The High Court has refused an appeal by two tenants against a Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) determination concerning rent arrears and compensation. Ms Justice Gearty also ordered the applicants to pay the RTB’s costs.
The appeal was limited to a point of law under the Residential Tenancies Act. The judge noted that the applicants’ notice of motion did not identify the legal point they wanted the court to consider. Although that defect would normally cause an appeal to fail at the outset, the first applicant appeared without a lawyer and had provided submissions, so the judge considered the issues raised.
A 2021 adjudication had found a termination notice invalid and in breach of the tenants’ rights. It also upheld the landlord’s claim for unpaid rent, awarding €13,760.40, less €2,000 awarded to the tenants for the breaches identified. The applicants appealed to the RTB.
Following a rehearing by the RTB’s Tenancy Tribunal in July 2022, the tribunal found that rent arrears stood at €19,222.14, which all parties accepted had not been paid. It also found that the landlord had breached lease obligations by attempting twice to retake possession, and awarded €3,100 to be set off against the arrears.
Before the High Court, an applicant argued that the landlord had failed to register one tenant and that the tribunal had not addressed the issue. The judge found that registration had not been raised at the tribunal hearing. Although it appeared in the case files and an adjudicator’s report, the tribunal had not had an opportunity to decide it. The judge said it could not form the basis of this appeal, which was not a full rehearing.
The applicants also sought increased compensation. The judge said disagreement with the tribunal’s assessment was not itself a point of law. She found no basis to conclude that the decision lacked evidence, relied on unreasonable inferences, involved an incorrect interpretation or was otherwise wrong in law. The tribunal had given detailed reasons, she said.
The applicants had referred to separate proceedings in Cavan District Court. The judge said those proceedings could not affect the costs decision in favour of the RTB, which had successfully defended the appeal. She refused the application.