Arrears of €34,000, smashed balcony glass and ‘serious anti-social behaviour’ among complaints to rental watchdog

Rent arrears and overholding, where a tenant remains in a property after a valid notice of termination has expired, were the most common reasons for landlords taking disputes.

In one case, two tenants were ordered to pay arrears of €34,986.43.

The tenants started renting a property in Dún Laoghaire in July 2019. By September, they had fallen into arrears. Despite this, the tenancy was renewed at an agreed increased rent of €3,380.

Due to the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, the landlord said the rent was reduced by €1,000 per month from July 2020 to the end of February 2021.

However, the tenants still struggled to pay. One of the tenants gave evidence that they had been looking for somewhere cheaper to rent but there was nowhere available.

She said the landlords had refused her permission to sublet one of the bedrooms, which would have gone towards alleviating the arrears. In her evidence, she said the landlords had been “very reasonable and understood their problems”, but they could not vacate the property until they had a home to go to.

Landlords have also reported issues with anti-social behaviour, with gardaí being called due to “serious and intimidating” incidents.

In one dispute regarding an apartment on Bond Street in Dublin 8, two tenants were ordered to pay €3,200 in damages to the landlord company.

A representative for the landlord gave evidence that she had received “repeated complaints from multiple other residents in the building” about anti-social behaviour. This included a fight between the couple on the balcony which later ended up smashed.

The balcony was made with tempered safety glass “and does not smash without significant impact”, she said.

They were also accused of damaging a glass door in the lobby of the complex.

The RTB said the behaviour complained of “was very serious, and can only have been distressing, intimidating and frightening for other occupants of the building”. It found the eviction notice served to be valid and ordered the tenants to vacate the apartment.

For tenants, invalid rent increases, deposit retention and eviction notices were the most common issues.

A tenant took a case after her landlord sought to increase her rent from €400 to €550. However, the RTB found this to be invalid as the correct procedure was not followed.

Another tenant renting a property in Tralee, Co Kerry was awarded €2,500 in damages after her landlord served an invalid eviction notice and breached their obligations.

The tenant complained about a leak in the roof in 2018 and it was only resolved in 2021.

She also said that despite moving into the property in 2013, carbon monoxide alarms weren’t supplied until 2021.