The High Court has upheld a Residential Tenancies Board decision allowing a tenancy dating from 2003 to be terminated so the landlord’s granddaughter could occupy the property.
Tenant Donnchadh Ó Laoire appealed on a point of law after the RTB issued a Determination Order in December 2024 in favour of notice party Louise Dolan.
Dolan’s late husband, John Dolan, had been the property owner. Following his death in July 2022, a notice of termination was served stating that their granddaughter was expected to occupy the dwelling indefinitely.
Ó Laoire argued that Dolan, as executor of her husband’s estate, could not validly form that intention or terminate the tenancy until the property had formally vested in her through an instrument known as an “assent”. An assent is the step by which a personal representative transfers estate property to the person entitled to it.
The High Court rejected that argument. Phelan J held that the Residential Tenancies Act creates its own test for who is a landlord: the person entitled to receive the rent, other than as an agent for somebody else. The RTB is also expressly prohibited from deciding disputes about legal title to property.
Evidence before the Tribunal showed that rent had been paid into a joint account held by the deceased landlord and his wife before his death. She was also his executor and sole beneficiary. The Tribunal was therefore entitled to find that she was the person entitled to receive the rent.
The court stressed that being an executor alone will not necessarily establish landlord status in every case. The issue must be decided from the evidence about who is actually entitled to receive the rent.
No error of law was established. The RTB Determination Order therefore remained in force, while consequential matters were left for further agreement or court consideration.