The value of sanctions against Irish landlords for breaches of rental law has grown to its highest rate, according to new figures released by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).
In 2024, it published 75 sanctions with a total value of €238,299. This is almost four times higher in monetary value than what it gathered in 2023, at €64,360.
In July 2019, the RTB was given new powers to investigate and sanction landlords who engage in breaches of rental law, known as improper conducts.
The significant increase in the value of sanctions issued against landlords last year came amid renewed focus within the RTB investigations unit on a smaller group of landlords seen to be repeatedly breaching rental laws.
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In a statement to The Irish Times, the RTB said the work “involved detailed investigations into complex company structures and rental arrangements that were designed to avoid detection and enforcement of rental law”.
“It involved prolonged investigative work to access properties, serve legal documents and to find tenants who were willing to speak with the RTB’s authorised officers,” the spokeswoman said in response to questions.
“These investigations into deliberate and repeated offenders saw the RTB’s independent decision makers award higher levels of sanctions than previously seen,” the board said.
Among those sanctioned in 2024 was Marc Godart and his company Green Label Ltd, with eight different sanctions amounting to a total of €26,100 in penalties for various breaches, including failure to register a tenancy.
Another notable case from 2024 was that of Anuj Katyal, who received a sanction of €15,000 for a failure to comply with rent pressure zone (RPZ) requirements at an address in Liffey Valley Park, Lucan, Co Dublin.
Landlords John and Patricia Keeling also received a sanction of €15,000 for a failure to comply with RPZ requirements at an address in Derham Park, Balbriggan, Co Dublin.
The RTB has published 36 sanctions to date in 2025 with a total value of €102,490, including its highest-value single sanction yet on a Dublin-based landlord.
Sweet Home Accommodation Ltd, run by Renato Passos, was fined €22,000 for a breach of rental laws at six city centre properties under his control.
Investigators established he had failed to register 20 tenancies in properties on Leeson Street, Middle Abbey Street and Upper Abbey Street.
During its investigation the RTB discovered Brazilian students were being targeted through language schools and on social media about properties Mr Passos did not actually own but was sub-letting.
Investigators found there was extensive overcrowding at multiple properties run by him, with bunk beds crammed into makeshift apartments, mattresses laid on floors and livingrooms converted into bedrooms. In one property, there were 15 people sharing one kitchen.
Former tenant Julia Langneck, who lived at a property sublet by Mr Passos on Bolton Street in Dublin 1, told The Irish Times “it was not really human at all, it was really terrible”.
She detailed sharing a room with four other people, all in bunk beds, and paying almost €400 a month in rent.
When the house became infested with bedbugs and the landlord asked for tenants to pay to have them removed, Julia decided to move out. However, Mr Passos withheld her deposit.
This led to her taking a case against him with the RTB, which ordered him to pay the deposit and damages as part of its dispute resolutions process.
The RTB subsequently began its own independent investigation into Mr Passos when media reports detailed serious overcrowding and unstable tenancies in properties he was leasing on Leeson Street. This investigation then led to the €22,000 sanction.
