A property owner who threatened to forcefully remove his tenant has been made to pay €17,500 in damages by a Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) tribunal. The hearing, which took place in March, disclosed that the tenant, a woman with two children, was cast out on the street when the landlord altered the property’s locks in the city of Limerick last August. Following the eviction, the woman spent two nights in her car while her children took shelter with relatives of their father. Prior to the tribunal, she resorted to emergency accommodation for eight months.
The tribunal’s decree stated that the expulsion had been conducted illegally and expressed deep concern about the threats issued by the landlord, which he confessed to. Defending himself, the landlord claimed that the woman wasn’t an actual tenant since the original lease was in her ex-husband’s name, but the tribunal refuted this, determining that her monthly rent payments confirmed her status as a tenant.
In a separate case, a landlord from Waterford was told to pay €10,000 to his tenant for unlawful eviction. The tenant discovered the locks had been changed while he was out buying milk. The landlord had previously attempted to end the tenancy by sending a two-day termination notice via WhatsApp in September 2023, which was deemed invalid by the tribunal.
The landlord’s contention that the tenant’s rent was overdue wasn’t supported by evidence, so the tribunal dismissed it. Additionally, the tenant informed the tribunal that the landlord tried in the past to increase the rent from €500 to €700. After reading the WhatsApp message, the tenant was locked out when he left for a brief errand.
The tenant attempted to reach the landlord using a borrowed phone, but got no response. Eventually, he had to ask the RTB for help to retrieve his possessions.
He told the tribunal that he’d been homeless since the eviction and was residing in a hostel rife with drugs and alcohol, a challenging environment. He’d been moving from one place to another after the eviction and had occasionally been forced to sleep on the streets.
The tribunal detailed the landlord’s flagrant neglect of the tenant, and instructed him to pay a penalty of €10,000. In a separate instance, a tenant’s conduct in Chapelizod, Co Dublin triggered death threats, vandalism, and violent attempted breaches of his neighbours’ properties, as the tribunal was made aware.
The March tribunal discovered that the tenant’s behaviour resulted in his neighbours experiencing high levels of stress, anxiety, and insomnia, causing the local police to be frequently summoned. A resident narrated the episode of the tenant and an additional trio trying to forcefully gain access to his flat in May 2023. A male associate of the tenant used a crowbar to shatter the neighbour’s windows and attempted to unlock the door leading to a call for the police. A blood trail was found leading back to the tenant’s residence, as disclosed during the tribunal.
The neighbour recounted an incident with one of two women involved, who threatened to shoot him the following day. He emphasised his fear and insecurity in his own flat, which needed to be barricaded, causing him to ultimately relocate. The landlord’s representative reported a substantial amount of fear and intimidation amongst other residents, many of whom were too frightened to openly come forward. At the time of the hearing, no criminal proceedings had been launched. The landlord appealed to the tribunal to recognise the severe antisocial behaviours conveyed.
The tenant, who abstained from attending the hearing, was sent a warning in July, while attempts at mediation via the RTB were unsuccessful. He was found guilty of neglecting his responsibilities due to his antisocial conduct.