Courts / Dublin / Report
Landlord who used 'delay tactics' to avoid completing HAP form must pay tenant €12.5k
Summary
In a 2023 decision by the Workplace Relations Commission, Dorinda Walsh, a single mother who had lived in a Dublin City apartment for just over two years, accused her landlord Martin Murray of discrimination under the Equal Status Act 2000. Walsh had been told in August 2022 that she was no longer eligible for a rent supplement and would need to claim Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). She sent the HAP application to Murray, who replied that he was willing to honour the contract but did not complete the form. After no response, Walsh filed a complaint. Murray then served her with an eviction notice in October 2022, and later presented a new tenancy agreement with a rent increase that Walsh deemed invalid. The tribunal found that Murray had used "delay and diversionary tactics" to avoid completing the HAP form, and ordered him to pay Walsh €12,500, equivalent to ten months' rent, for discrimination.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Landlord who used 'delay tactics' to avoid completing HAP form must pay tenant €12.5k. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial
When:
- 25 October 2022 Other
- August 2022 Other
- 20 October Other
- May 2023 Hearing Or Sentence
- November 2022 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2023-06-09 Publication
Why: She said she "fears homelessness" because the financial impact of her landlord's actions, adding that she had lost weight, was suffering from panic attacks, and was crying herself to sleep with her 18-month-old baby. CNI source report
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