A Dublin 4 landlord was instructed to refund the paid rent and a bond of €2,300 by a Residential Tenancies Board adjudicator last month. This occurred after the landlord unilaterally changed the locks of the rented apartment upon realising her tenant had been secretly subleasing it via an online booking site. The outcome was labeled as “illegal eviction”.
Evidence of the subletting came in the form of encounters with a cleaner who was preparing the property for the ‘next guest’, and separate complaints lodged on Booking.com by users that matched maintenance issues reported by the current tenant. The tenant categorically rejected accusations of subletting, explaining that the profile on Booking.com was classified under a different individual’s name.
Nevertheless, matching review complaints to the tenant’s own reports about discomfort related to the bed, and a loose window was compelling. Moreover, confirmation from Booking.com revealing the real name behind the listed profile led to the subletting discovery, as it was the name of the tenant in question.
The Landlord had replaced the locks while the tenant was overseas, voicing her anxiety over her insurance lapsing due to commercial usage of the property. Although the tenant complained that he had been unlawfully evicted, demanding damages of €5,000 along with a restitution of his deposit and rent for the remaining 10 days of December. The arbitrator was fully satisfied based on the evidence, declaring that the tenant had been subleasing.
However, as the tribunal determined the landlord’s actions to be inappropriate – she should have issued a prior warning notice. The sudden termination of the tenancy was thus found to be void.