How do I get my deposit back from my landlord who threw me out on March 26th, leaving me stranded and without accommodation? He has now blocked my number. What can I do?
Marcus O'Connor replies: I'm very sorry first of all that you find yourself in this extremely difficult situation and hope that you have found suitable accommodation in the interim. Unfortunately, you provide very little background on your situation and your forced removal from the property.
This raises a number of questions. What were relations like with your landlord? Had the relationship completely broken down at this point and why? Or did this come out of the blue? This is important as you’ll see from below that the timing of your removal from the property raises concerns. While you seem more focused on the return of the deposit rather than what appears to have been your forced departure from the property, I will try to address both issues.
Whatever the situation a landlord cannot take the law into their own hands and just randomly force you from the property that you are living in or even terminate the tenancy without proper notice. There are very strict rules around this procedure written into law. Currently the legislation in Ireland gives very high levels of security of tenure for tenants and there are severe penalties for illegal eviction.
Termination
If your landlord did not serve you with the correct termination of tenancy notice, give a reason why he or she was ending your tenancy or did not give you the appropriate number of days’ notice reflective of the time you were in the property, then you have every right to take a case to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and I would recommend that you do so.
You can do this by making an application for dispute resolution with the RTB and they will appoint an independent adjudicator to hear your case. During this case you can also address what you consider to be the illegal retention of the deposit. It is worth noting that the RTB also facilitates the resolution of disputes through a mediation process and you could choose to address one or both issues that way. For more information about dispute resolution go to rtb.ie/dispute-resolution.
There are several reasons why a landlord can withhold a deposit. These include rent arrears, excessive wear and tear or damage to the property. If any of these apply in this situation then the landlord should have outlined them to you.
If you go to the RTB the landlord will have to justify the deposit retention showing evidence of rent arrears or damage to the property etc in the form of documentation and photos. Please note that in the event of a hearing the landlord will most likely attend too. Even if you were in rent arrears there are clear procedures in place which are set out in law that give you time to rectify that situation.
If, as indicated by you the landlord forced you out of the property without giving proper notice they have behaved in an outrageous manner and you have an extremely strong case.
Eviction
The RTB takes illegal eviction very seriously as it can potentially leave a tenant homeless. The RTB website states: “A landlord found by the RTB to have carried out an unlawful termination may be directed to allow the tenant re-entry into the dwelling and/or required to pay substantial damages to the tenant depending on the circumstances of the case. Decision makers have discretion to award up to and including €20,000 in damages.”
The fact that you were forced out of the property on March 26th raises concerns to put it mildly. Because of coronavirus, additional protections were put in place for tenants who fell into rent arrears due to the pandemic. Unfortunately, this emergency legislation came into effect the very day after you were forced to leave the property.
However, if the situation is as you describe it and if the landlord forced you from the property illegally in order to circumvent the new regulations you have as stated above a very strong case against a landlord who has behaved poorly and who frankly doesn’t belong in the property market. Thankfully, in my experience, such landlords are the exception rather than the rule.
Marcus O'Connor is a chartered surveyor and member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, scsi.ie
