Landlord ordered to pay €5,000 over ‘black bag eviction’ of father and child

A landlord who carried out a “black bag eviction” of a father and his preschool-aged daughter has been ordered to pay €5,000 in damages by a Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) tribunal.

The tribunal noted that the landlord “took matters into his own hands” last year following the death of his wife when he illegally entered the property before changing the locks and taking back possession.

The landlord, who had been living in Taiwan until the year prior, moved the belongings of the father and child to an adjacent shed.

Although the tribunal noted the “difficult personal circumstances” experienced by the landlord, it said he carried out a “black bag eviction” which led to the tenant accepting “substandard” alternative accommodation to avoid homelessness.

The landlord explained that his wife had become unwell and they needed their former home in Clare back as they were returning from Taiwan.

Having returned to Ireland in 2022, the landlord issued two notices of termination as the first was invalid, with a valid deadline of April 21st, 2023.

His wife had died during the period before the deadline and he and his children were living with his mother “in circumstances which were difficult”, the tribunal heard in April.

The landlord claimed the tenant had found another home yet told him he would not leave the property, before he eventually “cut the lock open” and took the property back for his family on April 21st, 2023.

He said he “took no joy” in removing the child’s belongings from her home but argued that he told the tenant of his reasons for needing the property 16 months prior.

“[The landlord] was aware that it was wrong but could not take it any more given his need to have his home back for his family,” the tribunal report notes, later adding: “He said he had to do what he did for his family.”

The tenant claimed some of his belongings were damaged during the illegal eviction and while the landlord apologised for his actions, saying he should not have done it, he denied damaging the tenant’s belongings.

Separately, a tenant whose son was bullied at school due to “body odour issues” as a result of a non-functioning shower has been awarded €5,000 in damages by a RTB tribunal. It heard in April that the mother of three, who was paying €2,600 in monthly rent for the property in Dublin, began to pay for gym subscriptions in order to shower.

The tenant described a litany of issues with the property including having to replace appliances at her own cost, non-functioning smoke and intruder alarms, and bin refuse not being collected for 18 months. The tenant said her children would be “impacted forever” by the property which was “dysfunctional and failed on so many counts”.

Her teenage son had refused to go to school due to the bullying, she said.

An agent representing the landlord argued the tenant could have used the bath if the shower was not working, at which point the tenant said there was no water coming from the taps.

The agent said more than €6,000 in repair costs had been accumulated by the landlord since the tenant moved in.

The tenant had previously been ordered to vacate the property and pay €60,000 in rent arrears in a separate tribunal hearing after overholding.

The tribunal said costs described by the tenant such as €1,400 for gym membership and up to €500 per week for refuse removal were an “exaggeration”. However, it did accept there were failings on the part of the landlord and ordered him to pay €5,000 in damages for breaching his obligations.