Marc Godart, a landlord, has been ordered to pay a legal bill of roughly €4,000 for delaying compensation to two previous tenants in Dublin for over a year. The landlord was accused by the Dublin District Court earlier this month of having to be forced into court to fulfil the payment of €13,563 to Diana Jere and Andre Buchanan. This compensation was decided by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) in December 2022.
The pair initiated enforcement proceedings, overseen by Judge Marie Quirke, as the payment was still due until last July, the final date set by the court. Liam Bell, who represented Ms Jere and Mr Buchanan, informed the court that domestic and EU enforcement actions had been displayed five times since April, accusing Mr Godart of only paying reluctantly.
In concluding the case, Judge Quirke agreed that the former tenants could also claim legal costs totaling slightly over €3,900 plus VAT.
The court instructed Mr Godart in February of last year to obey the RTB’s ruling that Ms Jere and Mr Buchanan deserved compensation due to their “illegal eviction” from a rental property on Emmet Street, Dublin 1. Judge Quirke granted a European Enforcement Order against Mr Godart, residing at rue de Hesperange L-5830, Alzingen, Luxembourg, as requested by the two previous tenants. This is used to enforce foreign judgements within the EU avoiding intermediate proceedings and is only applicable to uncontested claims.
Last month, another case emerged where Lizet Peña-Herrera, a Bolivian psychologist, received compensation from Green Label Short Lets, a property firm directed by Mr Godart. In December 2022, the RTB ordered the company to pay Ms Peña-Herrera €15,433 due to her illegal eviction from a residence on Cork Street’s Vintage Court, Dublin 8. However, this award remained unpaid until she took the issue to the High Court.