A pensioner who sold personal items to fund rent and did not have enough money “to eat” at times while awaiting Housing Assistance Payments (Hap) has been ordered to pay more than €6,000 in rent arrears.
A Residential Tenancies Board tribunal heard how both sides of a dispute were “let down” by the Hap process, which took 15 months in total before payments were made, none of which were backdated.
Landlord Ursula Sheehan said the Housing Assistance Payment process had “broken down” after her tenant, Maria Roettger, had moved into the property in Doneraile, Co Cork, in 2022.
Ms Sheehan said there was an arrangement that Ms Roettger would “do the best she could”; however, she added that her mortgage has since been sold to a vulture fund which is “looking to repossess and sell the dwelling”.
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Although rent payments have been up to date since Hap payments began, she said Ms Roettger owed €6,369.50 in arrears.
Ms Roettger told the tribunal she did not expect the Hap process to “take so long” and sold personal items to fund her rent in the first few months of her tenancy.
Outlining issues with application forms being sent to the incorrect address, she added she had to get receipts and translations concerning her German pension.
She acknowledged arrears had built up but said she paid Ms Sheehan “everything she had” adding that sometimes she “did not have enough to eat”, according to a tribunal report just published.
Ms Roettger had claimed she made payments in cash and did not owe Ms Sheehan any money, though she did not keep a record of what was paid.
The tribunal said evidence given by both sides “was not entirely satisfactory”, and “record keeping was poor”.
The tribunal ordered Ms Roettger to pay rent arrears of €6,369.50 in 12 monthly instalments.
A separate RTB tribunal ordered landlord Jennifer Mulryan to pay a tenant €4,500 in damages after failing to repair a “significant leak” in the ceiling of an apartment in Claregalway, Co Galway.
Tenant Emer Collins recalled receiving a phone call from the owner of a cafe located below the property in December 2021 informing her water was leaking into the cafe from her apartment.
Soon after, in January, Ms Collins recalled rainwater “pouring” into her apartment in the Claregalway Shopping Centre through light fittings and electrical sockets.
The ceiling of Ms Collins’s apartment had not been repaired by the time of the hearing in June, according to the tribunal report.
She refused an offer of alternative accommodation in the form of a one-bedroom apartment with no kitchen, saying it was unsuitable for her and her son. An offer of another apartment was also refused as it was not possible to have broadband installed.
Joey Walsh, a representative for Ms Mulryan,
said issues with the roof were out of Ms Mulryan’s control as it is owned by a management company.
The tribunal said it was not satisfied Ms Mulryan “can ignore her said duties by relying upon the contention that the roof in question is owned by a management company and/or that the tenant refused the offer of alternative accommodation”.
It ordered Ms Mulryan to pay €4,500 in damages within 28 days.
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