position in practice is that a receiver who collects the rent and manages the dwelling stands in the landlord's shoes for the purposes of the Act. That cuts both ways. You can refer a dispute against the receiver for repairs, for the deposit or for an invalid notice. And the receiver may serve a notice of termination on a ground open to the landlord, with the full period and the declaration where one is needed. A receiver who wants to sell must serve a sale notice like any landlord. It must give you the full notice period for your length of tenancy, from 90 days under six months to 224 days after eight years. Where the tenancy began on or after 1 March 2026 and the landlord is a larger landlord, the sale ground is not open at all, and the receiver sells with you in place.

Repairs do not stop because a receiver is in. Write to the receiver as you would to the landlord, and if nothing happens ask the local authority to inspect. Repairs in a rented home has the steps.

When the bank repossesses

A lender who takes the home back does so through a court order for possession against the landlord. The order is about the landlord's default. It is not an order against you, and it does not end your tenancy under the Act. The lender, or the receiver acting for it, then has the same two lawful routes as any landlord. Sell with you in place, or end the tenancy with a valid notice on a ground that is open under your regime.

Letters at this stage can be alarming, and some are written as though the court had ordered you out. Read the order itself if you can get it; your name will not be on it. Then ring Threshold on 1800 454 454, Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm, which deals with receivers and lenders regularly. Do not move out on the strength of a letter, and do not stop paying rent; pay whoever has shown you proof of their right to collect it, and keep the record.

Where the lender argues that the tenancy does not bind it because the landlord let the home without the lender's consent, that is a point for advice, not a reason to leave. The RTB has accepted disputes against lenders and receivers who tried to end tenancies without a notice. If a sale notice comes, the tenant-in-situ scheme may be open to you if your household qualifies for social housing support.

When the home is sold with you in it

In all three situations the likeliest outcome is a sale, and a sale with you in place is lawful and common. The buyer becomes your landlord on the day the sale completes. The tenancy continues with the same start date, the same regime, the same rent and the same Part 4 rights. The buyer takes over the deposit obligation and should register the change with the RTB. Ask the buyer or their agent in writing to confirm all of that, and to give you their contact details, which the Act requires a landlord to provide.

The buyer's own size then decides the grounds for a 2026 tenancy from the day any later notice is served. A buyer who is an individual with three or fewer tenancies may, for example, use the close-family ground during a cycle; a company may not. Smaller and larger landlords explains the test and the letter to the RTB that confirms it.

What to do now

Ask whoever has written to you for written proof of their standing: the grant of probate or letters of administration, the deed of appointment, or the court order and the completed sale. Keep paying rent to the person who has shown it, and keep every receipt. Put every letter, the proof and the rent record in your tenancy file.

Treat any notice of termination exactly as you would one from the original landlord. Run it through the notice checker, ring Threshold, and refer it to the RTB within 90 days of service if anything is wrong. Do not move out and do not stop paying rent while that runs. If anyone threatens the locks or the utilities, the RTB and, tonight, the Gardaí.

Where this leaves you

Your tenancy survives the landlord's death, a receiver's appointment and a repossession. Whoever takes over must prove who they are, may collect the rent and must do the repairs. They can end the tenancy only with a valid notice on a ground open under your regime, with the full period. A sale with you in place passes the tenancy to the buyer unchanged. Your part is to ask for proof in writing, keep paying the right person, keep the record, and treat any notice like any other. Ring Threshold on 1800 454 454 the day the first letter arrives.