The column below appears in this week's INM Irish regional newspapers.
Michael Commane
There has been much talk about a growing shortage of accommodation in the State at present.
In the last few days a work colleague has told me a horrendous story about a tenancy contract.
Indeed, she first mentioned it to me over two and a half years ago when the story began to unfold.
Mary, not her real name, was sharing an apartment in Dublin with her then partner, now her husband.
“We had been living in the apartment for over two years so we gave 60 days notice of our intention to leave. Our landlord would not meet us before we left so as to inspect the property and return our deposit of €1,100,” Mary explained.
He ignored their calls for over three months and when he did eventually get back to the couple he pointed out that he had to get the carpets cleaned, which cost him €600, so they would only be receiving €500.
Fortunately Mary was having none of this and contacted Threshold, who she points out, are simply brilliant. Along with that, Mary took over 30 pictures of the apartment before she left and to prove that the pictures were time relevant, she included newspapers with their dates in the pictures. That was a clever thing to do.
“Threshold advised me not to take the €500 the landlord was offering us and they prepared our submission to the Private Residential Tenancies Board. I also submitted phone records to and from the landlord with a copy of the lease plus the photographs,” Mary explained.
He counterclaimed, looking for compensation of €3,000. He also submitted photographs. But Mary’s husband, a computer techie, was able to spot that the pictures he submitted had been photoshopped and even one of the photos of a piece of furniture had never been in their apartment.
Eventually he was found guilty. He appealed the verdict. The whole process took ages. The PRTB issued a Determination Order, which he ignored. They then informed him that they would take the case to the Small Claims Court. He had eight weeks to make up his mind.
In the end he surrendered and last week, two and a half years later Mary received her €1,100 deposit plus €250 in compensation.
There certainly are lessons to be learned from her ordeal. She’s a feisty young woman, full of energy.
It was so clever of her even to think of taking photographs of the apartment before she left. And who would think of making them date relevant. Certainly it was a clever move and a wise tip to anyone who is renting. You should even take photographs the day you move in to the apartment.
Mary is full of praise for Threshold and the PRTB.
Threshold can be contacted at www.threshold.ie or at 01 – 678 6096, 021 – 427 8848 and the PRTB is at www.prtb.ie or 0818 – 30 30 37.
The PRTB was set up in 2004 to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants. Threshold has offices in Dublin, Cork and Galway.
Not for a moment am I suggesting that this story is typical of landlords. Of course, like in every walk of life, it takes all sorts. Nor are all tenants angels. But it is particularly annoying when someone finds themselves at the mercy of another person.
But for Mary’s tenacity and astuteness the landlord might well have got away with his behaviour.
Again, full marks to Threshold and the PRTB. Make sure to contact them if you are having difficulties with your landlord/landlady.
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