Landlord couple ordered to pay tenant for refusing to accept HAP

A landlord couple from Crossmaglen, County Down, have been ordered by the Workplace Relations Commission to pay €7,500 to their former tenant following a discrimination complaint. David Paul Smith alleged that Martin and Hillary Shields refused to accept housing assistance payment for a property he rented in Monaghan Town from October 2017, forcing him into significant financial difficulty. Mr Smith claimed he incurred approximately €5,687 in unmet rental costs and fell into arrears on utility bills while attempting to maintain his tenancy. Text messages from July 2020 showed the landlords explicitly declined HAP and allegedly threatened eviction should he pursue the matter further. The defendants did not attend the hearing. Adjudicating officer Breiffni O'Neill found the refusal constituted discrimination under the Equal Status Act, describing it as "at the more serious end of the scale" given its duration and impact on the complainant's family circumstances.