DR0516-26301
Apartment A 6 North Quay Drogheda Co. Louth
Date: 2016-08-10
Evictor: Thomas Murphy
Ruling against evictor: Illegal eviction
Notes:
Tenant’s evidence: "On the 29th April 2016 he was in the pub again when two members of staff asked if he still lived in the Dwelling as they had seen number of people come in and enquire as to the letting of an apartment. He then went to investigate and found that a new lock had been fitted to the entrance to the building in respect of which he had no key however as the door was on the latch he was able to gain entry to the building... He said that the layout to the Dwelling was changed and a bed was now present in the sitting room area. A partially clothed man emerged from what had been his bedroom and asked who he was. He told the man that the Dwelling was his home however the man present advised that he had been there a week and that he should talk to the Landlord... He said for a number of weeks he had slept on various couches but was now living with his father which was unsuitable for him in a number of respects. In particular the house was out of town and as he didn’t drive it would take approximately 40 minutes to walk in to town. He said he had made efforts to find alternative accommodation but could not find anything suitable to date and he had now been 16 weeks out of his home.". Landlord’s evidence: "He said he asked the Tenant to move out for a few days to enable him to have fire safety works carried out to the dwelling and the Tenant agreed. He packed up Tenant’s belongings and put them on the landing outside the dwelling. This was agreed with the Tenant to facilitate the works. However he admitted to the Tribunal there had been no works required and he had concocted the story to obtain vacant possession of the dwelling in order to move another Tenant in at a higher rent". RTB decision: "The Landlord showed a complete disregard for the law in the manner in which he terminated the Tenancy and in so doing deprived the Tenant of the rights and protections afforded to him under the Act in particular the security of tenure afforded to him in having a Part IV tenancy."
Data Source: RTB