Eviction notices were served on some 660 Dublin City Council tenants in 2014 for failure to pay their rent, but up to November just one household was evicted.
About 7,000 council tenants have been in arrears longer than three months, and almost 40 have paid no rent for more than a year. By November one tenant had been evicted following court proceedings over long-term non-payment of rent and one more case was with the council’s eviction office for processing.
Of the 660 tenants served with notice to quit by the council, 320 had previously been issued with eviction notices. The council took 211 tenants to court, but it said, due to the large number of cases in the system, it could take five months for cases to be heard in the District Court.
Every opportunity
The council also said it affords tenants every opportunity to avoid eviction. Tenants in arrears receive three warning letters and a phone call or visit to their home before an eviction notice. No action is then taken for six weeks during which time the tenant is again given an opportunity to enter into a payment arrangement. “If they enter into an arrangement and adhere to it, no further action will be taken and the account will continue to be monitored. If they fail to make a genuine effort to repay the outstanding arrears a court date will be sought by our law department,” the council said.
However, Independent councillor Ruairí McGinley said there was a degree of “chronic non-payment of rent” being tolerated by the council.
“The council charges a social rent – €57 is the average weekly rent – it’s about 20 per cent of market rents, and if people don’t pay it it’s an injustice to people who do pay.”
