The day the notice runs out: emergency help

The termination date on a notice gives you the whole of that day, and nothing lawful happens to you on it. If you are still in the home the next morning, the landlord's only route is an application to the RTB. The locks cannot be changed, the services cannot be cut, and your belongings cannot be removed. What the day does change is your position: a tenancy that has ended by a valid notice is over, and the people who can help are the ones listed here.

If you are in danger tonight, ring the Gardaí on 999 or 112. If you need someone to talk to at any hour, the Samaritans are on 116 123, free.

For everything else, this page is the order to do things in. Read it before the date if you can; the services work better with a few days' warning.

The lines, in the order to ring them

Threshold first, because the advisers deal with this every day and can tell you in one call whether the notice ended the tenancy at all. Then the local authority, because it is the body that places people in emergency accommodation and holds the keys to Homeless HAP.

First: was the tenancy actually ended?

Before anyone packs, check the notice. A notice that misses a requirement of section 62, that gave too short a period, or whose copy never reached the RTB within 7 days may be invalid. An invalid notice does not end the tenancy. Run it through the notice checker and ring Threshold with the result.

If anything is missing and you are still inside the window, refer the notice to the RTB: 90 days from service for most notices, 28 days for a breach notice. A referral made today is still a referral. Keep paying rent while it runs.

If the notice met the Act, the tenancy has ended. Staying on is overholding, and overholding: what it is and what happens sets out the risks on both sides plainly. Whatever you decide, the landlord may not use force, and illegal eviction, lock-outs and cut-offs says what to do if they try.

The local authority homeless service

Every county and city council runs a homeless service. It is the body that assesses whether you are homeless or at risk of homelessness, places people in emergency accommodation, and decides on Homeless HAP and the housing list. Find yours on your county page; each one carries the council's housing contacts. Go in person during office hours if you can. Outside hours, the council's site gives an out-of-hours number, and in Dublin the four councils run a shared freephone.

Say that you have received a notice of termination that has run out, or is about to, and that you have nowhere to go. Ask to be assessed as homeless or at risk. The assessment is what opens the supports, so ask for it by name.

Homeless HAP matters because it pays more. HAP limits have not changed since July 2017, but the local authority has discretion of up to 35% above them, and Homeless HAP in Dublin carries discretion of up to 50%. That can be the difference between a rent you can be placed in and one you cannot. HAP in 2026: limits, discretion and the top-up has the figures.

If the notice was served because the landlord is selling, ask about the tenant-in-situ scheme in the same visit. The local authority may buy the home with you in it where the household qualifies.

What to bring

Bring everything, in one folder or on your phone. The notice of termination and the envelope or email it came in. Your tenancy agreement, or any proof of the tenancy: rent receipts, bank statements showing the rent, the RTB registration letter. Photo ID and the PPS number for every member of the household, and birth certificates for children. Proof of income: payslips, a social welfare statement, a letter from an employer. Anything from the RTB, if you referred the notice. Letters from a doctor, a school or a social worker where they are relevant.

Bring a record of what you did to find somewhere else: the listings you answered, the viewings you went to, the refusals. The local authority asks, and the record helps.

Your tenancy file is one place to keep all of it, in your own browser.

What to ask

Ask to be assessed as homeless or at risk of homelessness today. Ask whether emergency accommodation is available tonight and where, and whether the household can be kept together. Ask to be put forward for Homeless HAP and what the discretionary limit is for your household size. Ask to be placed on the housing list, or to have your existing application noted as a priority. Ask who your contact is and how to reach them. Ask for everything in writing, including a refusal.

If you are refused assessment, ask for the reason in writing and ring Threshold with it. Threshold's advisers can and do take matters up with a local authority.

What not to sign

The day a notice runs out is when documents appear. Sign none of them on the spot.

Do not sign anything that says you are leaving voluntarily or surrendering the tenancy. A surrender ends the tenancy by your own act, and it can change how a local authority sees your case. Do not sign a statement that you owe a sum you dispute, or that the deposit is forfeit. Do not sign a new agreement at a higher rent, or for a different room, without reading it. Do not sign an acknowledgement that the notice was valid; that is the RTB's question, not yours to concede at the door.

Ask for a copy, say you will read it with Threshold, and keep it. A landlord who needs your signature today has a reason to need it today.

The deposit and the belongings

Leaving does not forfeit the deposit. It must be returned promptly, less rent owed, unpaid bills you owed under the agreement, and damage beyond normal wear and tear. Ask for it in writing on the day you hand back the keys, with your forwarding address. Getting your deposit back covers the request and the RTB route if it does not arrive.

Take photographs of every room as you leave, and take the meter readings. If you cannot move everything on the day, agree a date for collection in writing. A landlord who disposes of belongings left behind without agreement can be liable for them.

Where this leaves you

The termination date gives you the whole day, the landlord's only route after it is the RTB, and nobody may put you out by force. Check the notice first, because an invalid one did not end the tenancy, and refer it to the RTB if you are inside the window. Ring Threshold on 1800 454 454, then go to the local authority's homeless service with your documents and ask to be assessed. Sign nothing on the spot. If you are in danger, ring 999 or 112; if you need to talk, the Samaritans are on 116 123. Your county page has the council's contacts.